[Steve Chapman]

Have cleaned a few pigmented leather suites but have been asked to clean an

italian aniline leather suite which is stained and badly faded, have not seen it

yet but will post some pics when i have been!

Apparently the stains are from polystyrene boxes !? and then faded by being

in the sun too long!

Before you say dont bother, he has told me that he will tip it if i cant do

anything with it, but is happy for it to be re coloured and not bothered about

what shade or if its a lot darker, so i guess its worth a shot.

Anyhow my question is,whats the best product to clean with and how, and can

I re colour it with the leather balm form furniture clinic?

I've already told him the stains probably wont come out, but he just wants it to

look half reasonable, since he paid a lot of money for it a few years ago!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Dont say walk away as i like a good challenge

steve

[Mike Osbourne]

Steve

That's a gem of a job to play with and get experience.

Have you looked on the FC trade area guides?

[davep]

See Dr Moss..  You can only recolour it to the colour of the darkest stain or part of couch.  I think its a realy long tedious job though?

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Its quite easy to apply a restoration dye to an analine - speak to Andy at LTT, the way he showed me was simple. Mind you I'm not saying I have got the balls to attempt it myself yet !

Steve

[Ben Staerck]

Hi Steve,

To clean the leather it's best to use a brush and leather cleaner together, apply the cleaner to the brush as a foam and then clean the leather. Be prepared to have to clean it 2 or 3 times, each time you clean it will start to look better.

We just cleaned a really light coloured aniline and had to do it 3 times to get really good results - it took the best part of a day so don't charge too little.

As for the stains, cleaning may reduce them. You can apply the re-colouring balm once the leather has been cleaned to restore the colour, this will also help blend the stains in.

To get a good fix on the stains, mix up a small pot of colourant and spray it lightly over the stain to blend it in. If done correctly you can't really tell where the stain was, and it should blend it very well, despite the leather being aniline.

See the pics below.

[LTT Leathercare]

Aniline leathers do not clean well and little time needs to be spent doing this.
 
The key is to use aniline dyes to recolour which will soak into the leather (these are the original aniline dyes that were used to colour it in the first place).  They are not sprayed on as this leaves the product sitting on the surface but the dye is easily applied by hand and soaks into the leather to recolur it.  You can usually apply the product 2 - 3 times before it will not take any more.  Recolouring will help blend in the stains that are there but will not recolour them as this is the nature of the leather.  Applying products that sit on the surface and cover over stains are not aniline resotration products and will change the nature of the leather.

The process is very simple and fairly quick but you can charge good money as the results are so impressive.  It is well worth having a go if he is willing.  The good thing about aniline dyes is that the colour mixing is simple and the system never fails, it cannot peel off or crack and will last a long time.  A light finish can be applied which will make the furniture more durable.

The beauty of aniline restoration is that you do not have to worry about grease problmes as the dyes will penetrate these if required.  Using pigments or pigment based products that sit on the surface will require degreasing as they will not adhere properly in those areas.

The picture shows a very well used aniline half way through restoration.

[Steve Chapman]

Thanks all for the speedy replies

to sum up then,

to clean i just use the same standard leather cleaner but as a foam and with a brush?

the leather balm will not re colour it as such, but just restore the colour a little?

to get a decent finish i need to use aniline dye and apply by cloth?

am i on the right track here?

regards
steve

[LTT Leathercare]

That sounds about right. 

Cleaning with a foam is the standard way to clean and just agitate with a sponge, most of the product will be soaked up anyway by the leather (depending on how dry it is) but it is always wise to do this first as then the aniline dyes will not be 'grabbed ' too quickly by the leather.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Judy/Andy it sounds easier than redyeing pigmented is that correct?

Just simply 'wipe it in/on'?

Shaun

[Paul Redden Countryfresh]

Judy do you need a swatch to match the dye or is it a standard off the shelf dye.
results look impressive.
Paul

[LTT Leathercare]

Aniline restoration is much easier than pigment restoration and is great because it cannot fail.  The aniline dyes are a wipe on product and should not be sprayed as this would allow them to sit on the surface - you actually want them to soak iinto the leather.
It is not a long tedious job and is one of the most straightforward processes there is in the restoration side of leather.

Colour mixing is simple and although you can have a custom mix done to match a swatch you really can do it yourself.  There are 7 base colours but 2 of those are blue and green so these are not generally required.  You cannot really change the colour on anilines (occassionally you may be able to go  darker if required)  but you can dye back to the original colour which will help blend any stains that are already there as you can see on the photo above.

[John Gregory]

Reading this post with interest just had a email come throu askiing for a quote on a analine 3 and 2 seater  , so after applying the dye is there any way of protecting the leather

John

[LTT Leathercare]

You can add an aniline satin gloss finish which will give it a much more hard wearing surface than it probably had in the first place  (this also comes in tinted colours to help blend and add more colour on seriously faded leathers) but if you do not want to finish you simply use Ultra Protect which is the most effective protector on this type of leather.  This will inhibit body oils and spillages from being absorbed into the leather and also has a UV protector in it to help resist fading (although over time it will always continuse to fade due to the nature of the leather). 

Protecting is always crucial on anilines and should always be done although most consumers are not told this at the point of sale.

Hope this helps

[*paul_moss]

Judy have you got a trade price list for dyes?

Also is the finish you use the same as your gloss finish for pigmented  leather?

[Ben Staerck]

Steve,

The only way to fix those stains is to spray a colourant on top of the leather.  Unless the stains can be removed.

Restoring the colour to aniline leather isn't difficult as it soaks up what you apply, either the balm or dye.

[Steve Chapman]

Hi Ben,

Why spray the colourant rather than applying with a cloth, does it make a difference? & are you talking about just treating the stains before re colouring the whole area?

cheers
steve

[LTT Leathercare]

Spraying anything onto the surface of an aniline will leave the colour on the surface.  If the colourant is a pigment then this will change the nature of what the leather is ie. turn an aniline style into a pigment coated (not normally what the customer would want) There may also be issues with adhesion if the aniline has any wax/oil finish on it.

Aniline colours will not get rid of staining but will help to blend them in whilst retaining the character of the leather.

Aniline restoration products come in a variety of sizes

150ml       £7.50
250ml       £8.50
1L            £30.00

and are available in red, yellow, black, brown, green, blue, orange

We can also do a custom mix in any of the above sizes which adds about £10.00 to the cost

The finish we use on anilines is the same base finish (Satin Gloss) that we would use during the finishing process on pigments (a very light product but very strong finish) but the ones we use on anilines generally have a colour content (tinted finish) which will further enhance the colour.  The finishes with colour in are not as strong a product as the transparent finish because as soon as you add a colour content you weaken the finish however these are ideal for anilines and will not detract in any way from its character

[derek west]

hi andy/judy, can you tell me when the next day 2 course is,
i know richard williams who you trained last course and he recommended the day 2,
cheers
derek

[LTT Leathercare]

Hi

The next availability for the 2 days is September 11th an 12th.  We are full y booked until then and it would be wise to book soon as our September, October and November courses are filling up fast.
Richard really enjoyed the course.

[derek west]

yeah he said he enjoyed it to, i enjoyed the iicrc that you took, 90% pass rate, quite happy with that. think i'll book for the september one. might even try day 3 aswell. what day is  analine dyeing?