Cleaning Leather Furniture: What Products Work Best!

 

Although we take care to look after our leather furniture, there’s no getting away from the occasional spaghetti spillage or accidental denim smudge. But what product do you trust to use on your leather when those pesky marks do occur? In this post, we’ve conducted our own cleaning test, on both leather and faux leather, to find the cleaning solution must-haves for your home cleaning kit. 

So without further ado, let’s start some cleaning…

 

Scotchgard Multi-purpose Protector

Description: Protective spray
Category: Protect

 

How to Use: Spray onto new and clean surfaces from 20cm away. Allow the leather to dry overnight (minimum of 12 hours). Reapply periodically and after cleaning to maintain protection.

How we tested it: we applied the Scotch guard and then used tea droplets to see how well the surface was protected from the ‘spillage’.

 

NOTE: This Scotgaurd is designed for use on real leather, but for the purposes of this cleaning video, we thought we’d test it on the faux leather too…

 

 

Smell:

Texture:

Easy of use:

Effectiveness:

Our Verdict: Good for a base level of protection, easy to use and not overly expensive. Out of all the protective products we tested, this one was by far the best.

 

Furniture Clinic Leather Ultra Clean

Description: Cleaning solution
Category: Deep Clean

How to Use: Shake the bottle before use, then spray the cleaner onto a sponge or cloth. Wipe the mark in a circular motion.

How we tested it: we used tomato puree on the right of each of the leathers and dye transfer from jeans to the left.

 

 

Smell:

Texture:

Easy of use:

Effectiveness:

Best for: Cleaning PU

 

Our Verdict: The cleaner worked reasonably well cleaning the sauce from the PU. This took some time (and a bit of elbow grease!) but it did manage to wipe it all away. However, the product didn’t work as well on the real leather as it struggled to get the sauce of out the deeper grooves. This cleaner didn’t work particularly well on the colour transfer. As you can see from the clip, the solution did make the stain lighter on the PU and did make it less visible on the real leather, but it didn’t remove it completely. 

 

HG 4-in-1 Cleaner

Description: Cleaning Solution
Category: Deep Clean and Protect

 

How to Use:  To use, dampen a soft, lint-free cloth and gently rub the solution into the leather. Remove any excess so this isn’t left on the leather. 

How we tested it: we applied the cleaner and then used tea droplets to see how well the surface was protected from the ‘spillage’.

 

 

Smell: 

Texture: 

Easy of use: 

Effectiveness: 

Best for: General maintenance of leather

Our Verdict: This product gave the leather a really nice feel but, from our tea-test, didn’t seem to create much of a barrier of resistance. This product would be good for general leather maintenance but not so much if you want to properly protect it.

 

Fabric Magic Leather Cleaning Wipes

Description: leather cleaning wipes
Category: Spot clean

How to use: pull out of the packet and you’re ready to go!
How we tested it: we used tomato puree on the right of each of the leathers and dye transfer from jeans to the left.

 

 

Smell: 

Texture: 

Easy of use: 

Effectiveness: 

Best for: Food spillages 

 

Our Verdict: This was by far the easiest cleaner to use, and they smelt great! The wipes didn’t remove the colour transfer so we don’t recommend them for this. However, the wipes did remove most of the sauce. With the real leather, we were able to scrub a bit harder resulting in a deeper clean. If you have leather furniture then these wipes are a must-have for those quick spills and easy clean-ups. They’re cheap too so even though we had to use a few to clean away the sauce, this wasn’t an issue.

 

Leather Upholstery Cleaning Kit 

 

Ink Solution (the smallest bottle of the three):

Description: cleaning solution
Category: designed to remove ink

How to Use: apply the solution to a damp cloth and dab the ink stain rather than rubbing. Do not apply the solution directly to the leather.

 

Cleaning Solution (the spray):

Description: Cleaning spray
Category: general leather cleaning

 

How to Use: apply the solution to a damp cloth and wipe the leather in a gentle motion rather than rubbing.

 

How we tested them: we used a dye transfer from jeans on the right of each of the leathers and a biro pen on the left.

 

 

Ink Solution:

Smell: 

Texture: 

Easy of use: 

Effectiveness: 

Best for: –

Our Verdict: Didn’t remove the ink but did make it lighter. May possibly work on smaller, lighter pen marks but not a child drawing on the surface, for example. The ink remover ultimately didn’t work so this won’t be the quick fix you need after your kids have gone all Picasso on your leather dining chairs!

 

Cleaning Solution:

Smell: 

Texture: 

Easy of use: 

Effectiveness: 

Best for: cleaning away dye transfers from jeans.

Our Verdict: Easy to use, wiped away the colour transfer with minimal effort and pressure. Didn’t leave behind a mark. Best by far for removing a colour transfer from jeans.

 

Renapur Leather Balm:

Description: Cleaning balm
Category: Clean and protect

 

How to Use: Apply to the leather sparingly using a dry sponge.

How we tested it: we applied the balm and then used tea droplets to see how well the surface was protected from the ‘spillage’.

 

 

Smell: 

Texture: 

Easy of use: 

Effectiveness: 

Best for: –

Our Verdict: Tea rolled off both surfaces the same, seemed to have made little difference. Doesn’t smell that nice and was quite hard to apply using the sponges provided. From our tests, we didn’t feel like it made that much of a difference.
 
So there you have it. We’ve cleaned, wiped and scrubbed our way through these cleaners to help you find the best solutions for your leather. For more leather care and cleaning tips, make sure you take a look at our Real Leather Buying Guide. 

 

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Published Date: November 2018