Sun damage to my leather sectional- questions

[connie]

I gave my 5 year old American Leather sectional to my son. When moving it, he noticed sun damage to the back of the sectional. I thought it was in perfect condition. It sat in front of a north facing window and I never realized that although there is no direct sunlight, UV rays will also fade leather. He want to repair it and I am wondering if you have any suggestions on how to fix the color fade. I am afraid he is going to ruin it by dyeing the leather! The leather was unprotected leather.

I just purchased an H&M city sectional in Equestrian Toffee. It is sitting in the same place in front of my window. I live in an older home and the living room is small and I have no other place to put it. I have wood blinds and 3 windows - do I keep all blinds closed all day as my windows are old and have no protective glass to keep out UV rays? I spent $7800 on this and this is going to be the last sectional I purchase for many years. (By the way, there is no comparison to my older sectional - H&M is beautiful)!

Any suggestions on how to fix the older sectional would be appreciated and ideas on keeping my new one from fading would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Connie

[drcollie]

Hi Connie,

Sure! Here's what you can do:

On the older piece your son has, have him cut the "Flag" off the piece that is usually under the center cushion. Cut about 50% of it off. Take that flag and mail it to www.leathermagic.com along with a note requesting a dye kit, and of course some contact info for them to call. They will custom-blend the RIGHT dye kit for that American Leather piece (made for that specific leather type) and mail it to him with instructions. I've done that at least half a dozen times on sun-faded leather and the results are terrific. Does a 95% repair on sun-fade.

As to your new H&M piece, I would recommend you buy the $ 59.99 kit for Semi-Anilines from Leathermagic (you can purchase from them or from me, your choice). This kit has an SPF 90 UV protector included that will stop the sun fade on the back of your new piece if you apply it periodically (appx. every 6 months). Additionally, the kit has all the other cleaning and conditioning agents in it to keep things looking like new for many years.

Another option to consider is having solar film applied to your room windows. I have all the windows in my home done with this (you can get them in very light shades that you can't even tell they are on the glass) and that has UV blockers in them as well.

You're smart to address this while the piece is new, not after sun damage has occurred. By doing one or both the above you can effectively eliminate that issue entirely.

[connie]

Duane - thanks. I know years ago, I had the film put on some windows in a home I lived in and I just never thought about it as I don't get any direct sun! Duh! I will purchase the kit from you and send you a private message with credit card info and address etc. Thanks so much for your help!

[fleblanc84]

If you get the pigment and dye buy a power pack from Wal Mart. Put your color in the jar w/ a little bit of denatured alchol or acetone and it will dry twice as fast. I use a hair dryer as well for multi. coats. Leather magic also has lacquer top coats that can be applied the same way.