Nubuck: Color Restoration: Is there an option to restore a faded 7 years old Nubuck? ...by chet

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picture of sofa


Nubuck sofa 7 years old very faded, and soiled. can this becleaned and restored without dye?

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picture nubuck


Picture of original swatch sticking out from under cushion, to show how much it has faded.

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more questions
Roger I originally quoted her to clean and dye this sofa and turnit into aniline, she has several children and pets, I thought you would have an opinion.
My understanding is that I could clean it, apply aniline dye and not buff it, and it would be easier for her to maintain. Or do you think i should try to clean it and add fat liquor to bring back the original finish?
Either way i need to know what you think i will need to completely takle this job. If you need a color swatch for dyematch I have a sample.

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I'm interested in your answer here also, as I run into this from time to time. Do not like to completely re-dye something unnecessarily.

[Roger Koh]

Let us know your experience with nubuck and why you would rather revert back to aniline?

These would be my recommendation to retain its original “Nubuck” (less work, with less technical problem - like patchiness, surface smoothness and needs lots of sanding).

Spotting with appropriate specialty spotters as there is a handful if you see the product list.

The basic spotter for all oil and grease is d’Oil4.4™ (leather safe pH 3-5).

I would use d’Oil4.4™ in conjunction with d'Grease4.9™ for prep cleaning follows by clean3.8™ and rinse3.0™.

Tools appropriate would be nubuckBrush2™ and nubuckEraser5™.

The purpose of this eraser is to bring up all the nap and exfoliate old surface nap to give way for new.

Rehydrate is for two purposes:

1. Bring up the dyes from the structure to the surface.

2. Reduce surface tension for fast and even distribution of fatliquor throughout the leather structure for an even appearance, beside softness and strength when nubuck dries.

If you have spray soak the entire structure especially with relaxer3.3™ and fatliquor5.0™ with prior continuous working with both the above brush and eraser by now all grease and oil stain should disappear (d’Grease4.9™ milder than d’Oil4.4™ may be more convenience to feather out rings residues if any).

Now soak it further with rinse3.0™ and check for blotchiness (presence of grease - redo a must).

Wrap up the entire sofa with a see through plastic sheet overnight for dye stuff within the structure to redistribute itself to the surface (allows dipole water movement).

Next day remove the plastic sheet and leave for slow natural drying (allows wicking process to bring suspended particulate to the surface).

Next day either put it either in a dehumidifier room or under the sun.

A very dark film of soil will resurface to the surface.

These are the old soils that have penetrated and now spew to the surface.

It is time to perform your magical task (ask someone to standby with a camera or a video).

Make sure that the nubuck is crispy dry!

Use your nubuckEraser5™ and work on the darkest area.

The result will definite make you smile!

Not only the nubuck nap returns to original but the color revives too.

To go one step further recolor with nubuckColor94™ and fix with nubuckFix99™.

Why I say “recolor” instead of “redye”.

Nubuck is aniline dye through with a micropigment color-on.

That gives the more even coverage than a dye can achieve without the problem of “bleeding”.

Well, what do you think?

Is this simple enough or you would still prefer to revert back to “aniline”.

If so are you using a “dye-thru” or a “dye-on” dye?

Roger Koh
LeatherDoctor® System