Know your leather and care for it

Leather care tips by Lady Targaryen

First thing you ought to know is leather is literally skin. And just like your skin, for it to stay looking great it needs to be looked after well, it needs to be moisturized, it needs to be cleaned - what you wouldn't do to your own skin you must not do to your gorgeous leather. More often than not, information on how to care for leather is misleading, plain wrong or applied wrongly. Before you can learn how to care for your leather, you should know the type of leather you have.

Know your leather

Let's start with some basics. Leather is a natural product. It comes from animal skins which have been chemically processed (tanned) to preserve them. A properly tanned hide (or skin) creates strong, flexible leather, resistant to decay. Most leather is tanned cow hide (other common hides include goat, sheep, alligator, ostrich). Cow hides are about 1/4 to 3/8 inches thick, which is too heavy for general upholstery application. Therefore, hides are split laterally, rendering an upper and lower cut.

Top-grain leather vs Suede, courtesy of Targaryen Man

The upper portion is the top-grain, or full-grain. The lower portion is the split. This cutting process creates different “faces” to the leather. The outside face of the top- or full-grain shows the natural grain characteristics, but is otherwise smooth, whereas, the underside appears as suede. There are two basic categories: Finished or Unfinished. Finished leather is first dyed via immersion in a dye solution, and then the outside face of the hide is coated with a pigmented resin, and then a subsequent clear-coating. Unfinished leather processing stops at the first dyeing process, without any resin coating. Finished leather is protected by the colour-coating and clear-coating, and unfinished is unprotected, not having either of these subsequent coatings applied.
creates different “faces” to the leather. The outside face of the top- or full-grain shows the natural grain characteristics, but is otherwise smooth, whereas, the underside appears as suede.

The following table depicts comparative features.

FEATURE	FINISHED	UNFISIHED
Colour	Pigment color coating on the leather's surface	Aniline dye color in the leather
Stain Protection	Color coating protects against staining	Absorbs liquid - prone to staining
Fading	Pigment coating is fade resistant	Dyes fade from light exposure (UV)
Color Richness	Color coating is flat, lacking depth	Coloring is rich, accentuating natural beauty of the leather
Feel (or Hand)	Leather feels harder, colder, stiffer	Buttery soft, warms quickly, inviting

So, simply put, finished leather color is from a pigment coating on the leather, whereas unfinished is from a dye in the leather. Finished leather is stain and fade resistant but lacks deep richness in color, and tends to be stiffer. Unfinished leather is soft and natural-looking but fades and stains readily. Unfinished leather tends to be more expensive. This graphic depicts the difference between finished and unfinished.

Note that the topical coating can range from thin to thick. If there is a very light color or clear coat on top of aniline-dyed leather, it is often referred to as “semi-aniline.” Semi-aniline leather offers modest protection while retaining much of the aesthetic beauty of an unfinished aniline-dyed leather.

Storage, cleaning and conditioning of leather

Keeping your leather under the right storage conditions, cleaning and conditioning it regularly and correctly will ensure it lasts right through generations. If not cared for properly, leather may be affected and /or damaged irreparably by mold (leather's number 1 enemy!) and other vices.

Storage

Again, just like your own skin, leather is averse to extremes. Any extreme conditions with regards to heat or cold and dryness or humidity will damage your leather. Some of the resulting damages from neglecting the storage conditions are to an extent repairable but one would much rather avoid the damage altogether. In the instances were the damage is reversible, it is not often that your leather will be restored to the exact condition it was to begin with. To be safe, keep your leather item in a room temperature, well aerated environment and you shouldn't have any problems.

Cleaning

Usually, all that is needed to clean your leather is a damp cloth using warm soapy water made with a gentle cleanser like baby shampoo or preferably store bought leather cleaners. Common leathers like Suede and Nubuck (also an underside leather) will be cleaned adequately using suede cleaners or suede shampoos while top-/full-grain can be cleaned using similar shampoos and balms. Patent leathers are often sufficiently cleaned using a wet rag dipped in plain water. 

 

Basic guidelines to clean your leather are as follows:

1. Rub the leather with a soft cloth to produce a lather in any area you want to clean. Wipe away any excess lather with a dry cloth. 
2. Allow leather to dry flat in a warm place out of direct sunlight and away from a strong heat source (fire, heater, stove, etc.).
3. Should any substantial cleaning be required it is usually advisable to take it to professionals to do the job for you. Do NOT throw your leather item into a washing machine, the various chemicals your washing machine may still have inside it may damage your leather and the process of using a washing machine to clean leather is all too complicated and too risky to carry out correctly at home.

Each time you do clean your leather you will need to condition it.

Conditioning

Leather contains often contains tanning oils that preserve it which are depleted over time. Conditioning is thus necessary to replace these oils and avoid your leather becoming too dry, stiff or cracked. Hundreds of leather conditioners/leather oils are available on the market, just be sure to read the label to ensure you are buying the correct one for your leather. Home made conditioners may be made too although intricate knowledge of your leather and the chemical compositions of your homemade conditioner will be necessary; you will need to know what you're doing. A few guidelines are important to follow when conditioning your leather:

1. Do NOT use leather conditioners that contain waxes or silicone which do not allow your leather to breathe.
2. Always use a lint free soft cloth when conditioning leather; microfiber cloths are ideal. NEVER apply conditioner directly to the leather, apply to cloth first.
3. Dampen the cloth with water before applying the conditioner to it so that there is not too much conditioner applied to the leather.
4. Apply conditioner to leather by gently rubbing into the leather until the entire surface has been covered.
5. Several light applications are preferred over a heavy soaking of conditioner.
6. Allow conditioner to penetrate the leather for at least 30 minutes before applying another coat.

To keep your leather healthy, clean and condition it when it is soiled and generally condition it every 6-9 months and avoid getting it soaked in anything.