Originally Posted by
drcollie
Hancock and Moore sends out a small booklet with each piece that details leather care and has the signature of every employee who worked on your piece. These are ALWAYS thrown away by the delivery companies and I have been unsuccessful in getting either H&M to attach them to the pieces themselves or any of the blanket wrap companies to keep them with the pieces, and I have spent hours and hours in the quest to do so. So its rare to get that but if you contact H&M they will send you a replacement on in the mail.
I am no fan of Document leather - and I state that all over the forum. I do not buy it for my floor pieces and if customers ask me about it I will advise them to select another hide. However, its a primary leather in the H&M Town and Country program and as such folks buy it because its price friendly. I find it to be over-processed, and it has a very thin coat of paint on it which keeps it soft and supple. Too much paint, the leather gets hard. As a result of that thin coat of paint, its subject to showing friction wear and complaints such as yours are common with Document. The paint is literally wearing away. All painted leathers are subject to friction wear (i.e., 'scratches') with use. I believe you are seeing the color wear away based on your description. There is no consumer solution to that, you need a professional leather restorer to come into your home, patch the tears and then repaint the hides. You can get a successful restoration hiring a pro to do it, and you probably should go that route. Document is nor particularly prone to cuts or tears, however - that would be something contacting the leather to damage it in your home.
I prefer aniline hides for this reason and others as well. Aniline leathers are dyed, not painted, so there is no color to wear away per se, though aniline hides can be damaged by exposure to sunlight and extensive soiling. However, 90% of all leather consumers feel they MUST have a 'protected' leather (which is painted) because they are told that by so many store personnel that don't know what leather is all about. Some painted hides do better than others, Document series and Antelope are perhaps the two most prone to chipping finishes and friction wear in the lineup, because the paint is on very, very thin on those leathers.