For more stubborn dust, dampen the cloth with distilled water. Make sure that the cloth is not soaking wet. Never let water soak into leather. Always be sure to use a soft cloth and never use an abrasive brush or scrubber as this can scratch and damage the leather.
If you can remove the cushions, do so to make vacuuming more effective. If you can’t remove them, get in the crevices as best you can. You might also use a narrow angled attachment to get deeper into the furniture.
Wiping at a spill will only spread it further, so be sure to blot it. Take the dry cloth and set it on top of the stain and leave it there for five seconds or so while it absorbs the spill. For non-water spills, you may need to use a tiny dab of gentle soap with warm water. If the stain is bad enough, it’s best to consult a professional so you don’t make it worse. The most important thing is to clean the spill up quickly so that it does not have time to soak into the leather.
You may feel that buying a cleaner ahead of time is not a good use of your money, but if you do need it, you’ll appreciate having it on hand rather than needing to go out and buy it. Cleaning up a mess quickly can save your leather. Note that cleaning and deodorizing aren’t necessarily the same thing. In case of smoke odor in the furniture, for instance, you can skip the cleaner and place a bag full of coffee grounds nearby to remove the smell.
Some manufacturers may provide or sell a product that is designed to be used on their furniture. If this is the case, buy it since it is made specifically for your furniture. This can be especially helpful to determine if the leather has been treated in any specific way that would be affected by cleaning it incorrectly.
It is okay if sunlight hits the furniture for part of the day, but long-term exposure will damage the leather. It is okay for leather to be in air-conditioned or heated rooms, but try to keep it from being directly under or next to the source.
Leather conditioner can be purchased from many furniture stores. It is also available at auto parts stores, where it is sold for conditioning leather car interiors. Choose a quality brand as opposed to something cheaper because you don’t want something that will end up harming the leather. Conditioner is a maintenance cost of keeping leather furniture in good shape, so don’t consider it optional.
Never place other heavy items on top of leather furniture as this can cause irreparable indentations in the leather. Place leather furniture on top of wooden pallets to keep it off of the ground.
Rather than just gluing the tear closed, which will cause it to be a dent, placing a patch under creates a new layer under the leather which will hold it together and keep it smooth. You can stop at this point and the tear will be repaired. If you want to improve the look, you can put a little bit of superglue in the tear, gently sand while it is still wet which adds dust to the glue, and then restore the color with leather color restoration.
