Mistakes to Avoid When Cleaning Leather Furniture

Leather is a fashionable material that can enrich the design of your house. It provides a luxurious touch and significantly changes the ambiance of a room. It is available in many styles and colors, making it simple to match the décor of any room. However, cleaning leather furniture might become difficult. It does have the advantage of not being fibrous like textile furniture, which means that stains do not settle in and become embedded quickly. Even so, it is a delicate material that you can easily damage if you don't know how to clean it. Therefore, we compiled a list of mistakes to avoid when cleaning leather furniture to ensure you have it beautiful for a long time. Additionally, you will find some helpful hints on how to clean leather furniture correctly.

Forgetting to dust leather furniture

You always dust your shelves, coffee table, and other surfaces. So why wouldn't you dust your leather furniture? Dust, as harmless as that might appear at first glance, can damage leather over time. It can build up on surfaces and become very difficult to remove. Furthermore, it can dry out leather, making it fragile and prone to scratches and cracking. Not to add that dust carries allergens that could harm your family. As a result, whenever you are dusting around the house, don't forget about your leather furniture. Once a week, dust leather furniture with a dry microfiber cloth or the vacuum cleaner's brush attachment. This way, your furniture will look great for a longer time.

Using the wrong cleaning products

Do you believe the cleaning products you use to clean the rest of your house will work effectively to clean your leather furniture? Check again. Universal furniture polish, for example, may seem to be a great solution to give your leather sofa a lovely finish, but it can do much harm. Contrary to popular belief, leather furniture is absorbent. And while this material does not retain moisture as quickly as textile upholstery, it still absorbs it. So, instead of using classical household cleaning products on your leather sofa, try to buy specific ones specially designed for cleaning leather.

Furthermore, even if the cleaning products state that they are for leather, test them before applying them to the whole surface of the furniture. Leather furniture can be made from various types of leather, treated differently, and dyed differently. As a result, it's hard to create a cleaning product that can work on every type of leather surface. Therefore, test the cleaning product on a small hidden area of your furniture and see how it reacts. If everything looks good after a day, you can use the product safely on the whole surface. If not, look for a different solution.

However, if you are going through a renovation in your home and want to protect your leather furniture, it's better to have it stored until you finish. Keeping your leather furniture in a storage unit, according to exa2bmovingandstorage.com consultants, saves you time and energy in cleaning stains and dust off of it. And we all know how much dust can build up in a house during a renovation. Not to mention the real risk of ruining your furniture with paint. As a result, keep your furniture stored and avoid worrying about how to clean it.

Cleaning leather furniture with water

You should never use water to remove a stain or dirt from your leather furniture, as it causes them to sink deeper into the leather. Furthermore, water won't help remove odors from your leather furniture if you have pets. Therefore, use water only to wipe off dust with a damp cloth and nothing more. At the same time, whenever you are cleaning your leather furniture, never scrub it too hard. Don't use bristly brushes as they can cause the leather to start peeling away. Instead, use a soft cloth and be gentle with the leather surface if you want to avoid damaging it. That way, you will be scrubbing off just stains, not a whole layer of leather.

Using heat to dry the leather

Applying heat to the leather is one of the biggest mistakes to avoid while cleaning leather furniture. Why would you use heat to dry it in the first place? Well, if we look at the previous point, if you use water to clean leather, you might want to dry it afterward. Or, if it's stained with a liquid, it might seem logical to use heat on it, right? Unfortunately, using heat damages leather more than you can imagine. It dries out leather, causing it to crack and peel off. As a result, it is much safer to gently remove stains from the furniture and then let it dry by itself.

Additionally, if you need to move long-distance to a new home, you should clean and dry your leather furniture in time. Packing it while it's moist can cause it to start molding. Also, cleaning furniture before moving will make it easier to unpack and arrange everything in your new home. Therefore when preparing furniture for a long-distance move, it's important to clean beforehand all the furniture you are taking with you.

Overlooking manufacturer's recommendations

Every piece of leather furniture comes with a detailed description and cleaning instructions. It's usually in the form of a booklet or leaflet and contains essential information. For instance, it states the type of leather used, how to clean it properly, and what mistakes to avoid. These guidelines are offered to you to help you care for your furniture and ensure its longevity. Therefore, read and check them every time you clean the leather furniture. And if you stumble upon a stain that you don't know how to remove and can't find instructions in the guide, contact the furniture shop. Or, get in touch with professional cleaners and make an appointment request.

Take care of your leather furniture

You shouldn't see leather furniture as a burden. With just a bit of care and attention, you can have it looking good for a long time. And if you avoid making these mistakes when cleaning leather furniture, you will have it in the best condition possible.