[ISM_CLEANING]

Hi all,

Could anyone give advice on removing a watermark from a tan leather armchair, it had been sitting under a leeking loft window, the leather is quite old and tight.
Saddle soap maybe? any suuggestions will be gratefully received.

Many thanks
Ian Mckenzie

[LTT Leathercare]

Generally speaking water marks are impossible to remove.  If it is on a pigment it can be coloured over.  If it is on an aniline type leather (pull up etc.) there is very little you can do but you may be able to blend it in with aniline dye or the appropriate pull up cream.

Beware of 'having a go' as you could do a lot more damage.

Saddle soap is a totally unsuitable product for most upholstery leathers and should only be used on saddles as the name suggests, a lot of damage can be done to finishes on furniture if it is used.

Hope this helps
Judy

[Harry]

Ian, you will need to be able to properly identify the  type of leather you are dealing with first and then assuming that you know how, you can clean it quite easily if it is Protected or Pigmented Leather. However it is likely an unfinished leather - Nubuck or Aniline.

Nubuck is very nearly impossible to difficult to deal with but if it Aniline you can only remove watermarks if you are able to re-apply the finish as the process involves removing the damaged finish.
Sorry there is better news.

[ISM_CLEANING]

Many thanks for advice,
unfortunately I think the chance of removing or making better are pretty slim.

Ian

[LTT Leathercare]

Hi Ian

Dont be downhearted.  There are many ways to make things look better but you do as Harry says have to be certain of what type of leather you are dealing with.  

Re-colouring on a pigment suite is possible as is restorative cleaning for anilines (the results from this are very impressive).  The only type that will prove almost impossible is a nubuck although some cleaners have had good results with these.

If you need any further advice please call us on 01423 881027 and we will be glad to help

Cheers
Judy

[cheryl new]

Hi all,

Judy, can you advise how to distinguish between the different leather types.  If it didn't have a label on it, I wouldn't have a clue.  What would you do if the client didn't know if it had been previously protected - is it easy to identify these things?

I haven't started my cc biz yet, so this both fascinates and worries me!

Any advice greatly received.

Many thanks.

Cheryl

[LTT Leathercare]

Hi

Leather labelling at the moment is very limited in its information mainly due to the huge increase in finishes appearing on the market.

There are several tests that can be done to establish the basic type of leather you are dealing with but all the tests require a certain amount of experience to enable you to use the infomation they give correctly.

A start would be to look at 'What type of leather do you have?' on our web site http://www.LTTsolutions.net
This is a chart which you follow and will give a basic indication of type.

More information would then be available on one of our courses.  We actually spend a lot of time on the course on leather identification as it is such a vital area and has to be understood before any further work can be undertaken.

Hope this helps
Judy

[cheryl new]

Many thanks.

I can see myself definitely attending one of yr courses in the future.

Thanks again.

Best regards
Cheryl