Ballpoint pen on leather

So my dear wife texted me yesterday that she accidentally rubbed a blue ball point pen along the side of our leather recliner. Ugh. Not knowing how to clean it, I asked her to leave it be until I got home and could inspect. The pen essentially left an inch and a half line of blue ink on the light brown leather. Hooray. Not wanting to let the ink settle any longer than it already had, I proceeded to take a swatch of the leather, put some pen lines on it, did some test cleans. Soap and water didn't do much. Hair spray of course took the pen right off but pretty much smeared the leather dye in the process. Alcohol didn't seem to cut it. I then tried Lestoil, putting some on a Qtip and gently rolling over the ink rather than rubbing. This seem to gradual remove the ink while doing the least amount of dye removal and abrasion to the leather. I applied this technique to the chair and overall it doesn't look too bad. At close inspection now in daylight my two observations would be:

1. the area looks a bit lighter -- obviously from the gentle action of the Qtip.
2. area also looks slightly yellower -- wondering if the Lestoil or the conditioner that I applied over it afterwards created this slight off color.

Yes, these types of repairs are probably left to the professional, but given our crazy work schedules, I didn't want the ink settling deeper into the leather over time.

Any possibilities to dark that area on the leather ever so slightly? Chair is made by H&M, but was sold through Crate & Barrel.

thanks

Re: Ballpoint pen on leather

Well - the damage is already done....but, what you should have done is get some Ink Remover from Leather Magic, and if you follow the instructions exactly it will dissolve the ink without damaging the leather pigments.

Re: Ballpoint pen on leather

Ill order some for future mishaps. Thanks. Is there any way to darken the area ever so slightly or renew pigment? I'm willing to have the chair professionally tended to if need be. Thanks

Re: Ballpoint pen on leather

Best call in a pro. They should be able to do it for $ 150 or less.

Re: Ballpoint pen on leather

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcollie

Best call in a pro. They should be able to do it for $ 150 or less.

Agreed. I imagine I would look into upolstery repair, or even ask the shop I bought it from who they use for repairs