Renowned for their durability and luxurious finish, leather sofas are investment pieces which rarely go out of fashion for long.
However, for all their great attributes, leather sofas do have one downside – they can get filthy pretty quickly. From spots to stains to daily grime, a regular cleaning routine is essential if you want to keep your leather sofa looking great for its long, and eventful, lifetime.
Don’t know where to begin? Take a look at our expert tips, below, to see the best ways to clean a leather sofa at home.
To get started with your cleaning routine, grab a vacuum cleaner and connect the brush attachment to the end. Brush gently over the surface, focussing on areas where dirt typically gathers, such as the creases and folds of the couch.
If you can’t find the brush attachment, use a feather duster and not the upholstery attachment – using this attachment could scratch the surface of your sofa.
Once you’ve shaken all the debris from your leather sofa, you then need to wipe the grime away (yes, that includes black leather, too). For this, you can do a brief clean with leather wipes or baby wipes, but to really get deep into the folds of the furniture a homemade solution is usually most effective.
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TOP TIP: If possible, use distilled water to clean your leather; tap water can sometimes contain chemicals which are harmful to leather.
Leather might be great for tackling liquid stains, but deep marks, such as those from ink and grease, are often the most difficult to shake out. Luckily, there are plenty of easy ways to erase unsightly marks from leather.
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TOP TIP: If you run out of baking soda and want a quick cleaning solution, don’t reach for the washing-up liquid - it can damage leather and is known to cause cracking and wrinkling.
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Now you’ve got a lovely clean sofa which looks (and smells) fab, the next thing you should do is give it some shine with a homemade deep conditioning treatment.
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TOP TIP: To keep your leather sofa looking tip-top, repeat the conditioning method every six to twelve months.
If you are unsure how to tackle a stubborn stain on your sofa, you may need to speak to a professional reupholsterer. Take a look at Plumbs reupholstery options to see how you can bring new life to old furniture.
Sophie is a great granddaughter of the founders of the business - so fabrics and furniture are almost part of her DNA! Her interests include home interiors and upcycling, and her favourite show to watch after work is The Repair Shop. Some of the topics she covers on the Plumbs blog include sofa reupholstery and furniture protection.
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