Leather is one of the common products that can be found in any and every household. Right from leather furniture, leather journals, leather jackets, or leather pants, you can easily find these products in every house. Considering the popularity of these products, it is important that you know the ways in which you can maintain them.
Today, in this piece of article, we are going to take you through some general leather care tips moving forward to discussing the ways in which you can get dog scratches out of a leather couch.
How to Fix Leather Scratches from Your Dog
Are you ready to smooth out some scratches? Below, we’ll share several different methods for fixing leather furniture, broken down by the severity of the scratch.
Light or minor scratches are usually surface level, affecting only the color coating of the piece of furniture rather than the leather itself. These are the easiest types of scratches to repair, and they can usually be fixed with the help of some basic supplies from home.
For the best results, start by cleaning your leather using a leather cleaner or white vinegar and a soft cloth. Try to test your cleaner and following products on a less visible section of the leather first, just to make sure there isn’t any discoloration.
After cleaning the surface, you can use the following strategies to lift light scratches:
A leather conditioner can instantly revitalize a piece of leather, and even if it doesn’t totally eliminate the scratch, it should help some. Follow the product’s direction, but you’re basically going to need to rub the leather conditioner onto the affected area in a circular motion.
Then, you’ll need to allow the conditioner to dry completely.
Pure Vaseline or petroleum jelly can also act as a makeshift leather conditioner. Rub Vaseline onto the affected area and let sit for about 10 minutes, and then rub off the excess.
In a pinch, a traditional hand or body moisturizer might also help condition your furniture and reduce the appearance of small scratches. You’ll definitely want to test this method ahead of time on a less visible section of the furniture, though.
Rub in a small amount of an unscented, dye-free moisturizer onto the scratched area. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then gently wipe away any excess.
Sometimes, conditioning isn’t enough on its own to reduce the appearance of mild scratches on your leather furniture. Luckily, a leather marker or pen can help you fill in the gaps. Test out your marker of choice ahead of time to make sure the color matches evenly with the rest of your furniture.
After you’ve conditioned your leather, you can use your leather marker to gently fill in any noticeable points of discoloration.
Deep scratches are a bit trickier to rectify, as you’ll sometimes find excess fibers hanging out or off of the damaged patch of leather. These deep scratches usually come with discoloration as well, so they may need to be repaired by a professional in some cases.
Before targeting deep scratches, clean the affected area. You can use leather cleaner or white vinegar as you would with lighter scratches, but make sure you test your cleaner first for discoloration.
Before attempting to recolor your leather, make sure you trim any loose fibers. You can do this by carefully using scissors to trim off any loose threads. Gently sand the affected area with a fine-grit sandpaper to smooth down the surface of the leather as much as possible.
The wax in shoe polish can help fill up the gaps left behind by deep furniture scratches. After cleaning the surface of the leather, apply a small amount of colorless shoe polish with a dry cloth.
Allow the polish to dry for several hours. Test the area by rubbing a cloth along the polish site and checking for any polish residue. Once fully dried, the furniture is ready for use.
After you’ve tried leveling, conditioning, and polishing your leather, you can paint it using a leather repair kit which typically contains some dyed leather balm or oil paint designed to recolor scratches. Make sure you test out these paints on a non-visible section of the furniture ahead of time and apply the paint according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
If your furniture has sentimental value or the repair seems beyond your capabilities, there’s no harm in hiring a professional! Look for furniture repair businesses in your area and seek out a couple of quotes to find the best leather repair job for your buck.
Note that you might have to combine several of these methods to successfully eliminate leather scratches. You’ll also want to keep up with the basic upkeep mentioned below to help your furniture last as long as possible.
Suede and Nubuck are particularly delicate types of leather that have earned their own classification. With this type of leather, you need to avoid moisture at all costs, so you won’t be able to clean these leathers in the same manner.
Unfortunately, since this leather type is much more fragile, it’s challenging to remove deep leather scratches, though you may be able to reduce light scratches with the following techniques:
Using a regular pencil or art easer can help you remove excess dirt or debris from suede or nubuck without requiring water. This is a great way to clean your specialty leather or prime it for a more thorough cleaning.
You can gently use a soft wire brush or toothbrush to help buff out minor scratches in suede or nubuck leather. This won’t always remove scratches, but it can definitely help reduce the intensity of scratches.
Suede leather conditioner can help rehydrate suede and nubuck fabrics and potentially eliminate minor scratches. Just make sure you’re using a conditioner specifically for suede or nubuck, since these fabrics behave differently than a more general type of leather.
Tricks To Get Rid Of Dog Scratches From The Leather Couch!
We all know how expensive buying leather furniture is. This feeling kicks in with high intensity when you see a scratch on your favourite leather couch. Once you see that scratch, don’t worry, we got you covered.
Here, in the section below, we are going to share with you the list of things you can do to get rid of the scratch from the leather couch.
Train your dog to stay off the furniture item in question.
You can certainly teach your pooch to avoid sitting on your couch or piece of furniture. Start by teaching your dog the “Off” command. When you catch your dog on an undesired piece of furniture, toss a training treat on the ground while saying the word “off”. Repeat this process until your dog starts to understand the command.
From there, you can encourage your dog to sit somewhere else and continue to gently dissuade him whenever you notice your canine companion attempting to sit in a dog-free zone.
FAQ
Do dog scratches come out of leather?
How do you fix scratches on leather couch?