[kinder clean]

I've just had a call from a customer who wants a quote for a leather 3 pc suite clean.

I tried to find out if it was analine leather, I had read another post about the water droplet test and she said water droplets would sit on the surface and not soak in to the leather, so i am assuming it's not analine.

She said the cushions have become sticky, is this likely to just be a build up of grime or has anyone come accross this problem before? I will be going to look later, all I can tell you now is the colour is dark mocha brown.

Also as this will be my first leather clean (if I get it) so any tips on products would be great. Leather wise all I have at the moment is Prochem leather cleaner, I seem to remember reading a post a while back about some sponge type objects??? that work miracles on leather cleaning.
Also any advice for technique, do leather cleaning products need dwell time etc...

Cheers Paul Kinder Clean

[LTT Leathercare]

If you have not cleaned leather before and you are faced with a sticky finish I would seriously consider not doing the job.

This is generally not a simple case of something being spilt as otherwise the customer would have had some results from simply cleaning it up.

We have come across many of these recently that have turned out to be Bicast leather (sometimes a very thin version) where the finish has been 'melted' by body oils and the build up of dirt because they have not been maintained properly.
Even if the leather is not bicast but has a pigment/protected coating and has a sticky surface it is probably not a cleaning problem but a similar thing will have occured and the finish has been broken down with the build up of dirt and body oils. 
Both these leathers would then need to be restored rather than cleaned.

Anilines generally will not show this type of damage as the leather would absorb body oils which would show as dark patches and anything that could have been spilt would generally have been absorbed also.

Some leathers can be hydrophobated which makes them resistant to water so the droplet test is always best done with a leather cleaner as it contains surfactants which will be better absorbed if it is going to.  It is important to carry out the 5 step identification process before any job is approached so that you know exactly what to expect.

Please do not use the Micro sponges for cleaning leather as they will damage the leather finish which will always need replacing.  They are fine as part of the restoration process but not for cleaning.  They may appear to 'work miracles' but that is because of the damage they are doing!! 

In this case as the leather finish has already started to deteriorate the only process would be to restore it.  New techniques are just being trialed  to repair this problem in bicast leather with BRIT and LTT finishes which are proving very successful but you have to understand the processes before you can tackle these type of jobs.

Whilst the leather cleaning processes are very straightforward you do have to understand the type of leather you are dealing with and the results you can expect before you start and also use products that have technical support to hand so that your supplier can help you with problems such as this.

Give us a ring if you need any further advice or to talk through anything.

Hope this helps
Regards
LTT

[Mike_Roper]

The best advice is to get some training so you know whatyour doing or it will bite you on the bum.No disrespect.
    Mike

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Paul pass it to me and take a cut.

Shaun

shaun_ashmore@lineone.net

[Bob Robertson]

I had one like this and referred it to Andy (LTT). It was not a cleaning job by any means and I have no idea what the cause was. The custy is sending one of the seat covers for inspection to Andy. Even if you take a photo and post it on here, the experts may be able to advise the best course of action.

Bob