How To Care For Your Leather Furniture

Purchasing furniture can be frustrating as well as exciting for many people. If you're like most of us, when the time comes to make decisions, you begin to have doubts about your choices. This is pretty common with leather furniture. We've gathered up the best leather care tips to help aid you in your leather furniture buying decisions. Have no fear! Make leather furniture purchases with complete confidence. 

The piece of leather furniture can really make a statement. 

Leather Furniture Myths Debunked

Leather furniture gets easily damaged by children and pets. No. Your leather furniture is as safe as any other furniture in the house. For an added layer of "piece of mind", you can choose a protected leather for your furniture, which has an extra finish applied to it to make it extra-resilient to potential hazards. There are some dogs that think the couch is their chew toy and some cats that assume it is their scratching post. That is a different issue altogether. The later issue can be resolved by making your own cat repellant spray. 

Leather furniture is too cold or too hot. No. You're basing your leather discrimination on your automobile's leather seats in a midwestern environment. Outside is typically either "too cold" or "too hot". Leather furniture indoors will remain pleasantly cool in the summer and warm to your body heat in the winter, with no harsh beginnings as your home usually comfortable inside. Our only tip may be to keep it out of the direct sun. The sun can both heat the leather up and make it uncomfortably hot as well as fade its character.

Leather furniture doesn't last. Negative ghost rider. Leather furniture (if bought at a high quality) is something you purchase for a lifetime. Since leather is a natural product, the process of aging brings out its natural patina. To some, leather furniture may age like a fine wine, bringing out deeper layers of beauty over time. Generally speaking, leather furniture is a sound home investment. 

Leather furniture is only for rich people. No. Though leather furniture may look luxurious in many cases, you don't have to be a rock star to outfit your home with it. Even if buying at the top-end of leather furniture, you'll find that it lasts much longer than fabric and be a much better value for your home. 

Leather furniture is too hard to care for. No. It's all in routine, just like your other household responsibilities. Leather is very easy to care for. You'll want to use a conditioner every 6-12 months and wipe up spills as they are occurring with a clean cloth. Avoid using abrasive cleaning supplies like soaps, detergents, solvents, etc. These will only leave stains and dry up or damage your leather. Saddle soap? Only for catcher's mitts. 

This brings us to the next section. 

Tips & Tricks to Care For Your Leather Furniture

Here are some tips and tricks for keeping your leather furniture beautiful and easily cared for,  for many years to come. ** Some leather comes with very specific cleaning and maintenance. Always be sure to consult the manufacturer's recommendations before following this guide. 

1. In normal living conditions or what the manufacturer may consider normal usage, all that should be necessary to keep your leather furniture in tip-top condition is a regular vacuuming in the crevices and a dry cloth dusting to remove direct and dust build up. 

2. Purchase a good leather conditioner (your furniture retailer can recommend one). Make good use of it every 6-12 months. 

3. Like any upholstery material, leather can fade if over-exposed to the sun. Protect your leather furniture from sun, as well as outdoor elements. 

Use a clean terry cloth to wipe spills and clean up messes.

Methods of Cleaning Leather Furniture

Just like bleaching your hair using self-tanning spray... always try any cleaning method in a hidden area first. You would hate to turn your plush burgundy office furniture blonde in one vigorous cleaning extravaganza. 

For minor spots and spills, wipe up any excess liquid immediately with a blotting sponge or clean absorbent cloth. If necessary, use a lightly moistened soft cloth with clean lukewarm water, and let it air dry naturally. If you're using water, clean the entire area where the spot occurred.

• Do not use soap or soak the stain heavily with water. This may cause more damage than the stain itself.

• Do not use cleaning solvents, furniture polish, oils, varnish, abrasive cleaners, detergent soaps, or ammonia water.

• For butter, oil, or grease stains, wipe off excess with a clean dry cloth, and then leave alone as the spot should dissipate into the leather after a short period of time.

• If the stain persists, it is recommended that a professional leather specialist clean the leather to avoid any potential damage to the leather itself.

• For minor or slight scratches on the surface, use a chamois or clean fingers to gently buff the scratch. If needed, moisten lightly with distilled water to work scratches out.

• Remember that leather is a natural product and requires some care to maintain the natural beauty of the hide.

• For cracks, tears, or punctures seek your local leather furniture restoration service to quickly fix the affected area and keep it from spreading to further damage.

Source: American Leather Furniture

Terry of Color Glo KC says "treat it like your own skin" 

Interior Design & Leather Furniture

Many people can't wrap their head around how to design their space with leather. They begin to feel like their home may be too "woodsy" or too sterile. Understandably, you've probably been to homes or cabins where this is exactly the case. Those are byproducts of home themes, not good spatial advice. 

If you feel like your loving that perfect leather furniture and you're now convinced that it's easy to take care of, but you just can't get your interior design thumb flexing, then hire a professional to help in your mission. We defer to a professional Interior Designer in Minneapolis. 

Leather Interior Design in Minneapolis. CW Lofts by Tiffany Hanken Design.

How to Clean a Microfiber Couch

Many people send in requests or questions about how to clean their microfiber couch or sofa. Microfiber isn't for everyone just like leather isn't for everyone, but you'll have to make some sacrifices in order to keep your microfiber couch clean. 

What is Microfiber?

First thing is first. Let's talk about what microfiber is and why cleaning microfiber furniture is such a pain in the tuckus. Microfiber has very thin strands that can be made to look like suede or leather. This makes it an attractive fabric for sofas and couches. Microfiber also is quite durable and repels water so it tends to be suited for furniture because your home can take a beating. Furniture manufacturers and salespeople however, would like you to believe that they are impervious to stains and an indestructible investment. 

Its just not true... Microfiber couches look like suede, but the fabric is made of polyester and nylon fibers. These fibers are about 100 times thinner than a human hair, so cleaning this material can be difficult. You can leave watermarks in a hurry on your brand new microfiber couch, if you're not careful. However, cleaning with solvents or laundering cushion covers gets the dirt out without the unsightly spots.

And if Frankie the dog likes to wipe his face on your couch (we know he does), then you'll be faced with the below situation.

Before you begin

What type of microfiber couch do you have? Before cleaning your microfiber couch, make sure to read its care instruction tag. Microfiber manufacturers use codes to indicate how to clean the fabric.

• W means you must use water based cleaning solution.
• S means you must use a “solvent” based cleaner
• S-W means you can use S or W type cleaners
• X means you can vacuum only (so, no water or solvent based cleaning solutions).

Never use bleach, acetone, carpet cleaner or upholstery cleaner on microfiber couches. If you are unsure about cleaning your couch yourself, schedule a consultation with a professional furniture-cleaning service.

And here's what you'll need.

• White cloth or sponge.
• Rubbing alcohol.
• Distilled water.
• Spray bottle.
• Hard bristle scrubbing brush.
• Soft bristle brush.

How to clean a microfiber couch

Your first step is to pour some rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and spray it on the couch. Don’t be shy; spray on a liberal amount. Then, use your clean sponge or white cloth to start scrubbing.

The key here is to focus on one section at a time. It will make the job more palettable and you'll see the results of cleaning in sections. If you have visible stains (such as Frankie's drool), scrub hard until they disappear. You can always spray on more rubbing alcohol if needed. You should quickly see dirt lifting off onto your cleaning cloth or sponge.

The Aftermath. 

Microfiber is finicky. Because of its fiber makeup, it will tend to harden after cleaning. This may cause streaks, runs or it may even be a bit "crisp". So what to do? The solution to that is to gently rub the hardened fabric with a soft scrub brush. You can use any type of brush really, as long as its not so abrasive that is damages your material. Pictured below is actually a horse brush! We're really looking to achieve the same result.

The special sauce...

Normally, most people would end here. There's an additional step however that proves to be useful for those who venture down the path of laboring over their own microfiber couches. Pour some distilled water into a spray bottle and spray it on the couch. It goes without saying that you need a NEW, CLEAN sponge or cloth in which to work into the couch until you can no longer see the water stains. The key here is distilled water - regular water will re-surface stains.

Allow it to dry, and then use the soft bristle brush again to loosen the fibers. Viola!

Image: www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com

What is Acoustical Ceiling Restoration?

Acoustical Ceiling Restoration

"Restoration" refers to restoring something to its original condition. As a worldwide leader in ceiling restoration for businesses, we can speak confidently (first and foremost) to what ceiling restoration is not. 

Painting your ceiling. This is a solution that many businesses, small to commercial, will entertain (or worse yet pursue) when looking to revitalize and refurbish their ceilings. Be very aware that this does not provide any benefit to the ceiling, to your employees or to your customers. Ceilings get dirty over time, specifically if they are in industrial or high traffic area. The solution is not to seal bacteria, grime and dirt into a petrified state above your heads. 

Ceiling installation can be grossly expensive. The bulk of your cost will come with the suspension and T-bar system that supports your acoustical ceiling as well as the labor involved to custom fit it to your space. Ceilings can become dirty pretty quickly, so in our professional demeanor it begs us to ask the question; "why would you entirely ruin your ceiling with paint and DIY coatings?"

If ceiling tiles are dirty or even damaged from smoke and pollutants, there is no need to paint your ceiling and trap it all in. Dirt, discoloration and worse is just going to bleed right through your paint or coatings job, which by that time leaves no recourse to the painting company for correction. Save your company money and explore a healthier solution by restoring them with Coustic Glo International. 

Bring Your Ceiling Back to Life

Once you make the choice to paint or coat your ceilings, you've likely just committed to a process that has a short-term solution to a very long-term problem. The Problem is this: the ceiling will continue to get dirty at the same rate that it did before. The paint or coating will generate its own layer of grime and dirt while the underlying layer of pollutants will begin to resurface. This leaves many businesses with a duly dark environment that is unhealthy and unproductive. Your option at this point will be only to paint it again, along with speaker grilles, diffusers, sprinklers, etc. These items are vital to your ceiling system and can be professionally cleaned to look like new. So explore the option of restoration before destroying your high-cost investment into your ceilings.

What is Acoustical Ceiling Restoration or refurbishing?  Acoustical Ceiling Restoration is the process of restoring your acoustical ceilings to their original condition to look like new again. You'll experience an exclusive ceiling cleaning and restoration process which consists of ceiling cleaning products and equipment. A professionally done job will leave your acoustical ceiling tiles, ceiling grid T-Bar system, your sprinklers, speaker grilles and more looking and smelling like the day they were installed.

BEFORE

AFTER

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Refurbish. Don't Replace. 

Save your company thousands. Restore Your Ceilings With The Original Refurbishment Professionals. Coustic Glo International is the World Leader in ceiling and wall restoration since 1975. Today in markets around the world, Coustic Glo products are proven every day to offer the correct results and best value every time they are put to the test. The process of restoring our ceilings is up to 80% cheaper than replacing them and it's an environmentally safe decision as well. 

What are the benefits?

• Smoke & fire retardation.
• Acoustical rating enhancement (sound is re-absorbed).
• Brightens the workplace.
• Offers a safer, healthier breathing environment.
• Increases employee / customer morale.
• Far less expensive than replacement options.

What ceiling items can be cleaned?

• Acoustical Ceilings. 
• Hard ceilings.
  • Vinyl ceilings
  • Tile ceilings
  • Metal pan ceilings
  • sheetrock ceilings
  • Vinyl rock ceilings
• Walls (including brick, vinyl, hard surface and FRP).
• Stainless steel hoods and surfaces.
• Fluorescent light diffusers.
• Light deflectors.
• Chandeliers.
• Window Blinds.
• and more!

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Are you in need of ceiling restoration?

If your business is in the midwest and you'd like to explore restoration, you can reach out to our Minnesota Dealership - Coustic Glo Midwest. Or you can contact them directly below.