How to Repair Scratches on Your Leather Furniture
Whether you have a cat which loves to scratch the leather sofa at home, or whether for another reason your leather upholstery has become scratched, there are some methods which can help you hide the marks and restore the leather:
For a quick fix, use a recolouring leather balm to hide the scratches on your leather sofa. This is a straightforward, quick and cheap process, but it doesn’t resolve the issue in the long run as it simply masks the scratches. This solution is appropriate for very light scratches.
Before proceeding with the treatment of the scratches, make sure the leather is perfectly clean. Apply a strong leather cleaning product to treat the area. Use an abrasive pad or cloth to remove all grime and dirt. If there are loose long fibres on the scratched area, trim them carefully with scissors.
Use a sponge to put some leather binder to the scratched area. After adding one coat, leave it to dry before applying the next one. Depending on the damage, you may need to apply up to 8-10 coats of a binder. After it dries, use very fine sandpaper to sand down the area, so it becomes smooth. Remove all residues from the sanding.
Apply heavy leather filler with a spatula or pallet knife. Remove any excess and let it dry. If there are remaining gaps and holes repeat the process for as many times as necessary.
Once again sand down the treated area and rub it with a cloth dipped in alcohol to remove the residues. Use a sponge to apply a thin layer of the initial colourant coat. With an airbrush or sprayer apply the next leather colourant coats. Let each coat dry before adding the next layer. Apply until the damage is not visible anymore.
End up the process by adding a leather finish. First of all, apply one layer of a glossy super leather seal with an airbrush or sponge. Let it dry and apply another 1 or 2 layers. Then apply another 2 or 3 layers of the leather finish to add extra strength and robustness to the treated area.
Once all is dry you will hopefully end up with a scratch free leather sofa!
The easiest way to get all of the necessary tools and solutions for this repair process is to purchase a leather repair kit. If you are not too certain in your DIY skills, you can always hire a professional leather cleaning and repair company to remove all the scratches and cracks from your leather sofa, and to restore it to its beautiful original look!
