How do I know my leather sofa needs professional cleaning?

When a leather suite is bought in a shop, it is sold as a ‘no maintenance’ piece of furniture which is in accurate. It is probably lower maintenance than other suites but it still needs just as much care and attention as any other piece of furniture on a daily basis.

The care you give can be very straightforward by wiping the leather suite down with a general-purpose leather cleaner, but it's very important a leather cleaner is used because using a harsh cleaning solution can harm the finish on the leather.

After a period of time, usually 12 to 24 months and in some cases 36 months, if the leather doesn't get a lot of use, on the surface the suites appearance might be still in a reasonable condition but the leather will still need some professional attention particularly in the crevices and the stitching of the leather. Sometimes those areas go unnoticed but it is important that this is removed because it starts breaking down with deteriorating the polyurethane finish over the top of the leather that is protecting it.

If a leather sofa is used on a daily basis that it will unfortunately come into contact with greasy and sweat from hands and human hair. This is sometimes unavoidable but it is a pity for the sofa as sweat and grease will form an acidic base which will start to deteriorate the finish on the leather.

Over time dirt and grime builds up on a leather sofa

At the Art of Clean we have seen several cases where the leather has been left without any professional cleaning and the grease has built up and the leather has sadly deteriorated.

Leather sofa being professionally cleaned

It is like your car, it is sometimes better to get the car cleaned on a regular basis and then waxed and protected then to leave the vehicle for many months without cleaning it and then expecting a perfect finish when you take it to a car wash.

How do we clean leather at Art of Clean?

Firstly, your leather suite will be inspected for any imperfections or permanent stains. We will then vacuum, paying particular attention to the crevices of the suite to remove any dry soiling. If your sofa is used daily by the family, then it will come as no surprise by how much hide in the corners and the back of the sofa cushions.

Once that is done, we will use a special mild cleaning agent and foam it up onto the leather. In many cases we will use the foam in a sprayer (by using the foam it is much lower moisture than just using a mix of cleaning solution and water) this is agitated into the leather which emulsifies the soil and then is wiped away. In many cases this process would have to be repeated.

Great care has to be taken because high contact areas that this exposed from this to the sweat from your hands can sometimes deteriorate the leather and if care is not taken while cleaning you can remove the topcoat. In cases where leather was cared for properly over the years, this is not a worry at all.

Once the leather is nice and clean we will then add a coat of protective finish which will be applied over the top of the leather thus protecting the leather from future spills and potential stains.

We advise our customer not to use the leather suite that evening but return to normal use the following day.

How can you care for your leather suite in between the professional cleans?

Wipe your sofa down on a regular basis and do not let dirt that build up on it.

Keep a vigilant eye for any colour transfer from trousers and jeans, if this is prone to staining by jeans, it maybe best to cover the seating places with a throw.

From time to time vacuum into the corners and the crevices and behind the cushions off this leather suite to remove any dry soil.

Careful when sitting on the sofa with trousers with buttons on it as it can harm the leather.

Insure a professional is called in that he is trained and qualified to clean your leather suite every 12 to 24 months and insure a protective coating is applied after the clean.