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View Full Version : Aniline (Sauvage) - DECORO leather loveseat stain is probably gotten 3X's as dark and this white wax is now coming out!



Roger Koh
03-14-2011, 02:47 PM
Hi There,

I found your Forum and am pretty sure I have this problem. I’ve included a picture of our DECORO leather loveseat so you can maybe give me some ideas on how to fix it.
I'm not to sure if you can see the white film on the stain but from what I've found on the internet it is called "Leather Spew". Over the last couple of months the stain is probably gotten 3X's as dark and this white wax is now coming out. We expected some discoloration because it was leather but this is our first set of leather furniture and don't know anything about how it would normally wear. The arm rest and seating surface are all fine and in great shape. We always wear shirts when sitting on our furniture.
If you look at JPG43 you'll notice a couple of finger prints near the top of the stain where we dragged our fingers across....it looks like dragging fingers through wax. The dark spot is sticky and feels like wax. The loveseat is ~5-6 years old and has always had the warranty approved leather treatments applied to it.

Can you let me know what you feel I need to get it back close to new condition.


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn4/Rogerkoh/044-1.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn4/Rogerkoh/043-2.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn4/Rogerkoh/040-4.jpg

Roger Koh
03-14-2011, 04:20 PM
Can you let me know what you feel I need to get it back close to new condition.

All foreign contamination need to be purge out of the leather structure.

The pH value of the leather protein fibrils has to be pH rectified; as the fatliquor has becomes fugitives as what you have described.

Test it with a damp white towel if the dyestuff is also fugitive?

Run with wet fingers if the surface feels tacky or slimmy - sign of leather denaturing if it is so, as the tanning agents breaks bond with the protein fibrils.


Please explain how these dark stains come about?

And we can go from there!


Roger Koh
[email protected]

KINCORALEATHER
03-15-2011, 07:00 AM
Hi Roger,

Thanks for posting the above info for me.

Here's some additional info:
Truly appreciate any help you can give me. The sofa is beautiful and the loveseat back has deteriorated, it's sticky and waxy. Everything else is excellent on the loveseat…the seat and arms show very little wear. And are shiny and smooth.

We’ve used the cleaners and conditioners that were supplied with the extended warranty and taken what we thought was really good care of the leather. It just seems like over the last couple of months it gotten really dark, waxy and sticky…..like something changed.

The products are called:

Excelsior Leather Care Cleansing Cream – “is a non-greasy formula that gently removes accumulated dirt from leather furniture to help restore it’s appearance. This wax and silicone free cream cleans without leaving a residue and will not strip the leather of it’s natural oils.”

And

Excelsior Leather Care Protective Lotion. – “is a new and improved non-greasy formula that protects and nourishes finished leather furniture to keep it looking new. This fluoropolymer based lotion creates an invisible shield that helps prevent stain penetration while nourishing the leather with the moisture that it needs to preserve it’s look and feel”


These were the only 2 products ever used on our sofa and loveseat. As far as the ph of the lotions I wasn't able to find anything on that but am sending you samples to assess.

Both are made by Phoenix A.M.D. International and came as a kit with the Excelsior extended warranty that we purchased when we bought the set ~6 years ago.

KINCORALEATHER
03-15-2011, 07:33 AM
Hi Roger,

Some answers to your questions:

Yes the die does come off whe wiped with a wet, white rag. I didn't rub hard but there was a fairly good brown colour on the rag.

As far as running wet fingers on the loveseat I would have to say that it is more sticky then slippery.

As far as the dark stains: The only thing that I can think is body oils which doesn't make much sense considering that the seating surface and armrests show very little wear.
Like I had mentioned before the dark area has gotten much darker over the past few months and we recently went on a vacation for 2 weeks and came back to find a white, waxy film on the area I have circled in the attached picture. As you can see that white wax has come back. I always wear a shirt on the loveseat so there is very minimal exposure to skin.

The area that is circled is waxy and sticky. The channels between the grains of the leather appears to be filled in. I sent you the original JPegs and if you open them with "Paint" you be able to see the difference in the leather textures between the sticky and good areas.

Thanks again

Roger Koh
03-25-2011, 02:05 PM
Thank you for sending the sample; the Care Cream has a pH reading of 7.7 and the Protective Lotion has a pH of 7.

Although the product reads neutral to mildly alkaline, it is still 1000 times more cationic if we assume that the isoelectric point of this aniline leather is at pH 4, as leather has an average pH value form 3 – 5. This too much cationic effect has shifted the leather protein fiber negative, thus repel the negative leather constituents like magnets – like poles repel.

The affected leather constituents like the tanning agent will result in stickiness as you experience when runs with wet finger test – denaturing the leather back to rawhide when the tanning agent break the hydrogen-bond with the protein fiber.

Dyestuffs are anionic and when the protein fibers shift anionic the same breaking of hydrogen-bond result, manifested in the bleeding effect – shown dyestuff transfer to towel when wiped.

Anionic fatliquor breaks hydrogen-bond and becomes fugitives as spews based on similar explanation.

Thus to solve this shifting of the protein fiber from negative back to positive; it has to be acidified below its isoelectric point of the leather between 3 – 5. Thus a pH 2.0 acidifier is therefore recommended to rectified the above problem until the problem is eliminated with testing.

Moreover the cream and lotion may not be comparable with the leather structure and need to be removed entirely by degreasing. Too much of these stuffing cream and lotion choke up the inter-fibrillary spaces within the leather structure and retards the natural transpiration that kills leather breathability; besides resulted in the darkening effect that also kills the appearance aesthetically.

A acidic degreaser with a pH value of 2.2 is recommended to degrease the leather structure entirely to reduce the darkening effect.

These are the recommended procedural sequence of process for a holistic restoration.

1] Acidify with Acidifier-2.0
2] Degrease with Degreaser-2.2 follows with Rinse-3.0
3] Hydrating with Hydrator-3.3 to move the suspended soiling particulate within the leather structure to the surface.
This combination rectification objective is to eliminate the breaking of hydrogen-bonding between the leather protein fibers and the leather constituents; including the reducing of the darkening effect from overloading of the cream and the lotion.
4] Inspection at periodic after drying interval will determine the rectification success level; otherwise repeat until satisfaction. It would be good if we can inspect the reverse suede side and preferably the bulk of the extraction work be done from the reverse side to reduce overworking the smooth grain side from over rubbing.
5] When all the removal is satisfactory and after inspection, fatliquoring with Fatliquot-5.0 is recommended to restore the original fats and oils averaging 14% moisture level when dry. Fresh dyestuff with matching Aniline Dye-21 may be necessary depending on appearance and how thorough was the hydrating process to reactivate dormant dyestuff from surrounding areas to re-distribute into this affected area would be the preferred route to go. Existing topcoat may not be there at all and may reveal when all the camouflaging contamination is removed to be duller than the surrounding area.
For a better uniform appearance the topcoat of the entire cushion has to go, at least from seam to seam.

Basic Products for this project:

Acidifier-2.0
Degreaser-2.2
Rinse-3.0
Hydrator-3.3
Fatliquor-5.0
Aniline Dye-21
Topcoat Aniline-79Gloss or 59Matte to match.
Leather Scent-B (topcoat rub-resistant protector)

Tools:

Detailing horsehair Brush-1
Leather Eraser-4
Razor-60
Sandpaper 1500 grit
Airbrushing set for dye application
Terry Towel

Roger Koh
[email protected]

Roger Koh
03-25-2011, 02:53 PM
Here is the basic kit for aniline leathers with speciality products as add-on.



http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn4/Rogerkoh/AnilineKit.jpg
Leather Doctor® Aniline Leather Care Kit-A3


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
Leather Scent-B – 120ml
Leather (horsehair) Brush-1 – 1pc
3” Poly-Brush® - 1pc
Washable Rags – 5pcs


Email [email protected] for prices.


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn4/Rogerkoh/Aniline12-LPG.jpg