[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

I cleaned a suite today and the finish came off a seat cushion and a few bits and pieces here and there. Nothing too major but I told him he could have the areas resprayed but not by me. Does anyone do this? Give me a shout via the forum and ill pass his details on. Cheers

[vangaurd]

easy john i will tell you how to do it 01914286740 tony

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

I have a pretty good idea Tony but dont really have the time to be honest, thought someone might want it? Would you be interested? J

[vangaurd]

yes mate post his details i wil give him a bell regards m8

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

By the way Tony did a fella ring you up about a suite I told him u might be able to do? He sounded like a right one on the phone tho, so thought Id pass him on to yourself hahaha

[Deep Clean Newcastle Gateshead]

Any problems we do full leather restoration and resprays as well.
Aidan

[mark_roberts]

What product did you use as its looks patchy maybe just the photo.

If its well worn then you may have to 'paint' all the contact areas to blend it in.

Mark

[Ian Rochester]

I bet you used the extracta leather cleaner, it's often too strong a product for pigmented leathers and will take the top lacquer off in a flash.

I brought this to extractas attention when they first started doing the leather products.  It is an excellent cleaner but you need to dilute it down to 50% and you won't have any more problems.

When I did the leather course at LTT we tested it against their own Maxi clean and it was stronger than even that product.

[carpet guy]

Are you sure this a pigmented suite, I know it looks shiny, but it could easily be analine

[*paul_moss]

Carpet guy, hope that is a wind up. If not you better get yourself on a leather course quick.

[vangaurd]

it needs to be preped and resprayed
carpet guy what you been drinking?

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Well the funny thing was it was a 2 seater and a 3 seater sofa I had to do. The photo shown was by far the worst of it. The rest of the suite was ok with only one or two small patchy areas no bigger than a clenched fist that were problematic.

I was pretty sure it was pigmented leather but I have to be honest it did cross my mind it could be analine leather. When I sprayed the cleaner on it seemed to be ok but maybe it was very slightly porus....oops! I did the nail test and no mark was left. It was a strange leather, unlike anything I had done before.

Yes I do get my chemical from Extracta, but upon saying that I have only just started to dilute it 50% with water. I must say ive never had any problems with it before even when sprayed on neat, the results have always been terrific.

[*paul_moss]

It is with out doubt pigmented leather.( could have a light top coat) and thats why it seamed semi porous.
The problem is that the top coat is very weak, this may be from poor application ( there is a lot of chineese leather on the market at the moment suffering from poor top coat application) or it could be the top coat has worn down with age/use or poor cleaning technique/wrong chemicals. The biggest problem i find with this ype of situation is that baby wipes are being used for cleaning the leather,a lot of baby wipes are alcohol based and this is causing damage to the top coat ( bet if you asked the customer what she is using to clean the suite, she will say baby wipes)

This is easily picked up on your audit before pricing the job and the use of a microscope is an important bit of kit that will  help dentify the weak/damaged top coat.

Repair is straight forward, by removing the old top coat fully, then recolour( if necesary) then applying a new top coat. Note you will have to do the complete seat area not just the small damaged bit.
I would guess that if there are other  weak areas then it may be necessary to top coat all the usage areas fully.

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hmmmm thanks everyone. Some very interesting responses here! I have emailed my custy and let him know the situation. Thanks again to everyone who replied I am extremely grateful,

John

[carpet guy]

I would never assume anything from a picture on a computer monitor and " it was different from any other leather he'd previously cleaned". Alarm bells !!!!!!

I agree it has the appearance in this picture of being pigmented, but the shiny effect could be from water , or "conditioner"and the picture is'nt clear enough to determine the reality, or otherwise , of the grain.

Get out the magnifying glass, unless you are certain of the finish

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Yes the shine would have been from conditioning (Extracta's Seal & Shine).

[vangaurd]

carpet guy what orbit are u on the leather is pigmented end of story
if you had exp you would know that
dont give john advice untill you go on a course . dont mean to sound bad but we are trained m8

[carpet guy]

Sorry Vanguard you are probably right................I've only been cleaning leather for 20 years and only attended a couple of courses , which puts me at a huge disadvantage compared to someone of your experience and stature.

[vangaurd]

so why could you not identify that leather m8

[carpet guy]

Not your mate and just wondered .................have you actually come across an analine suite. Also, my comment was simply, as any experienced individual would suggest to a novice like yourself, to stop and consider the possibilities, rather than make a costly mistake.

First thing you were taught on your course was, always use the magnifier, JUST IN CASE as things are'nt always what they seem.