How To Clean Leather Chairs? [Step By Step Explained]

Leather chairs look stylish, timeless, comfortable for long hours, and durable and are the best when it comes to adding elegance to your house. Leather chairs require a different way of cleaning than your other furniture.

If you are a person who cleans your leather chair regularly, then a simple vacuum will do the job. But many-a-times we see tough stains on leather furniture which are hard to remove.

In this article, we will see different ways in detail to clean leather chairs to leave them shining like they are brand new. Let’s go-ahead to have a detailed insight :

Also Read:

How To Clean Leather Chairs? — Detailed Guide

Contents

Ways To Clean Your Leather Chairs Regularly

1. Verify what type of leather has been used in the chair

Determining the type of leather beforehand makes the job so much easier as the manufacturer’s tags, which are usually put on the furniture, provide tips and warnings for cleaning the leather.

You need to look for such tags that are attached to your furniture. If you cannot find any such thing, you can try looking at the written material that came in handy to you at the time of purchase of your furniture. If you are aware of your specific leather chair type, you can also try finding the manufacturer’s instructions on the internet.

The instruction consists of various tips on how to clean your leather chair. It also states the possible precautions and products that can be proved harmful to your leather chair.

Still, if you have tried everything and cannot figure out the type of leather, then always remember that most of the leather furniture is made of top-coat protected leather.

2. Vaccum your leather chair

This is a crucial step as before you begin cleaning your leather chair; you have to give it a good vacuum. Vacuuming your leather chair regularly will prevent all sorts of wear and tear on the leather chair. The vacuums that are having a soft brush attachment gives the best results and are widely used.

Carefully run the vacuum all over the chair to ensure that you collect all the dust that is trapped between the cushions and cracks if any.

After you are done, use either a cotton cloth or a microfiber to wipe down your leather chair.

Keep a note of the areas where you feel dust gets accumulated the most, and clean them regularly.

3. Prepare a cleaner using liquid soap and water

Leather is a thing which can be cleaned using basic household material. Using a mild liquid soap gives the best results. You can also use the liquid soap which you use in your shower if it is mild.

Distilled water would always be preferred over tap better for best results as tap water sometimes contains traces of harmful substances such as chlorine that can cause damage to the leather.

You then need to mix the soap and water carefully until suds are formed at the surface.

4. Wipe down your leather chair

Remember to test a small area of your leather chair before wiping to avoid any damage beforehand. After wiping a small area, if you don’t notice any damage, then you can go ahead and dip a clean rag in the cleaner and wipe the leather chair thoroughly.

After you have applied your soap and distilled water cleaner on the entire chair, then it’s time to get another rag. This time soak the rag only into the distilled water and rinse it out.

At last, use another rag to dry off the entire leather chair.

5. Condition your leather chair

The leather chair should always be conditioned after cleaning so that it can restore to its natural oils. Oils such as olive oil can be used for that purpose.

Put a small amount of olive oil on a dry cloth, and then rub that dry cloth into the leather chair until it has a nice shine.

You should be careful while using the oil to don’t end up using too much of it. If you use too much olive oil, then your leather chair will start looking greasy.

If you feel that after cleaning, your chair is looking darker than before, then it means that you have used too much olive oil.

How To Clean Stains From Your Leather Chair

1. Try wiping the grease stains by using a dry cloth

If you notice any kind of grease stains on your leather chair, wipe them immediately using a clean and dry cloth. Remember not to add water as it might cause the grease to settle down on the leather chair.

If the stain is still staining after you have wiped it with a clean and dry cloth, then sprinkle some baking soda on the stain’s area, as it helps to remove the stain. You have to leave the baking soda on the stain for a few hours and then gently wipe it off using a clean rag.

2. Try using rubbing alcohol for any kind of ink stains

Ink stains most commonly appear on leather furniture. If you see any kind of ink stain on your leather chair, then use some rubbing alcohol on it for the best stain removal results.

Use a cotton swab to dab some rubbing alcohol on the affected area where the ink stain is.

After that, keep wiping the stain until it clears away.

This method is also useful when you wish to clean mold or mildew from your leather chair.

3. Use lemon juice and cream of tartar to fix the matters of discolorations

If your leather furniture is of a lighter shade, then discoloration is a common problem. For that matter, a mixture of cream of tartar along with lemon juice gives the best results.

You have to mix equal proportions of lemon juice and cream of tartar. The proportion will depend upon the size of the stain that you wish to remove. Then keep mixing it until it forms a paste.

Apply the paste onto the area where the discoloration is, and then leave it for about 10 minutes. After that, use a damp cloth to wipe that mixture away from your leather chair.

Try Alternative Cleaners Except For Soap & Water

1. Use a mixture of vinegar and olive oil

If you cannot remove the stains from your leather chair using the conventional cleaner of soap and water, you can try using a mixture of vinegar and olive oil.

You have to mix one part of vinegar and one part of extra virgin olive oil. Dab this mixture onto the leather chair using a clean cloth in circular motions to apply properly.

Keep the mixture for 10 minutes before cleaning the leather chair using a dry cloth for best results.

2. Try using baby wipes

Baby whites are useful when you wish to remove any kind of junk or build-up stuck on your leather chair.

You can use wipes that are specially designed for removing junk from leather. These wipes can be found online or even at your local furniture store.

3. Try using a hairspray

If you see any kind of marker stains on your leather chair, then you can use hair spray to remove those.

Use an aerosol hairspray and spray it properly all over the stained area. After that, rub it off and check whether the stain is coming out or not.

You can use eucalyptus oil, too, for that matter, if hair spray cannot remove the marker stains.

Additional Bonus Points

1 . Before you begin cleaning your leather chair, always try it out on the back of your leather chair so that you can make sure that it’s not changing colors.

2 . Spills should be cleaned immediately to prevent them from setting in the form of stains.

3 . Your leather chair shouldn’t be kept near any kind of heat source to prevent it from cracking.

4 . Your leather chair should not be kept in direct contact with sunlight to prevent fading.

Few Words Before Wrapping Up…

We hope that we succeeded in provided valuable points regarding how to clean your leather chairs efficiently. Cleaning them regularly is always a safe option so that no dust particle gets accumulated in your leather chair.

If you see any kind of spill, then always clean it before it gets converted into a tough stain that is hard to remove.