Thread: Cleaning leather Lounge with baby wipes

We've been using baby wipes on our leather for about three years, guess what else I've been using them on for about three years?

They had no idea what kind of diet I'd give the couch when they said "feed the leather".

Milk sodden cheerios, peanut butter, smashed grapes, toast crumbs, jam smears, and a really slight haze of vegemite. You wouldn't believe how smooth and supple it is! Looks brand new! (except for the texta marks)

I was givena couple of filthy leather recliners at the weekend. Tried Spray and Wipe then Cloudy Ammonia and finally used Eucalyptus Oil which did a great job. Finished off with tyre shine from the shed and the old chairs look and feel beaut!

Boy, Ive heard it all now. With leather and vinyl coverings, use nothing but warm water with dishwashing detergent. No abrasives or solvents should ever be used whatsoever. After cleaning, use vaseline very sparingly to "feed" the leather. This keeps it soft and pliable. Once a cover becomes hard it will crack and then theres no turning back. The idea is to keep your cover out of the sunlight, and clean and vaso it say once a month and you will keep it in its original condition a lot longer.
Neil.

Do you mean Petroleum Jelly type Vaseline?

What about ARMOR ALL in the link below:

http://www.armorall.com.au/content.aspx?id=15

yep, the good old petroleum jelly - Vasoline. Do not use Armorall. Its ok for plastic coated objects such as car dashes and bumber bars but no good for keeping leather or vinyl pliable.

Amorall will clean it up and put a nice shine on it but you will shorten the life of your leather considerably.

Just use good old fashioned warm soapy water ( dont use a scrubbing brush either) and then apply a light smear of Vaso and wipe off any excess.
Neil.

Originally Posted by neilb

yep, the good old petroleum jelly - Vasoline. Do not use Armorall. Its ok for plastic coated objects such as car dashes and bumber bars but no good for keeping leather or vinyl pliable.

Amorall will clean it up and put a nice shine on it but you will shorten the life of your leather considerably.

Just use good old fashioned warm soapy water ( dont use a scrubbing brush either) and then apply a light smear of Vaso and wipe off any excess.
Neil.

Yep, fully agree.
From my 10+ years of working exclusively with leather, the company I worked for recomended the "warm soapy water" as the cleaner and tried flogging of all sorts of leather protection packs but is it any better than the advise above? Don't know, certainly more profitable.

Don't spray Mister Sheen on your Chesterfields either, as most antique reproduction hides come un-sealed, they get cut sewn and upholstered before getting the antique lookalike treatment which is a wash designed to take the colour away from the wear area's to give that antique look. They are then spray lacquered to seal the hide. Mister sheen takes away that seal.
Incidentally, some medications can come out in your sweat and eat into the lacquer if the leather is not cleaned regularly enough.