Stains on Hancock and Moore Class 4 Leather

We purchased an H&M sofa about five months ago (I'm looking at my invoice that says Capri Harness but not sure what it means). It's Class IV and we knew it was unprotected but didn't think that would be a problem. Everything was great until we noticed some slight discoloration on the cushion where my husband's hair hits, natural body oil, he does not use any product. We contacted our design studio where we purchased the product, sent them a picture which they forwarded to H&M. That took several weeks. They also warned us that the longer the "stain" remained the harder it would be to remove.

H&M responded that "they do not feel confident in recommending any solutions that they can guarantee will work to remove the oil stain. They proposed an option to have headrest covers made, which would be a square piece of leather with a finished edge, that you lay across the top of the back cushion when sitting to help protect the areas. You can have one made for each cushion or just have one for the cushion that has the oil on it." We couldn't believe they wouldn't recommend a product and their antimacassar solution was not something we wanted to consider--UGLY. The owner of the shop said if we brought our cushion in, he would try to get rid of the "oil" with the products they had in their store. However, we're older and quarantined and were unable to do so. He tested several products on the sample of our sofa that he retained and came up with two suggestions.

Our seller recommended we try "Whoohoo Clean – Leather Cleaner and Conditioner” which used to be sold on Amazon but is not longer available. Their second recommendation was Lexol which they said did not discolor the leather but may not be as good in removing the "stain." I really find it hard to believe that this isn't a common problem with leather and that H&M didn't have a better solution or a product to recommend.

While we were waiting for a solution we found another small stain on a cushion and for the life of us have no idea what it is nor how it got there. It looks like it could be blood or chocolate. We are at a loss as to how to proceed. We would be ever so grateful for recommendations as to how to proceed for both stains.

Thank you.

Capri is one of four "Naked" leathers that are super-soft, super-elegant and have nothing more than a very light teflon topcoat on the hide. So yes, they are both sunlight fade prone, and can be stained. There is a barrier coat product I recommend for people that buy this class of leather which gives you a bit of a fighting chance against stains and its from Leather Solutions:

http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...hlight=barrier

Here's something we know about headrest stains:

1) This is a stain caused by oils in the skin and it seems to only occur when older men (say over the age of 50) use the piece. There is some kind of chemical change in the male body as we age that causes this, but someone smarter than I would have to tell you what the body chemical change is, but it's very real and I run into this situation regularly. I make it a point to tell all my customers buying in the class of leather about this, so they can take steps to prevent it.

2) You cannot remove the stain as a consumer. Don't put anything on it, the advice you are getting is erroneous and any product put on it will set the stain forever. Lexol in particular is garbage. The only way to remove the stain is to send it to a leather professional. Pam at Leather Solutions International can remove about 98% of the stain, and she does so by doing it from the backside of the hide and drawing it out via a proprietary process that requires about a week of work. I would bundle up the cover if the back cushions are removable (you didn't say which model sofa you have) and UPS it to her. You can see photos of a before and after on her website. Not sure what she would charge, probably $ 100 to $ 150.

https://www.damagedleathersolutions.com/


3) The small stain you have elsewhere may work itself out over a period of 2 to 8 months. Leave it alone and don't put anything on it. About 3/4's of all stains will dissipate on their own if you don't fuss on the area with chemicals.

4) Get a Leather Solutions Aniline Kit for maintenance and use it every 3 months. In between uses, wipe the headrest area and tops of the arms with a damp cloth. That will prevent the majority of headrest stains. You have to be proactive on it by staying with a maintenance program before you see stains appear. A kit is $ 50 + $ 14 to ship, it's the only approved product to use that H&M recommends. This is not going to help your current stains, but will help maintain the sofa and partially guard against future ones.

http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...for-all-brands

5) Last option is to send in the existing stained cover to H&M and have them remove the damaged panel and sew in a new one of the casing is detachable. That's typically about $ 200 - $ 250 or so. Your dealer can assist you with that.

6) Hancock and Moore will never recommend anything other than a damp cloth with a bit of soap to clean because of liability issues and attorneys. It's unfortunate didn't get a good briefing on Capri leather from the selling dealer to assist you in caring for the piece. It's a great leather - one of the very finest offered, but it does require a higher level of care and maintenance.

thanks for this advice. Unfortunately, it's probably too late on the small stains but that's all I'm going to say about that (I did a dumb thing). H&M recommended to our dealer that we get leather antimacassars made to place over the oil stains (and then I guess get oil stains on them). Not what we wish to see or do on a $10K piece of furniture.

One small question. How do we use the Leather Solutions Aniline Kit for maintenance on the existing stain? I would imagine we would just avoid that area? right now he's using a terry towel over the stain to absorb any oils--I can't tell you how great that looks, sigh. I'm also assuming it's too late for the barrier coat product?

Yes, it is unfortunate we didn't receive a better briefing. We voiced our concerns about Aniline and were reassured. We got excellent service, leather sample and approval before construction, all high end stuff but in retrospect we realize the dealer probably doesn't have enough leather experience.
Thanks much for your help.

I can't really advise without photos to see what we are talking about. I truly hope you are exaggerating the cost of the sofa some, a Studio sofa in GR 4 should not cost $ 10,000.

You don't way where you are located, but this is what I would do since the Studio Sofa has a tight back, you have to take the entire sofa in.

1) get it back to Hancock and Moore and have it re-leathered in that area While they have to do a full frame teardown and pull the leather off the piece, it would be worth it.

2) get the sofa to Pam at Leather Solutions in Asheville NC, she can probably get that out but it takes a week of work to do it. Take some photos and email them to her at leathersolutions@live.com

Don't put anything on stains, leave them alone as they have to be pulled out from the backside of the leather. Yes, too late for a barrier product.

I was exaggerating but only a bit. It was $8962 which includes what we were quoted as 8-9% freight. We're in CA. It was ordered back on 11/26/19 and we didn't receive it until Feb or so. I don't remember all the details but there was a special kind of treatment. Not sure if it was "distressed" or not. There's one other dealer in our city and prices there were a bit cheaper (but they didn't have the expertise and only had "regular" leather) but I negotiated a comparable discount. It's a "#1233 Lennon, basic treatment loose, Class IV leather, Capri Harness (I don't know what that means)"

Let me search around and see if I can figure out how to upload photos. In the meantime, please tell me what I should photograph?

Thanks much for your help.

The # 1233 Lennon sofa is loose back, so the cushions come off and you can easily UPS the casing to Pam at Leather Solutions. Scroll down to the 7th photo at this link to see before/after of a body / hair oil stain.

https://www.damagedleathersolutions.com/before-after

Capri Harness is a super soft GR 4 luxury hide that is naked with no protective finish. Pam can fix you up with everything you need and repair the casing. Call or email her.

Next time give me a ring if you want to buy H&M, I think you would be surprised at my price for that sofa.

Hi,
Since I figured out how to attach photos I thought I would attach them. We have no idea what the small stains are, we NEVER eat on the couch and they suddenly appeared one one day, the other the next. Never dawned on us to go out of town to look for a leather sofa. I'm pretty sure we paid extra for the "distressed" or whatever it is called finish but perhaps not. I'm almost 78 so the sofa will be here much longer than I? I'll contact Pam to see what help she might be and with an investment of this size i'm sure it's worth pursuing but I shudder at the two way freight, no sofa available, etc. Although, (Covid Brain) we can just send the casings as you said and use a blanket or some other thing and continue to use the couch. You've helped a lot.

What would be your advice once/if we get the body oil treated. Apply the finish you recommended and then go bare? In the meantime, we're in a senior living community, quarantined, and it will be very difficult to get these packaged and shipped, what is your advice on the body oil. As I said earlier, he currently has a turkish towel over the stain.

Thanks much,
diane

Those stains are pretty light. Distressing is not an option at H&M, Capri leather isn't distressed, either. Sometimes the small stains may work themselves out on their own, give them some time to dissipate, or you can box them up as well as send to Pam. She also has a barrier treatment product, ask her to apply that once she gets them all cleaned up again. Then do your maintenace with their kits every three to four months and wipe down that headrest area with a damp (not wet) clean cloth frequently in between. Good luck

Those little stains on the seat cushions are probably just from someone having something on their pants / dress would be my guess.