Color transfer when using a conditioner

Greetings -- we bought two couches a year ago from from a local company I believe makes a good product. We are happy with the couch and it is comfortable. The leather is a pull-up. Recommended maintenance is periodic wipe downs with a lightly damp cloth and the use of a conditioner once or twice a year. The company gave me a bottle of their approved conditioner.

Here's what I noticed with the conditioner though. I first applied the conditioner after 6 months of owning the couch. Later on, weeks and even months now since applying the conditioner, when I go to gently wipe off the couch with a damp paper towel, I am getting color transfer to the towel. This color transfer does not happen on areas I didn't condition. Visibly, I'm not seeing any loss of color in the couch. So I'd like to hear what others have to say about this -- what is causing this? I get no color transfer with a dry cloth.

I currently am asking the manufacturer for their take. Maybe this slight color transfer is normal. But I hesitate using the conditioner again until I understand what I am seeing. Over time, I don't want to be wiping away lots of color. I did this test on the original leather swatch and get the same effect.

Attached are two pics: 1 of my couch (just to show couch color, not showing for any flaws I perceive) and image of cloth after wiping small section that was conditioned.

I thank you in advance for your thoughts
Attachment 2806Attachment 2807

Its not unusual to get some color dye transfer with conditioned on aniline leathers. They are dyed, and lightly topcoated. The conditioner penetrates the topcoat (otherwise it would never get to the leather) and you're bringing up a bit of dye with it. Think Blue Jeans - which are dyed denim as well - ever notice dye transfer on blue jeans to a light leather car seat over time? In the case of the jeans, its moisture and friction making the transfer. Don't be alarmed by it, as your sofa will last MUCH longer with cleaner and conditioner than losing a bit of dye to a white cloth.

Most fully protected leathers will do less of any color transfer to a cloth as they are painted hides, with a clear topcoat.

However I'm confused by the photos. The sofa is dark brown, your cleaning rag is showing a vanilla tan. Is that the same color that is in the sofa?

Hi Drcollie

Thanks for chiming in. Seeing your answers here on the board is pretty much the reason I joined. It's comforting to know this is fairly normal for this type of leather, and I think your quote makes a good point:

"your sofa will last MUCH longer with cleaner and conditioner than losing a bit of dye to a white cloth."

Yes, the sofa is in fact a dark brown color. And indeed, the color transfer to the cloth is less brown, and more yellowish-tan-orangey. It's been several months since I conditioned, but if memory serves me right, I think I was getting the same color transfer after conditioning it. At first, I thought the conditioner itself was contributing to the color, but if I apply the conditioner to some plastic, let it dry, and wipe, there is no color.

No "ingredients" are listed on the bottle of conditioner, beyond saying "Conditioner, with Fat Liquors"

If I was really concerned, I suppose could wipe less with a wet cloth, and use a dry cloth instead to remove dust. This would lessen the amount of times I'm wiping away dye.

Hello again

Well, I just received an email from the manufacturer. They have asked me to stop using the conditioner for now, and would also like for one of their technicians to come out and inspect the furniture. I didn't request for them to do that, but appreciate the offer and that they care enough about their product to confirm all is well. I guess I'll take them up on it so we can figure out what's going on. I'll keep you posted.

Good to know! Something seems strange about the tone of the color....normally it should be the same as the leather its being used on. I'd be interested to hear the end result.

Hi Duane

As promised, an update. A tech came today. I think he was genuinely stumped by what he was seeing. Like you, he is confused by the color -- yellowish rather than brown. He's wondering if some sort of wax is being released from the leather by the conditioner and what we are seeing is wax. The leather is classified as a pull up. I

The couch comes with two swatches, and he took a sample back with him along with a rag full of the color transfer. They'll contact me after they look at it closer.

I do have swatches of other types of leather (some other pull-ups too I believe) from the store from when we bought the couch. None of them have any transfer when I apply conditioner to them. I also have a swatch of our leather we received prior to buying the couch and I do see the transfer on that as well. So it's something to do with this leather + conditioner combo.

I'll continue to keep posted......

It may be wax, especially if its a pull-up hide as all of those have a waxy top coat. I think I'd stop using that product, something doesn't see right, there may be some kind of chemical incompatibility going on.

Hi there.

Final update. After taking a couple weeks to analyze a sample of the leather from my couch, they concluded what I am seeing is the release of excessive wax in the leather. I trust this manufacturer and really appreciate the diligence they took to investigate the leather. This is a wax pull up leather, and all leathers react to the tanning process differently. My particular leather apparently has more wax in it than usual, and the conditioner is essentially releasing that excess from the leather. Over time, they expect that I'll see less and less of the wax removed. What we are seeing is definitely not a color release. I should continue to condition at least once or twice a year, and wipe up any dust that settles onto the couch so it doesn't have the chance to settle into the leather.

The leather has a 5 yr warranty (and probably extended on my American Express), so should something else rear its head in the future, I should be protected.

That's an interesting conclusion to the mystery. And it shows the company is concerned about the product they produce (and leather vendors they use) and investigated to find an answer. Better manufacturers do this, so they can find out if a particular leather from a supplier is going to have problems and issues. Best to find out early rather than when there are 10,000 sofas out there with the hide doing that.

Very unusual to see a cover with a written warranty on it, however. That's pretty rare.

Thanks for your continued feedback.

Interesting on the warranty. Do furniture manufacturers usually not provide a written warranty on their leather?

The industry standard in upholstery covers of any kind (leather or fabric) do not have a warranty on them. In fact, if you read the warranties from most makers they specifically exclude covers. If a manufacturer's defect is found in a cover (either leather or fabric) its handled on a case-by-case basis. I can see why they do it as well, having been in this business now for 26 years, I have seen what customers can do to covers! Real manufacturing defects are about 1/2 of 1% of any cover issues, the other 99.5% were caused by consumer lifestyle or pets, etc.