Eames lounge chair - Forty years of sun fading and drying

I have posted this on another site so apologies if you have seen it already.

Hi,

I did my car seats with Zymol leather cleaner and Zymol Treat to condition them. Worked well and I am very pleased with the results.

A friend who has a very expensive classic seat and footstool from the 1960's (£3-£4k). It has been sitting at the patio doors for 40 years and was very dry and cracked. He asked me if I could feed the leather so I cleaned it and applied the Treat. The leather regained some suppleness and looks a lot better - however - it looks flat and there is no shine to the leather. Does anyone know if there is a natural product to get it to shine or is it just a case of a lot of buffing?:confused:

Dear John,

Welcome to the forum,

Shine on leather is the finish top coating and it comes in Gloss, Satin or Matte (application by padding, brushing or spraying).

Buffing as of military boots with clear wax is not practical for seats, they scuff easily, rub off to clothing and attract soil like a magnet.

Besides top coats are also design to match the leather original permeability comfort (absorbent, semi-absorbent or non absorbent).

After the choice top coat, a sensuous buttery feel leather scent conditioner will appeal further to our senses.

"More leathery than the leather itself" - leatherScent’B™.

If you would post a picture I would be able to prescribe a holistic approach with detail step by step for complete restoration to give this piece of classic seat and footstool another lease of useful life.

Is this an Eames Lounge Chair – with molded wooden frame - an icon of modern design – a museum collection, you are referring to?

Roger Koh
IICRC#942 LCT MTC MSR
Leather Doctor® System
[email protected].

Thanks Roger,

It is an Eames lounge chair and the owners pride and joy - even although he unwittingly left it in the sun for years! It is moulded plywood and black leather. I don't have a photo but will get one the next time I visit.

Do you think I will have done any damage using the Zymol Treat on it? I must have done it ten times over a weekend and it ended us pretty pliable but flat as explained.

Can you recommend a course of action? It has a lot of hairline cracks but no splits. Even better if you can supply me with products and instructions!

John

Dear John and the Forum,

Re: How to Clean, Condition, Repair and Refinish an Eames Lounge Chair with 40 years of fading and drying.

Hairline cracks are a clear sign of diminishing fatliquor, that need replenishing with fatliquor5.0™ a spray version of tannery fatliquoring process to soften and strengthen leather.

Hope other forum members would share their experience working with fatliquor5.0™ with us.

Question on product compatibility on both cleaners and conditioners?

Generally speaking healthy leather has its own pH value between 3 and 5 and even “plastic coatings” healthy pH values is seldom above the pH of 6.

Simply speaking cleaners and conditioners generally should also be within this pH range to be safe first, effectiveness is second.

Specialty spotters beyond this pH range should be neutralized after it has done its job.

Always check the pH value of cleaners and conditioners, if it is not on the bottle request a MSDS from suppliers.

It should be there in the under Section 3 – Physical Data / Chemical Characteristic.

Products that contains solvent cleans well, it also dries up the plasticizers from the top coating and prolong usage will stiffen and crack the surface faster.

We can see color lightens up or streaks too if it is left for too long.

Alkalinity caused streaks to the color coat and over used often result in tackiness.

When these products seeps through the top finishes, it will destabilize the leather structure causing dyestuff,
fatliquor to shift with rings of irregular shape especially on semi-aniline and aniline leathers.

A leather pH balance cleaners should be able to clean all types of sensitive leathers, nubuck, suede, shearling and woolskin safely without worry.

Similarly when a conditioner states that it is used for leathers and not for nubuck or suede this are not true leather softening conditioners.

The reverse side of leather is suede; aniline leather that is buffed with 320 grit buffer is nubuck.

Therefore all these are leathers and all leathers to be soft and pliable has to undergo fatliquoring process at the last wet tannery process.

These original fatliquor do not stay for ever, evidently if it thus stay for ever, there will be no hairline cracks, that’s simple.

Fatliquor will diminish through ageing and cleaning.

It needs to be replenished.

Fatliquoring uses water as the medium for distributing this little amount of oil to coat the entire inter-fibrillary leather structure.

As water dries out the oils sets in.

When we “feed” the leather we usually stuff the leather with after market conditioners that were never in the first place used in the tannery.

Use what the tannery use to soften the leather.

These fatliquor are usually anionic and have a hydrogen bond with the cationic leather fiber.

It will not bleed out physically.

Alkalinity exposure is the main culprit that causes the pH in-balance to break bond and leach out during cleaning.

That’s how we have rings on sensitive leathers.

The outer rings could be combinations of fugitive dyestuffs, tannin agents or fatliquors.

That’s how we damage leather during extreme chemistry cleaning.

The “flat” appearance or dullness could be due to residues build on the leather surface.

On black color leathers often times we see solid residues that blocks or clogs needles holes, seam threads or creases.

These solid residues mar the appearance of the object with a cloudy effect.


Recommend Course of action:

Stripping off all foreign residue and soiling with ultraCleaner4.5™ > Clean with cleaner3.8™ > Rinse with rinse3.0™ > Softening leather structure with fatliquor5.0™ > Tightening loose grain of hairline cracks with pigmentSealer46™ > Refinish color black with semiColor64™ > Top coat in matte, satin or gloss with semiTop56™ > Sensuous conditioning with leatherScent’B™.


What refinishing equipment are you presently using?

What refinishing products are you presently working with?

What have you charge your customer for the present job?

What would you be charging for the recommended holistic job?

What is your customer expectation or commend on what you have done so far?

Does your customer have a budget?

What do you think would be a fair price for such a recommended work scope?

Would your customer allow you to bring it back to you workshop?

For double confirmation without the picture yet to reveal the type of hairline crack is the hairline crack straight line or irregular similar to mud crack?

Do you think your customer is interested in the leather structure restoration or just the surface skin of the leather, to feast the eye only?

Hear from you soon before my next post for product information and instruction.

Leather Cleaning and Restoration is all logic, not magic – every step has its reason and they are interconnected to form a system to serve the desired end result.

Roger Koh
IICRC#942 LCT MTC MSR
Leather Doctor® System
[email protected].

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roger Koh

Recommend Course of action:

Stripping off all foreign residue and soiling with ultraCleaner4.5™ > Clean with cleaner3.8™ > Rinse with rinse3.0™ > Softening leather structure with fatliquor5.0™ > Tightening loose grain of hairline cracks with pigmentSealer46™ > Refinish color black with semiColor64™ > Top coat in matte, satin or gloss with semiTop56™ > Sensuous conditioning with leatherScent’B™.


What refinishing equipment are you presently using? Zymol Treat

What refinishing products are you presently working with? Nothing but the Zymol mentioned above

What have you charge your customer for the present job? Nothing - it is a labour of love.

What would you be charging for the recommended holistic job? Nothing

What is your customer expectation or commend on what you have done so far? Very please that the leather is more supple.

Does your customer have a budget? No but I do and want to buy the products you have recommended.

What do you think would be a fair price for such a recommended work scope? No idea - whatever your products cost as my time is free.

Would your customer allow you to bring it back to you workshop? I will be doing it in situ at his home. I suppose I could remove the leather from the chair but would prefer to disturb it as little as possible.

For double confirmation without the picture yet to reveal the type of hairline crack is the hairline crack straight line or irregular similar to mud crack? Mud crack

Do you think your customer is interested in the leather structure restoration or just the surface skin of the leather, to feast the eye only? I think we are interested in doing as good and thorough a job as we can.

Hear from you soon before my next post for product information and instruction.

Leather Cleaning and Restoration is all logic, not magic – every step has its reason and they are interconnected to form a system to serve the desired end result.

Roger Koh
IICRC#942 LCT MTC MSR
Leather Doctor® System
[email protected].

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Roger,

Thanks very indeed for you fulsome comments and advise.

I am an amateur doing a favour for a dear old friend. These is no question of a commercial relationship. I get great satisfaction from helping him rescue his beloved chair. I have no chemistry background so do not understand some of your references. I really need to be told what to do and I will follow your instructions to the letter.

I have answered your questions above in the body of your text.

All I need to know is what to use in what way and in what sequence and I think you have provided that above. do you have a price list and application instructions for the products? Can you supply them all?

Thanks again for the detailed response.

John