All leathers will shrink when subject to heat and this incident is no exception.
We have to consider finished leather as a two-tier stratum; above the leather structural crust is another finished layer that is most probably embossed.
The shrinkage to the leather structure is restorable back to original dimension, while the surface layer is already damaged and delaminated will need a refinishing, and there is no way we can get the embossing texture back.
There is two approach to salvage the situation, how to reach out to the below surface leather structure more effectively is what we need to consider, to remove the damaged finishes first before leather rejuvenating it or after.
An absorbent test will decide our move; we can place a circular cotton face cleaning tissue saturated with Hydrator-3.3 and cling wrapped to control evaporation on the center of the damaged strip for about 4 hours. If the damaged finished allows Hydrator-3.3 to seep through then do the rest of the damaged strip accordingly.
1: Cut the shape of the damaged finishes using the stretchable paper towel and placing cotton face padding over it and cling wrapped for control evaporation.
2: Replenish the reservoir of cotton padding up to 24 hours of dwell time or longer duration for a stretching back to original dimension.
3: If the finishes is easily remove by now, remove entirely and continue stretching back the leather structure back or original dimension.
4: To retain the original the empty leather structure need to be fatliquor (fat, oil and water) replenished with Fatliquor-5.0.
5: Fatliquor-5.0 is the answer to restore the leather back to original dimension with suppleness.
We will like to see some pictures of your progress to give tips where application to speed up your process.
Once this stage is accomplished we shall discuss about the refinishing process.
Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
[email protected]