How to repair leather furniture at home, expert advice
Leather upholstery for furniture is considered one of the best materials. It combines strength and a presentable appearance. But during use, spots and scratches will still appear. Performing minor repairs of leather furniture on your own is real, although much depends on the nature of the damage. If pollution or a defect are not eliminated in time, the furniture will lose its value and color saturation of the upholstery. With scratches and cracks, the situation is even worse - if you do not start the repair in time, then the crack can grow to such a size that it will be easier to buy a new sofa.
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Necessary materials and tools
To correctly select the materials, you should carefully evaluate the condition of the furniture. This is necessary to understand the nature of the problem and determine how to resolve it. To repair leather furniture, you may need professional tools that are not advisable to buy for disposable home use.
If we are talking about simple pollution, then it will be enough to cook a rag and alcohol. Crack repair is a bit more complicated. Before starting work, you will need to acquire construction tools - they will be used to disassemble furniture and remove old upholstery. This is a set of screwdrivers, wrenches, a screwdriver, pliers, a tool for removing staples. Replacing material involves using a staple gun. This is a basic set of tools.
There are repair options using paint, liquid skin and other improvised means. Therefore, it is worth purchasing them in advance. Do not forget about the filler of the sofa - the material may also need to be fully or partially restored. Foam often acts as a filler. Be sure to get a thread and a needle. A sewing machine will cope faster. If a partial or full replacement of the upholstery is planned, then a large amount of new material will be required.
Repair and recovery methods
For leather furniture, stains are not so critical, unlike physical defects such as cuts or scratches. There are several basic ways of restoration of such furniture, aimed both at full or partial restoration of the material, and at concealment of defects. As before, the upholstery will not look, but scratches will be invisible. The following repair methods can be noted:
- The easiest way is to repair leather furniture using a product called "Liquid Leather" or its equivalent;
- The scratch is painted over with varnish or paint matched to the color of the upholstery. Here we are talking only about disguise;
- An application is applied to the damaged place or a patch is sewn if the appearance of the product does not suffer from this;
- The most complex and long process is the full hauling of the material. It is worth resorting to it only when repairing with liquid skin will no longer help;
- Replacing accessories. In some situations, it is not upholstery itself that needs repair, but decoration or fittings.
Liquid skin
If you have to work with major damage, you will need to fill the void with foam rubber or cotton wool. This area is glued from the inside of the upholstery. Using the table supplied with liquid skin, you should choose the most suitable color. The damaged surface is cleaned, degreased, after which the furniture is repaired with leather furniture. There are no special rules for applying “Liquid Skin” to the surface. The liquid can be applied both with a brush and a spatula. There is a trick that allows you to give the place restored with the help of the specified tool, the invoice from the source material - you need to attach a sample from the sofa to the damaged area.
Painting
Staining helps in situations where after a long period of use the furniture has lost its appearance due to wear. In this case, minor cosmetic repairs should be carried out using painting. The paint itself can produce both in the form of an aerosol, and in the form of a spray, respectively, it will be simple to repair leather furniture. First you need to evaluate how much the paint matches the color of the upholstery, and if necessary mix several shades to get the right color.
The damaged surface is first cleaned of dirt, and then degreased with acetone. It is better to use sprays, they are more convenient to use. Paint should be applied in several layers. It is important that the previous coat of paint is dry before the next coat is applied. To paint dries faster, you can use an ordinary hairdryer.
Hauling
The list of items that should be included in the repair kit is described above. First, the sofa is inspected, after which the old upholstery is dismantled. The side, back of the sofa, as well as the seat, are removed using a hexagon or wrench. The brackets holding the upholstery are removed with a special tool. Old filler, even if it is in good condition, is best removed for a while to assess the condition of the frame. If necessary, the filler is changed to a new foam, as well as damaged parts of the frame.
The pattern of the new upholstery should be done with a margin of 10 cm, while you need to orient yourself on the old upholstery. After all the details are cut, you can start sewing. In the absence of proper skills, this process can be entrusted to a specialist.
The constriction is as follows:
- The cut element is placed on the upholstery of the sofa. It is necessary to arrange the material in the center of the furniture;
- The fabric is wrapped around the edges, in parallel with this, material tension occurs;
- Fastening of the upholstery is carried out using brackets, which should be located at a distance of at least 4 cm from each other.
You need to start work from the middle and move to the edges. This will provide uniform tension.
Stripes
Stripes can solve the problem of scratches. The essence of the method is to cut and paste a piece of skin larger than the scratch itself. The patch should be round, although a different shape is allowed. The cut patch is glued to the bottom of the crack. As for the glue, it must be water-based. It is very difficult to choose a patch that will not differ much from the main material, but even if you manage to find such a material, the difference will be visible. In this situation, it is worth using paint additionally. Repair is complete when the dye is dry.
Lining
Repair of leather furniture at home can be done with the help of linings or applications. This method can be called unusual, because it radically changes the appearance of furniture. The trim differs from the patch in that it is placed on top of the upholstery. The pad serves to prevent further crack growth. Accordingly, the owner of the furniture realizes that the sofa or armchair will no longer have the original appearance. But this can be avoided by showing a little imagination. Using contrasting overlays, you can depict an unusual pattern - it can be an abstract picture or a specific image. It is better to put a slip on glue or to sew on threads.
Threads and needles should not be used for the reason that they leave traces, which eliminates the possibility of moving the lining to another place without consequences. Using glue gives an opportunity for error. As is the case with conventional crack sealing, degrease the desired location before installing the patch.
Stick up
There is a type of adhesive designed to work with the skin. You need to look for a tool called universal skin glue. The specificity of the process lies in its efficiency only for small cuts and cracks. Restoring leather furniture involves applying glue gently. You can make the application of glue with a toothpick, match or similar-sized stick. After applying the adhesive, firmly press the edges of the scratch. Also, these edges can be pulled together with synthetic thread. All excess glue must be removed. It is not always possible to quietly turn this procedure, that is, the place of gluing will still be visible. Then the damaged area of the material should be polished and painted.
Replacing hardware
Furniture supports, screeds, wooden armrests, decor - all these elements can also break due to chemical or physical influences. Repair of these components, in most cases, is impractical. It’s easier to immediately replace them with new ones.
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