Smooth out leather wrinkles & conditioning question

Greetings.

I have a recliner and on the back, where the leather folds in on one side, it's somewhat wrinkly and bumpy. The other side of the chair is fairly flat and clean, so I know it can look better. I was never really happy with that and was hoping to make it look cleaner since the back is in plain view. I read that using a hairdryer can help tighten up leather. I think part of the reason it looks wrinkly is because of how the leather was glued down on the inside fold. Just wasn't very neat. I think if I use the hair dryer, the adhesive might actually soften and the leather might come free so I can flatten and reposition it. What kind of adhesive is typically used? After heating, if the adhesive does in fact separate, what adhesive would be safe to use to bond the pieces again if I need to reconnect them?

Also, the cleaning label advises to only wipe down this leather with a dry cloth, but I would love to occasionally be able to wipe it down with something lightly moist, and even condition it. I have a quality conditioner that I use for a pull up leather sofa. What concerns would there be using a conditioner on this leather? The chair was manufactured by H&M. Leather is top-grain, full-aniline-dyed

I do have a swatch of leather to experiment with.

Thanks for any input on my questions.

Attachment 4087Attachment 4088

Heat will often smooth the leather, as will sunlight on a warm day. I often use both to smooth out leather from packing marks in shipping and it works easily. I am not sure that will solve the wrinkle issue on your piece, however. If you don't get too aggressive with the heat, you can't hurt it so give it a try. I did put a call into the Recliner Production Manager at H&M for his input, but he has gone for the day and won't be in until Monday. No one at H&M there at 5:00 p.m. could speak with any knowledge as to the adhesive on that area.

Dry cloth wiping does nothing but spread the dust around. At the very least use a damp cloth (not sopping wet) to remove all the dirt and oils built up on it, that goes a very long way to maintaining the leather. I also favor LeatherMagic Cleaner and Conditioners myself. Anything used on a pull-up leather (which is an aniline) should be equally as good on this piece.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

Heat will often smooth the leather, as will sunlight on a warm day. I often use both to smooth out leather from packing marks in shipping and it works easily. I am not sure that will solve the wrinkle issue on your piece, however. If you don't get too aggressive with the heat, you can't hurt it so give it a try. I did put a call into the Recliner Production Manager at H&M for his input, but he has gone for the day and won't be in until Monday. No one at H&M there at 5:00 p.m. could speak with any knowledge as to the adhesive on that area.

Dry cloth wiping does nothing but spread the dust around. At the very least use a damp cloth (not sopping wet) to remove all the dirt and oils built up on it, that goes a very long way to maintaining the leather. I also favor LeatherMagic Cleaner and Conditioners myself. Anything used on a pull-up leather (which is an aniline) should be equally as good on this piece.

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Duane, as always, great advice. I agree the dry cloth is basically useless. I have a pull up leather couch and wipe it down regularly with a damp cloth and condition 2x a year. Works wonderfully. I'll give it a go on my sample swatch then the chair.

I appreciate you checking with H&M regarding the adhesive. I'll proceed conservatively at first with the heat. I agree that what I'm seeing probably won't be addressed so much by the heat, as what I'm seeing probably has more to do with how the leather was folded into the adhesive -- The contact points created from leather touching adhesive vs the areas that aren't making contact is causing the bubbly look. Should you get feedback from H&M, it'd be great to hear. Cheers!

Thought I'd give a little follow up. Recently used the hair dryer approach and was able to separate the leather from the adhesive fairly easily. That helped to flatten things out a bit, though I think inevitably this area will always remain a bit bumpy. If I gently remove the remaining adhesive I might be able to flatten it some more. Not sure what adhesive I'll use to adhere the fold back together, but not super critical to do so at this point. Visually, you can't really tell I undid the bond.

Duane, per your instructions, I was able to wipe down and condition the chair with no issues.

Thanks

Glad it was successful!