Hi what do you suggest as the best ways to clean and soften leather furniture?

Madeline C
by Madeline C
It is still in good shape but has a couple of fairly deep scratches and is in need of conditioning. It has a lot of small but not deep lines running along the front of the cushions. Are there people who do this if I don't have the energy?
Thanks
M.C
  15 answers
  • Patience T Patience T on Aug 05, 2012
    pledge furniture polish works well
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Aug 06, 2012
    I Like to use a "Mink oil" that is sold in the Paste Shoe Polish section of good shoe stores for deep conditioning of leather goods and then general dusting with pledge....
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Aug 06, 2012
    Thanks to all of you. I'm still open to suggestions!b
  • Anna M Anna M on Aug 08, 2012
    I'm sorry it has taken me so long to respond! To get out the scratches on your leather you need to use a VERY fine sand paper and sand out the scratch. After you have eliminated the scratches, as much as possible, go back and buff the area with a microfiber cloth, until it's perfectly smooth. Then go over the sanded area with a good leather conditioner. Here is a good one that you can purchase on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002F9YHI. If your leather is dark and lost some of its color while you were sanding out the scratches, you can use a dark, thick shoe polish to give it back the color. I hope this helps!
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Aug 09, 2012
    Thanks Anna You are the 2nd person to recommend Lexol. However that is a conditioner and I need to clean the leather first. Saddle soap?
  • Anna M Anna M on Aug 09, 2012
    I would clean it with a mixture of water and a mild dish soap (one like Seventh Generation or Ecos).
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Aug 09, 2012
    Then let the leather dry completely before using conditioner
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Aug 09, 2012
    Te above was a question I forgot to put inthe ?
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Aug 09, 2012
    I Use Murphy's oil soap in water to wash my leather furniture....it's cheap and easy on the furniture and adds a little soft sheen to the leather as well....and as far as scratches go, a little trick I learned from my Army Hubby was to fill in the scratches with a matching paste shoe polish, put it on thick...then use a fireplace/candle butane lighter and wave it over the shoe polish melting it into the scratch. Allow it to cool thoughly and buff it first with a soft cloth to get off any serious excess and blend it in to the rest of the piece, and then with a soft cloth and droplets of ice water.... the scratches will miraculously disappear or at least blend in and not be noticeable....if you do that two or three times on deep scratches they really do fill in a lot.
  • Mary L Mary L on Aug 10, 2012
    I used Mr. Clean Magic eraser on mine and could not believe how grubby it was. Be sure to wipe with a clean towel as you go along. Leather does not like water. It actually dries it out. I used the Lazy Boy brand conditioner after it dried. I think any of the above conditioners would be fine. BTW: my local carpet cleaning company quoted $75 for the chairs and $150 for the loveseat. This was a good DIY project and very satisfying to see it looking so nice after.
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Aug 10, 2012
    Lexol makes a cleaner....staying with a product line made for leather will be your safest bet. They even make "wipes" with the cleaner. http://www.lexol.com/Product_leather_cleaner.aspx
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Aug 10, 2012
    I like all the suggestions, thanks everyone!
  • Mtddts Mtddts on Dec 17, 2015
    saddle soap
  • Kathy Evans Langford Kathy Evans Langford on Jan 16, 2016
    We always used saddle soap on our leather cheerleading shoes.