Leather Cleaning & Conditioning Protocol for all brands

[drcollie]

*Updated* 4/21/22

I am revising the care thread on leather after spending many hours researching it with both Hancock and Moore as well as the experts at Leather Solutions. This thread will replace the one previously posted.

Hancock and Moore switched from Leather Magic to Leather Solutions as their 'go to' for leather care and issues. I have been reluctant to make that switch, and a primary reason is because the Leather Solution product is more costly product to buy and more involved in application. However, I am convinced this is the right way to go after numerous phone conversations with both companies. Leather Solutions actually is the trainer and educator for not only Hancock and Moore's staff, but for many other leather houses as well. As they told me at H&M "Pamela at Leather Solutions is one of the best in the industry - if not THE best - and her products work, and work well".

Let me cover some of the basics here for you. Most stores you buy leather furniture from will tell you one of two things. 1) You don't have to do anything to it, or 2) You need to purchase our warranty protection program for $ 395. Both are the wrong answers. And, you will even get some information from the makers of the pieces that is not entirely correct. They will say "Just wipe it down with a damp rag". While that won't hurt your pieces, its not really getting the job done, either. That's done for warranty concerns, nothing more. Imagine if you got in the shower and never used shampoo on your hair. Getting it wet day after day is not getting it clean, is it? Same with leather.

As Pamela explains it to me, there are three steps to proper leather care. CLEAN - SOFTEN - PROTECT. And if you do that every three to six months you will be 'taking care of your cow' as she puts it. Eliminate any one of the steps and you are skipping over a critical part. You paid a lot of money for your Hancock and Moore, and it will last -but you have to do some maintenance to prevent it from discoloring and cracking over time. Leather gets dirty, dries out and can get soiled and crack. These products will go a long ways to prevent that. In fact, don't do any maintenance to your leather and what will happen is it will darken from dirt and body oils, then begin peeling and cracking. I've seen it happen many, many times. Note too, that soiling is more frequent in summer months when we are in shorts and t-shirts vs sweaters and long pants in the winter. Also, folks that are on heavy medications can sometimes cause leathers to react to the chemicals coming off their bodies, so if that's you - keep an eye on your leather and see if its changing color.

There are three kits available for care.

Kit 1 * Protected or Top Coated Leathers (this is the vast majority of most leather furniture) $55.00 (cleaner, softener, protection)

Kit 2 * Pure Aniline or Natural Leathers (naked, unprotected) $55.00 (cleaner, softener, protection)

----- kit 1 and kit 2 have the same identical product in the bottles, the only difference is the instruction card in kit 2 will suggest you use a common hair blow dryer to speed the drying on pure anilines -----

Kit 3 * Aniline Burnished and Pull up Leathers $83.00 (cleaner, softener, 4 oz pull-up oil, 4 oz pull-up wax)

Shipping on any kit is $15.00 (USA only). The box that is used (Medium Flat Rate) can hold either one or two kits. There is no shelf life expiration on the kits, and they're excellent for leather car interiors as well so if you get two, the second one rides for free.

These are maintenance kits, they don't fix problems such as restoring color, stain removal, topcoat issues, etc.. Think of these the same as washing your clothes, they get the dirt out and extend the life of material.

**UPDATE** You can now purchase these kits through our website: https://keepingroom.com/leather-care - simply fill out the order form and we will send you an invoice for payment, then put your kit in the mail the next day! (Tuesday - Saturday, we're closed Sunday - Monday )

You can call my store to order at 703-360-6399 with a credit card or use Paypal or ZELLE to keepingroom@gmail.com. Be sure to include your name and address in the PayPal or ZELLE and which kit you need. Have questions about care procedures? Please ask them in this thread....

[drcollie]

So here's a test for ya'll....a customer and forum member was in the store asking about the product so I said "Let's see what it does!" And I pulled out a spare Capri Camel leather I had, which is one of the GR 4 naked leathers. Gridded it out with a Sharpie, and the left side was untreated, the right side with Leather Solutions Softener Cream and then followed by the Protection cream for Aniline hides

Then I went and got the nastiest chemicals I had around the store. WD-40, which is an oil, Vinegar (acid), Ammonia (acid) and some hand lotion, since I have a lot of ladies asking me about that one.

P.S. The permanent marker is FOREVER - and will never come out.

Here's the first photo - the spills just done:



Put the bottles down, walk to the back and grab a paper towel and blot it up - we do not want to scrub these, or use water on them. Just blot them and let them be:



After 10 minutes:



After almost two hours:



Three days later - only the oily WD-40 remains on the untreated side, and its very faint. It will probably work out over the next 3 to 5 months. So much for the myth that you can't buy naked leathers for everyday use!

[drcollie]

Thread is OPEN to comments and questions.

[jftcrane]

Would you recommend the same cleaners for a BY couch?

[drcollie]

Yes, for all leathers. I even use that kit on my leather car interiors.

[SuzanneSLO]

If we use the appropriate Leather Solutions kit 2 or 3 times a year, do you still recommend a more frequent wipe with water or water and mild soap? Also, if we spill something, any steps we should take? Thanks.

[drcollie]

I'd not use the soap, but you can do a damp (not wet) wipedown as you see fit.

[Kelols]

I'm looking at your Leather Solutions kits. I have Atticus Java which is described as having a "slight" pull-up effect. But it appears to have the same wax coating as other pull-up leathers. I saw a post where you mentioned using Kit 2 on Yardley because it was a "mild" pull-up leather and you didn't think Kit 3 was necessary.

Is Kit 3 required for Atticus Java? Kit 3 had the wax pull-up cream in it. Is that important to use on Atticus Java to keep it looking good and somewhat stain resistant?

In the past on my other leather pieces I only cleaned and conditioned the seating areas, or areas that came in contact with skin oils like arm rests. Is that okay or should I be doing the entire piece?

I've read that pull-up leather can be sprayed with Scotch Guard to protect it against stains, but I've never done that. Does the protection cream, etc in Kit 2 or 3 help with stains? I saw your panels on Capri. I just don't know how that compares to Atticus.

Thanks Duane.

[drcollie]

For Atticus, you would want the Aniline kit. You don't have a true pull-up hide in the sense of needing the extra product. I do the entire piece, because cleaning and softening is needed on all parts of the hide. You could probably skip the "Protection" part on the outside back and arms, but that's the least likely to run out of all three products in the kit. I've never used Scotch Guard on leather and yours is the first I've heard of that suggestion. I suppose you could, but why take the chance of chemical damage when you have the correct Protection agent in the kit that does barrier against spills.

[Kelols]

I've been reading about the leather protector. The problem for me with aniline leather is I have really oily skin. I'll have to use a head rest protector of some kind. Protector and conditioner helps, but it won't stop my oil.

On the seat cushions I'll get two dark spots where my legs crossover the cushions. There really isn't any way to stop that. I've tried cleaning and conditioning more frequently but with relatively new furniture I won't know how well it's working for a couple of years.

Does H&M sell individual seat covers? I thought about buying one for my chair and one for the couch. In five years I can put them on and the dark spots on the cushions are gone! I saw H&M had seat covers listed in their price book, but I wasn't sure if that was like their headrest covers, which are basically rectangular pieces of matching leather with sewn edges or whether that was the price for replacing the seat cover that came with the furniture.

Are new seat covers a custom item or was that price in the price book for those?

Right now I'm going to clean and condition the leather every 3 months. But I'm still expecting some dark streaks. On the Atticus Java they won't be too noticeable.