Nubuck: How to Clean Nubuck with different degree of soiling so as to harmonize the appearance, feel and scent between the Sofa, Wall & Desk Panels?

We're working on a sofa that matches walls, and a desk. the sofa is the most soiled and stained, but the drawers on the desk need a lot of help also. the sofa is in our plant being restored now, the rest will be done in their home, what do i need to do to insure they all look and feel the same.

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the sofa

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the matching desk

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closeup of drawer fronts

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lower cabinets that are Nubuck covered, lightly soiled

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Wall unit that also matches sofa, Nubuck inside and out, lightly to medium soiled.

The art to harmonize cleaning appearances of different soiling level is to know how each leather safe (pH 3-5) product works namely:

d’Oil4.4™ is for penetrated oil and grease - it also means that it require larger amount of clean3.8™ to remove all the sticky residue and also a larger amount of rinse3.0™ too.

d’Grease4.9™ is for surface grease and is about 10 times less in degreasing power as compare to d’Oil4.4™, sticky residue removal by clean3.8™ and rinse3.0™ is also 10 times lesser.

preClean4.3™ is for heavy soiling and is about 40 times less in degreasing power as compare to d’Oil4.4™, sticky residue removal by clean3.8™ and rinse3.0™ is also 40 times lesser.

clean3.8™ is for general cleaning without the sticky residue and yet we recommend to be further acidifier rinse with rinse3.0™.

rinse3.0™ is to acidifier the protein fiber and charge it cationic (+) below the leather iso-electric point for hydrogen bonding with the anionic (-) fatliquor, besides strengthening the leather constituents chemistry integrity.

relaxer3.3™ besides hydrating the leather to allow “dipole water movement” within the leather structure either to redistribute the fatliquor to coat each individual fibrils or helps to allow for proper suspending and wicking of foreign particulates.

fatliquor5.0™ coats each fibrils within the leather structure to impart softness and strength that flex smoothly - it is just like oiling hinges with WD40.

So, you see by deploying the right chemistry to match the soil level will deliver the cleaning objective without “under-cleaning” or “over-cleaning”.

And don’t forget to use fatliquor5.0™ to fine tune the color saturation as well.

leatherScent’S™ with the non-stick silky feel and the unforgettable classic leather scent, always make customer smile!

That’s how the art through your practice and the science through the Leather Doctor® System work hand in hand.

You become the leather practitioner that delivers!

And most people would think that you have performed magic!

I think without logic, magic wouldn’t work!

What do you think?

Roger Koh
Leather Doctor® System

Roger, we followed your instructions for restorative cleaning. We got a very good result. It is still darker in the highest wear area. Can this be corrected further? Some shiny spots still appear (possibly sugar, form beverage drips, most are very small 1/4" or less) is there a way to dissolve these spots?

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After restorative cleaning

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Another angle after restorative cleaning

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Some of the small shiny spots that remain

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Drawer front after restoration

Roger, we followed your instructions for restorative cleaning.
We got a very good result.
It is still darker in the highest wear area. Can this be corrected further?

The darker area may need repeat; it is “under-clean” perhaps not soak deep enough to bring out these foreign particulates!

It should come out good to your satisfaction after the repeat.

Some shiny spots still appear (possibly sugar, form beverage drips, most are very small 1/4" or less) is there a way to dissolve these spots?

Try the d’Oil4.4™ direct onto these spots, agitate and let dwell minimum 30 minutes, agitate and extract follows by clean3.8™ to remove sticky residue and rinse3.0™.

Leave it dry naturally a minimum of 4 to 8 hours, erase wicked-up soil particulates.

There would be a tremendous improvement I believe.

Otherwise just apply d’Tannin3.5™.

If it fails to move the stains try d’Tarnish1.3™.

Very unlikely they are protein stain try d’Protein11.0™ (we never know, it’s best to ask the owner!)

d’Tannin3.5™ pH value 3.5 is a leather safe tannin stain remover.
To: Remove cellulose stains such as coffee, tea, wine & some dyes.
For: Aniline, Pure-Aniline, Semi-Aniline, Veg-Tan, Pigmented, Bicast, Nubuck, Suede or Woolskin.
Caution: Test for discoloration at a hidden area for satisfaction as it may strip some dyes.
Prep: Use d’Grease4.9 > clean3.8 > rinse3.0 prior to d’Tannin3.5.
Instruction: Apply by cotton swab or spraying.
Then extract with absorbent towel until towel shows clean.
Let it dry naturally for chemical reaction to take effect.
Repeat if necessary.
Use rinse3.0 to help stabilize leather pH integrity & remove all residues until towel shows clean.

d’Tarnish1.3™ pH value 1.3 is a tarnish stain remover.
To: Remove metal stains like rust, tarnish, some ink and dye.
For: Aniline, Pure-Aniline, Semi-Aniline, Veg-Tan, Pigmented, Bicast, Nubuck, Suede or Woolskin.
Instruction: Apply with drip, cotton swab or spray.
Extract & reapply with continuous gentle agitation until stain is gone.
Use basifier8.5 to neutralize acidic low pH.
Use clean3.8 to remove residues.
Follow by rinse3.0 to stabilize leather pH integrity & remove all residues until towel shows clean.

d’Protein11.0™ pH value 11.0 is a protein based stain remover.
To: Remove blood, body-discharge, milk, cream, ice-cream, egg, meat juices, vomit, perspiration, urine, etc.
For: Aniline, Pure-Aniline, Semi-Aniline, Veg-Tan, Pigmented, Bicast, Nubuck, Suede or Woolskin.
Identify: Inspect & remove all caked & surface deposit gently before application.
Instruction: Apply with drip, cotton swab or spray.
Extract & reapply using continuous gentle agitation until stain is removed.
Neutralize with acidifier2.0 or for urine decontamination use d’Urine2.2.
Use clean3.8 to clean remaining sticky residues.
Always follow by rinse3.0 to stabilize leather pH integrity & remove all residues until towel shows clean.

We are recleaning the darker areas, and will finish them tomorrow. As for the spots,they are unknown the homewoner just purchased the home with this sofa in it. They look carmalized and that's why I thought beverage? I can use the nubuck eraser and make them look a lot better, but youcan still see them if you look closely.

The last resort is to spot color them with nubuckColor94™ after chemical spotting attempt fail because of the “unknown”.

If it dries darker, would it be possible to lighten with dye?

If it dries darker it means that the soil particulates have not resurface enough to be erase off (due to insufficient surfactantcy or inadequate soaking the leather structure or not enough hand scudding the suspended soil off the leather structure).

Colors from nubuck come in two types the transparent and the opaque.

nubuckDye23™ is the transparent type that dyes deep - very natural deep hue with poor coverage and more light sensitive.

nubuckColor94™ is the opaque type that cover colors - a very good color coverage less natural and more resistance to UV light.

nubuckFix99™ is a color fix to reduce “crocking” or color rub-off.

So the answer is that it can be lighten only with nubuckColor94™ and not with nubuckDye23™.