Aniline Leather sectional

[Hugabone]

I just picked this sectional up today. It's a taupe color and in need of some loving. Overall it's good condition except for a couple of the seat cushions. It appears to be soiled and dirty. I did the water test and it does soak in quickly on most of the leather except where the leather wasn't exposed. I do not know the type of stains. The other seat cushions just have slight stains. I mainly want to restore the two seat cushions and remove the small stains on the other seat cushions. There are surface scratches on the other cushion. This aniline leather does not appear to be any type of wax finish. I also dont see any major fading. What would I need? The last picture is when they were setup before I picked them up.

[Hugabone]

For the most part the leather is real soft and supple except for the seat cushions, especially the two soiled seat cushions. Getting it back to "New Look" isn't necessary but the scratches and the soiled seat stand out.

[Hugabone]

I have some Leather Master Soft cleaner and used it to clean the one seat cushion. Since the leather has no topcoat the cleaner did wick some I'm assuming dirt which I used another towel to wipe. The leather is now a little harder and a little darker. As you can see I didn't clean the right side of it. Looks like I need the Degreaser and Rinse 3.0 to start off and Hydrator 3.3> Fatliqour 5.0> Hydrator 3.3. And some topcoat .

[Roger Koh]

This leather is identified as Aniline (A.fs) Full Sauvage:

General Description of Aniline leathers:
Aniline leather is soft and natural. They are usually first treated with transparent dyestuff to make the grain and natural characteristics more visible. Modern tannery dyeing is done in a rotating drum in a continuous process follows with fatliquoring. When dried thereafter, the leather goes through another selection or grading to decide the best treatment to bring out their potential softness and natural look. Thus, further sub-divide into various varieties. However, the bulk of aniline leathers after dyeing may reveal uneven grain dye absorbency and too many faults, so that the variation in color over the entire grain surface is too great for many leather fabrications.

Varieties of aniline leathers may be referred to as “full sauvage aniline” with differing intensity of dye absorbency appearance.

Use this Aniline (A.fs) Full Sauvage as reference guide when comes to cleaning and restoration. Identify the problem from the left column and the top row the product recommended and the numbers denotes the sequence of steps. When leather have compound issue combine the soiling, stain and odor types as the cleaning phase-1 and the leather rejuvenating with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 as the second phase-2. Structural problem as third phase-3, Finishing as phase-4 and protection of the finishes as phase-5.

Stains Identification:

Appearance - Stain identification by appearance will show whether it the characteristic of a spill, rub-on, penetrated or deposited. It may also reveal dye or finishes damages cause by the stain.

Odor - Stain identification by smell can be very helpful in positive identification. Some of the more common odor may be moldy, smoke, putrid or ammonic from urine.

Color - Stain identification by color will also give a clue to the staining material. If the stain is red, it could be beverages, nail polish, lipstick, blood, or some other things. Color identification may not necessary be right; with time, a red bloodstain may turn to a stain that is tan to black. The color of the leather may mesmerize or alter the color of the stain.

Feel of Hand - Stain identification by feel of hand may help determine the stain types. For instance, if it is sticky and red it could be candy, beverages or other things that have sugar in them. If the stain is brittle and stiff, it may be nail polish, shellac or paint. If it smears, it may have grease base to it, such as lipstick.

Location - Stain identification by location may give a clue as to the makeup of the staining substance. If it is dark at the headrest or the edge of the armrest, it is most likely stain by body oil, grease and perspiration by hand or by head.

Buildup or Absorbed - A stain may take several appearances. The stain may be lying on top of the leather (buildup) on most pigmented leather or absorbed into the leather on most unfinished, aniline and nubuck leathers. Naturally, it could also be a combination of absorbed and built up. If it has been absorbed, this will be an indication that it was a liquid when it penetrates the leather. It should also alert us that it may have chemically changed the dye of the leather. An example of this would be a perspiration stain that has reacted with the leather dye and changed it in some way. This would occur more likely on dyed absorbent leathers. The perspiration could also have weakened the fibers of the leather. In any event, this leather may show a marked color change in that area after spotting, and possibly after cleaning. Examples of built up stains are paint and some foodstuff, etc. Examples of absorbed stains are beverages, wine, tea, coffee, etc. A combination stain may be lipstick, ink, mustard, etc. it will have part of its staining matter absorbed into the leather and part of it accumulated on the surface. A stain may also be a substance that has wet solvent-soluble and dry solvent-soluble components combined. An example of this would be gravy which contains grease, flour (from plant), and milk (from an animal). Paint type stains are readily detected because of their stiff nature and generally bright colors and they seem to be sitting on top of the leather. When identifying stains always try to a determine whether they are of a protein, cellulose, oil based, or a colloidal make-up nature. Three common types of soiling or stain are solvent-soluble, water-soluble and insoluble. Stains are frequently of a combination nature, and in most instances, there will be no information from the customer regarding the stain especially if they are bought used.

[Roger Koh]

>>> It appears to be soiled and dirty. I do not know the type of stains. The other seat cushions just have slight stains. I mainly want to restore the two seat cushions and remove the small stains on the other seat cushions. I did the water test and it does soak in quickly on most of the leather except where the leather wasn't exposed.

When water test shows leather becomes absorbent, then most of the stains are penetrated. There are also groups of stains that will response to the appropriate treatment system. The first group to use would be the Degreaser-2.2 > Acidifier-2.0 > Hydrator-3.3 system. Body oil, grease and sweat are suspended with the degreaser and with a pH of 2.2 it controls the other leather constituents like the tanning agent, dyestuff and fatliquor. When tanning agent leaches out the leather denatures and becomes tacky. Bleeding is the destabilizing of the dyestuff and drying with stiffness is the leaching out of the fatliquor. The Acidifier-2.0 is used as surface rinse to stabilize the pH chemistry integrity of the leather from denaturing. The Hydrator-3.3 is for moving the stains from below surface and during the wicking process towel T-5 is used to trap the soiling through rather than still remaining on the surface to be peel off when completely dry. This is the sequence of stain removal process and the type of soiling with relevant products system is repeated until the stain are totally released to satisfaction.

>>> The leather is now a little harder and a little darker.

The second phase is to rejuvenate the leather for suppleness that prevents premature cracking with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3 system.


>>> There are surface scratches on the other cushion. This aniline leather does not appear to be any type of wax finish. I also don’t see any major fading.

Repairs if any comes next. All white scratches are topcoat damages and using AnilineTop-76G will eliminate most. Existing worn grains may be rectified with Aniline-76 Clear. (as dyestuff is most cases are reactivated with Hydrator-3.3). And Protector-B or B+ (leather scented) will reduce wear to the finishes with a soft buttery-feel plus a non-stick effect.

Roger Koh
Leather Care System Formulator
Consultant / Practitioner / Instructor
web: www.leatherdoctor.com
forum: www.leathercleaningrestorationforum.com
email: [email protected]

[Hugabone]

Thanks, so I would just need for now the A5.dr Leather Degreaser Kit. I also will be ordering one quart each of the Hydrater and Fatliqour.