Maintaining Your Modern Leather Sectional Sofa
Your leather sectional sofa has basically two weaknesses; the upholstery cannot be washed and it may easily be punctured by sharp objects. That is why most of the prevention and maintenance procedures that you will have to apply to your leather sofa have to do with cleaning and removing dusty from it and not allowing people to hold sharp objects when they are seated.
Use mild and moisturizing soaps to clean leather
To keep your leather sectional sofa in a clean condition always, you need to wipe of the dust from its surface with a wet cloth regularly. If dust is allowed to accumulate on the leather it may ruin the finish of the leather. When cleaning your leather upholstery, you only need to make one pass with a soapy and wet cloth on it. Use mild, moisturizing facial soaps. Soaps with a strong and drying action may bleach and de-condition the leather upholstery. After wiping it, you can pat of excess moisture with a dry and clean cloth. When the leather is more or less dry, rub it gently to get back the original shine and body of the leather. You shouldn’t attempt to soak the leather in water. Besides attempting to restore the original appearance of the leather, you may also apply leather conditioner on the upholstery after cleaning it to make it as good as new.
Consult the buyer’s guide that came with your sofa
Your leather sectional sofa should come with a user’s guide when you bought it. It is important that you read this guide before attempting to clean the sofa because it will contain information about whether the leather is color fast or if it can fade by wiping it with wet cloth. The manufacturer may also have other cleaning agents to recommend other than a soft facial soap and water. They may also have special techniques to teach you about the maintenance of leather. After cleaning it, leather conditioner should be applied in circular motions until the upholstery is thoroughly covered. After the conditioner dries up, you may also rub gently to shine the leather.
Prevent the discoloration, remove stains and avoid sharp objects
Place your leather sectional sofa in a position far from the window that does not get direct sunlight because that will make its color fade. If the color of your sofa is light, avoid using dark colored pillowcases or blankets on the sofa unless you are quite sure these are colorfast. If you are wearing a pair of pants or a dress that stains, don’t sit with it on the leather sofa because that may stain the sofa. If your leather sofa does get stained, the cleaning material for you to use will depend on what caused the stain. Oil can remove certain types of inks. Alcohol, acetone and vinegar are also good cleaning agents but you have to use a moderate amount of these to prevent the discoloration of adjoining areas.
To prevent damaging the leather upholstery, ask people to remove sharp things in their back pockets before sitting down on your leather sofa.
