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Sofas with leather surfaces are synonymous with elegance in home rooms, so it is important to maintain them in good condition at all times. To do this, we must learn to clean and care for this type of armchair, in order to provide a long useful life.
Genuine or faux leather sofas are an important part of home furnishings, usually found in the living room. Its function goes beyond serving as a support for us to sit down to have a drink or a coffee with family and some friends who visit us.
In addition, the leather sofas are part of the decorative elements of the room, giving the spaces a distinctive and elegant touch that everyone will notice at first sight.
This type of furniture has a tendency to collect dust, as well as being exposed to unexpected spills and crumbs, especially if there are children at home.
For this reason, it is important to frequently clean the leather armchairs that we have at home because, in this way, we will be extending their useful life. Remember that deep-rooted dirt causes stains and gradually deteriorates the surface of the leather until it weakens and tears.
Such damage can be avoided if we follow a cleaning routine for the leather sofa. It is a simple step by step, which will not take much time, accompanied by some basic recommendations to treat the manufacturing material, whether natural or synthetic. If you don’t know how to clean leather sofas, we’ll explain in detail right away. Thus, you will enjoy comfortable armchairs with a pleasant aesthetic.
Easy cleaning in three steps
If it is the first time that you have a piece of furniture of this type, it is normal for you to ask yourself, how to clean a leather sofa? The good news is that it is not as complicated as some might suppose. First of all, you should keep in mind that cleaning the leather sofa is a task that should be done every fifteen days or once a month at the latest, because if it is postponed for a longer period of time, then the dirt will be more hard to remove. If you have a leather armchair at home, the invitation is to follow these three simple steps to get rid of the dust and give the furniture a better appearance.
Vacuum the sofa
The best way to start cleaning the sofa is by removing all the dust particles, food crumbs and lint that can be found on it. You can use a cotton cloth if cleaning is frequent, while the soft bristle brush is ideal for times when the concentration of dirt is greater. In fact, using a manual vacuum cleaner is the most recommended to access any nook and cranny of the structure effectively.
Clean with a damp cloth
Surely, the surface of the sofa has some stain due to constant use, so you should moisten a cloth with water and rub it with circular movements all over the chair. But, if after finishing this cleaning the yellowish tone or any other punctual stain persists, it is best to apply a special product for leather.
Likewise, when cleaning the leather you can remove stains from the sofa by applying alcohol on the affected area with the help of a cotton mop. Also, you can use an egg white, beat it until stiff and rub it on the stain.
polish the surface
When you finish cleaning the sofa, you will notice that the leather looks clean, but with a dull and dehydrated finish. You should not worry, as this does not mean that the used sofa cleaning products have deteriorated the surface. What happens is that leather sofas must be polished so that they acquire a shiny appearance.
You will only have to rub a cloth with a little baby powder on the sofa. Next, make a mixture of beeswax and turpentine and apply it. Let sit for about an hour and buff with a dry cloth.
Basic recommendations for cleaning a leather sofa
Cleaning the leather sofa is considered a low-complexity task. However, it cannot be done lightly, since, to remove dirt and take care of the surface of the leather armchair, it is necessary to take into account these two basic recommendations.
Protects the sofa from solar and artificial radiation
Prevent the leather sofa from being in direct contact with the sun, since constant exposure to this type of radiation makes the material acquire a rigid texture and, therefore, the surface is more prone to breaking.
Likewise, stains may appear on genuine leather due to the action of the sun’s rays, which is very intense. For example, on a white leather sofa, excess sun creates yellowish spots, while black ones take on a dull and aged tone. For all these reasons, it is recommended that the chair is not close to the windows.
Similarly, artificial radiation from lamps and heaters is detrimental to the good condition of leather armchairs. The ideal is to plan the distribution of space within the living room and try, as much as possible, that the sofa is not under the direct light of the lamp and, at least, half a meter from the heating.
Be careful with cleaning products
The market has a wide variety of leather cleaning products, whose cream or spray formula is specially made to treat said material in depth. With them, it is possible to remove superficial or deep-rooted dirt, hydrating the leather and, sometimes, giving a shiny finish to the surface of leather sofas. Therefore, it is prudent to avoid using dishwasher, bleach, degreasers or any other product that can have an abrasive effect on the leather.
In addition, there are some homemade recipes for cleaning leather sofas available on the web that you can apply with confidence. However, you should investigate the ingredients to be used and confirm that the natural chemistry is not aggressive.
In fact, this applies to the water used during cleaning, whose lime concentration must be low, because said mineral can easily discolor black and brown leather.
