How to Properly Clean and Care for Your Leather Furniture

Leather furniture can be a beautiful and timeless addition to your home, but properly caring for genuine leather can be more complicated than cleaning many other common furniture materials. Many types of leather have very specific maintenance needs and require specific products, and knowing what your furniture needs is key when it comes to preventing damage and keeping it looking like new. Here are six helpful tips for cleaning and caring for your leather furniture to keep it looking its best for decades!

Start With Leather Protector

Applying a professional leather protector to your new or recently cleaned furniture is an important step in building its resistance to cleaners, objects left on it, and other aspects of everyday use. This spray or cream provides an invisible barrier that repels potential damage from liquids, sunlight, and other sources to prolong the life of your furniture. Although a leather protector will not necessarily prevent all potential damage, especially if your leather furniture is not properly cared for, it is a helpful starting point for reducing the impact that a wide range of mishaps may have on your furniture.

Address Minor Uncleanliness Regularly

Your leather sofa should rarely need a deep cleaning if you are diligent about taking care of small issues as soon as they occur. Dusting your furniture regularly and wiping up spills with a dry or damp cloth can help to keep many cleaning-related problems from occurring in the first place.

Use a Professional Leather Cleaner

If you must deep clean your leather furniture to deal with stains or significant wear that can result from irregular maintenance, be sure to use a cleaner that is specifically designed for leather furniture and follow usage directions carefully. It is also a good idea to have a professional clean your leather furniture if you are not certain of your ability to do so without damaging it. 

Avoid Most Typical Household Cleaners

Soaps, detergents, furniture polish, and other multipurpose cleaners may be great options for keeping the rest of your home clean, but they are usually not designed for the more complex needs of leather furniture. Most of these cleaners will eventually cause your leather furniture to become dry, brittle, and discolored, which can significantly shorten its life.

Avoid Direct Sunlight

Leather tends to dry out and crack more easily than many other furniture materials, which means that considering its position in your home is an important step in making your leather furniture last as long as possible. Leather furniture should not be placed in parts of a room that get a significant amount of direct sunlight throughout the day, and it is also a good idea to keep your curtains closed when you are not home to minimize damage from even indirect sunlight when your furniture is not in use.

Test Cleaning Methods Before Getting Started

Types of leather and specific ingredients in cleaners vary enough that few cleaning options are completely foolproof, which means that it is always a good idea to test a small amount of any product you are unfamiliar with on an inconspicuous part of your furniture before applying it to the entire piece. Depending on the design of your furniture and its location in your room, you can likely find an area on the back or bottom that is unlikely to be noticed if your cleaner were to damage it, which can prevent your entire piece of furniture from becoming unusable if it were to react badly to your cleaning solution.

At Lifestyle Furniture, we are here to help you choose the perfect leather sofa, chair, or other piece of furniture for your home and provide tips for keeping that specific piece looking its best before bringing it home. Whether you are in the market for new furniture or searching for ideas for getting the most out of what you have, our website and social media pages provide a wealth of inspiration for creating a space that feels like home!