Aniline Wax Pull-Up - leathers with darkened hand rests and the shine is gone - Restoration Hardware Churchhill - Please help!

Greetings.

I recently bought a used Churchill chair from Restoration Hardware that has an aniline leather. The arms look like they needed a little attention where the hands rest because they had darkened. I used a VERY lightly damn towel to wipe these areas. When I did, the color got a little better - but the shine is now gone. I've since tried to use Leather CPR on the spots, but still... the shine is gone.

I know I probably should have come here first because there is a lot of misinformation out there. Restoration hardware is who told me to use Leather CPR and another website mentioned damp rag.

Right now, I'm at the point that I really just want to restore the sheen/shine to the finish. To me the finish looks a little waxy and I've read some stuff about using some different beeswax products to fix this... but I didn't want to jump the gun like I did before. I'm accepting the fact that the chair is going to get a natural patina that I need not worry about and now wish I had simply done nothing to maintain, clean, or condition.

Please help. Any advise would be great! Thank you in advance! :)

You may be talking about Aniline Wax Pull-up leathers - we do their warehouse damaged repairs through their contractor - probably the sales people are not aware off.

The darkening of the hand-rest is from body contact, these oil, grease and sweat cause the darkening effect. For penetrated stains you may need Degreaser-2.2 follows by Rinse-3.0.

The shines of the aniline wax pull-up comes both from the activated Wax Effect-8.6 and the Topcoat Aniline-79G (gloss).

The complete holistic restoration for Aniline Wax Pull-up in this case is as follows:

A Degreasing:
1. Degreaser-2.2 > Rinse-3.0

B Leather Structure Primary Rejuvenation:
1. Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0

C. Fashion Wax Pull-up Effect Secondary Rejuvenation:
1. Wax Effect-8.6

D. Shine Urethane Protective Topcoating:
1. Adhesor-73 > Topcoat Aniline-79G

E. Non-stick, run-resistant protection with the classic leather scent:
1. Leather Scent-D (draggy-feel)

This is the leather care kit for Aniline Wax Pull-up leathers

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...oh/Kit-AWc.jpg
Leather Doctor® Aniline Wax Pull-Up Leather Care Kit-AW3

Contents:
Degreaser-2.2 – 60ml
Prep-4.4 – 60ml
Cleaner-3.8 – 250ml
Rinse-3.0 – 250ml
Hydrator-3.3 – 250ml
Fatliquor-5.0 – 250ml
Wax Effect-8.6 - 250ml
Leather Scent-D – 120ml
Leather (horsehair) Brush-1 – 1pc
3” Poly-Brush® - 1pc
Washable Rags – 5pcs

You may add-on these two products to the kit

Adhesor-73
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...sor-7360ml.jpg

Topcoat Aniline-79G
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...eGloss60ml.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...oblemGuide.jpg
Aniline Wax Pull-Up Leather Problem Solving Guide

Product description and instruction can be found in this link: http://www.leathercleaningrestoratio...read.php?t=360

You are encourage to ask questions!

Good if you have pictures, to help to confirm the leather type!


Roger Koh
[email protected]

Thanks for your reply. I finally took a few pictures to verify the style/type of leather. Hopefully you can verify the color too since you are familiar with Restoration Hardware furniture. I took pictures of the back and both arms.

Thanks again for your help! :)

Pictures show that it is Aniline Wax Pull-up leathers.

The color could be Red Brown or a combination of Yellow and Orange – yet to be determined with a sample match.

Color can be tricky if you are just doing only the damaged area; it’s only recommended when you intend to do the entire piece.

That’s why I did not mentioned about putting new color; it would be best we can activate from the existing leather structure by Hydrator-3.3 after degreasing of all foreign contamination.

How do you want to go from here?

And I will explain the reason behind each sequence of process and the possible outcome.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Roger Koh

Pictures show that it is Aniline Wax Pull-up leathers.

The color could be Red Brown or a combination of Yellow and Orange – yet to be determined with a sample match.

Color can be tricky if you are just doing only the damaged area; it’s only recommended when you intend to do the entire piece.

That’s why I did not mentioned about putting new color; it would be best we can activate from the existing leather structure by Hydrator-3.3 after degreasing of all foreign contamination.

How do you want to go from here?

And I will explain the reason behind each sequence of process and the possible outcome.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

---

Roger, sorry for my lack of response. It was a busy week and then on top of that I got he flu! :(

I agree with you 100% I do not want to mess with a full restoration or anything dealing with color. At least I want to get the shine back on. Right now, I don't even care about discoloration. Ignoring all color problems, it sounds like you are suggesting a degreasing/rehydrate and then a wax pull-up finish?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rsteagall

I agree with you 100% I do not want to mess with a full restoration or anything dealing with color. At least I want to get the shine back on. Right now, I don't even care about discoloration. Ignoring all color problems, it sounds like you are suggesting a degreasing/rehydrate and then a wax pull-up finish?

---

Yes besides, we want to know if these hand rest areas leather is healthy (stickiness or sliminess is a bad sign when test with wet fingers - it's a sign of leather denaturing - reverting back to rawhide); especially when leathers is exposed to alkalinity.

Let us know the result of your testing.


I am reposting your picture for a better view, and see if I can pick up further information.

And picture #3 shows that the topcoating is damaged - the existing deteriorated topcoating is recommended to be removed; smoothen with 1500grit sanding in between Topcoat Aniline-79G (gloss).


I will re-summarize the entire process WITHOUT putting in new colors, but reactivate from the leather structure instead.


Roger Koh
[email protected]


#1
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/IMG_4851.jpg

#2
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/IMG_4850.jpg

#3
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/IMG_4852.jpg

I don't know if I did the test properly or not, but I wet my finger tips then rubbed on the arm of the affected area. At first the water seemed to absorb quickly into the leather and then after about 20 seconds it did have a little tacky feel to it. While typing this, I went back and touched it and while it is still wet, its a little less tacky than it was earlier.

Hope this helps with a little more info. If you need more pictures, let me know.

You have done it correctly; just need to compare the test with unused areas (reverse the cushion) to test any different in the tactile-feel (use the same amount of water by dripping).

Squeaky is good; tacky is bad (leather is protein fiber - the same as any protein meat or fish that becomes slimy - you would throw away) in leather it has to be acidify or neutralize to revert back to its pH chemistry integrity to a healthy squeaky feel.

The main cause for tacky or slimy feel when wet is due to alkaline exposure.

The tacky or slimy problem solving product is: Acidifier-2.0 as seen in this Specialty Cleaner range of 7.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...tyCleaner7.jpg
Leather Specialty Cleaner (7)

Leather Doctor® Acidifier-2.0
This is a pH 2.0 aqueous leather acidifier; developed for dye bleeding control and neutralizing alkaline exposure that cause marks, streaks, brightness, tackiness or sliminess from spills or cleaners.
It's for Pigmented, Aniline, Vachetta, Nubuck, Suede, Hair-on-Hide and Woolskin leather types.
This product is also available in concentrate to be cut with distilled water at a ratio of 1: 25.
Thus a 60ml bottle makes 1.64 quarts of ready-to-use product to save on shipping.
Ready-to-use packing sizes are available in 250ml and in Quart.
Concentrate packing sizes are available in 60ml (1.64 quarts), 250ml (6.87 quarts) and in Quart (26 quarts).
Email [email protected] for more information.
Instruction:
1] Spray direct and agitate with leather, nubuck or suede brush.
2] Dwell 10 to 30 minutes depending on exposure severity.
3] Extract residues with dry absorbent towel.
4] Test for reduced bleeding or a satisfactory healthy squeaky clean.

I don't know how or where to get these products. Can you please direct me? What else do I need besides the Acidifier-2.0 ? Sorry to be so dumb... I've never dealt with leather at all. I need the 1, 2, 3's :)

Just email me for the prices...

[email protected]