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A common misconception many people have when it comes to leather couches is that they are not ideal for homes, especially homes with children or pets.
The belief is that leather couches tend to wear and tear easily. In addition, many believe that it’s tough to maintain a leather couch as they are prone to discoloration. For this reason, we’ve decided to write this article.
Below we’ll show you how to fix leather couch discoloration.
Causes of Leather Couch Discoloration
There are lots of reasons why leather couch discoloration happens, but in our experience, these are the most common causes of leather couch discoloration:
- Constant/Excessive Use – If you constantly use your leather couch, they’ll give in to wear and tear and lose their color.
- Sunlight Exposure – Exposing your leather couch to sunlight, especially for some time, leads to discoloration.
- Leaving Stains To Dry – Whether it’s a stain from a dirty solid object or a spill, leaving stains to dry can result in a leather couch losing its color.
- Using Harsh Chemicals – Harsh detergents, chemicals or soaps are also known to cause leather couch discoloration.
- Excessive Heat – Too much heat (for instance, heat from a heating vent) causes leather couch discoloration.
Fixing Leather Couch Discoloration
Now that we know why a leather couch loses its shine or color, we can focus on how to fix it. Fixing a leather couch discoloration is not as hard as it sounds.
The key is making sure that you have the right equipment and with just the right amount of expertise or experience.
Things you’ll need when fixing leather couch discoloration:
- Leather Dye Kit
- Leather Preparation Product
- Sponge (An Abrasive Cleaning Pad)
- Painter’s Drop-Cloth
- Leather Couch Dye Applicator Sponge
- Small Paintbrush
- Vinyl Gloves
How To Fix Leather Couch Discoloration: The Process
In most cases, when one is faced with color issues on their leather couch, they usually think that their sofa is done for. This is far from the truth. In fact, it’s relatively easy to fix leather couch discoloration.
This is usually an art form, and like any other art, if you are a good artist, you’ll be able to properly restore the color of your leather in no time.
Also, like an artist, you need to arm yourself with the right tools. A wide range of materials and tools should allow you to properly fix any leather couch discoloration. Even better, it will make the process extremely easy. The steps to follow are:
Step 1: Preparation
Like with any other project, preparation is critical when fixing leather couch discoloration.
In most cases, you are going to work on your leather couch while it’s still in your living room, maybe on top of your carpet, your beloved tiled floors, and so on.
To protect the area you will work on, you can and should lay down newspapers around your leather couch. If you don’t have newspapers with you, use a painter’s drop cloth by placing it beneath your couch. Doing this helps in making sure that you’ll not stain your carpet or your beloved-tiled floor.
Step 2: Getting Your Leather Couch Ready For The Dye
Now that you are confident you cannot stain your carpet or floor, it is time to get your leather couch ready for the dye. Worth pointing out, this is a very crucial step, and such you’ll need to be very careful here.
Why dye, some will ask? Well, to fix discoloration or simply restore the color of your leather couch, you’ll need to dye it. Making sure that your leather couch is ready for the dye is essential.
Luckily, the process of preparing your leather couch for a dye is not that difficult or tedious. It involves cleaning your leather couch thoroughly.
This is something you can do this using a leather preparation product. With it at hand (leather preparation product), start by applying it on the abrasive side.
Remember to clean your leather couch thoroughly. A sponge should help you do this with ease.
Once you are done cleaning your leather couch, leave it to dry for around 20 to 25 minutes.
In addition to helping you clean your leather couch thoroughly, a leather preparation product helps remove other dirt elements on your leather couch, such as oil or grease.
Step 3: Painting
The third step when fixing leather couch discoloration is painting. Before you start, you’ll need to confirm that your leather couch is dry. If it’s dry, start painting the seams and the piping of your leather couch using a paintbrush with your preferred leather dye.
Once you’ve covered all corners, take the dye and start applying it to the foam applicator. With the dye evenly spread on the foam applicator, wipe it across your leather couch.
While doing this, make sure that you apply an even amount of pressure while gradually making your way through the entire couch.
Key when applying dye on your leather couch is making sure that you cover every spot. You can guarantee this by picking a perfect spot to start. For example, you can start applying the dye from the top going down or from down going up.
Regardless of how you chose to go about it, just see that the dye gets into cracks and wrinkles on your leather couch.
Step 4: Add A Second Layer of Dye
Once you are done applying the first round of your preferred leather couch dye, it is advised that you add another layer. This helps ensure that you’ll be left with your desired leather couch color when you finish.
Remember not to add too much dye when adding a second layer and keep it strictly two light layers. Doing this helps in ensuring that you’ll get a rich, intense color when you are done.
Step 5: Let Your Leather Couch Dry
Once you are done applying the second round of leather couch dye, allow your leather couch to dry. Depending on the conditions, you can let it dry for up to 48 hours.
Don’t try to dry it using direct sunlight in order to get it to dry fast. This will end up damaging your leather couch sofa all over again.
Conclusion
Having and maintaining a leather couch is not as hard as it’s believed to be. With the right equipment, you should be able to fix leather couch discoloration easily at your home.
If you are not sure about what you are doing, especially when it comes to the dyes, you should seek the advice or the services of a professional. Moreover, only professionals are in a position to see issues that might arise after fixing a leather couch discoloration.
