Finished leather
Modern leather carries a water-based finish, which is why the traditional leather products — saddle soap, mink oil, wax — are on the prohibited list rather than the recommended one.
What not to do
Isopropyl alcohol is unsafe on Finished leather
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Alcohol is named in the prohibition list; the objection is to what it does to a water-based finish rather than to the hide.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Strongly supported
Named explicitly by the trade body responsible for the material.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That cleaners containing alcohol and any strong solvent must never be used, because they may cause cracking or other damage to today's water-based leather finishes. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Detergent is unsafe on Finished leather
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
The gentle-sounding improvisation. Grouped by the trade guide with caustic household cleaners.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Strongly supported
Named explicitly by the trade body responsible for the material.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That caustic household cleaners such as soap or dish detergent, and any high-pH cleaner, must never be used on leather. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Mild cream cleanser is unsafe on Finished leather
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Why we say this
Supported
Named on the trade body's own prohibition list.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That cleaners containing abrasives must never be used on finished leather, and that such products may cause cracking or other damage to today's water-based leather finishes. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Sodium carbonate is unsafe on Finished leather
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Standing in for the high-pH class the guide prohibits. Soda crystals are the alkaline product a domestic reader is most likely to reach for.
Why we say this
Supported
The guide prohibits the pH class rather than a chemical. Recorded against the alkaline agent the catalogue holds; it is not a claim that the source tested washing soda.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That any high pH cleaner must never be used on finished leather, and that caustic household cleaners are named among the products that may cause cracking or other damage to water-based finishes. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
In detail
Most leather furniture and upholstery is pigmented or finished: the hide carries a surface coating, and on today's leather that coating is water-based. Almost every surprise in the trade body's guidance follows from that one fact. The prohibition list names the products people associate most strongly with looking after leather — saddle soap, mink oil, wax, furniture polish — alongside high-pH cleaners, abrasives, alcohol, strong solvents, glass cleaner and ordinary soap or dish detergent. The stated reason is that these vary widely in strength and in compatibility with water-based finishes and may cause cracking or other damage. Technique carries as much of the risk as product choice. Cleaning starts with a suction vacuum and never a rotating brush, which damages the leather. Cleaner goes onto a white cotton cloth and never directly onto the hide or from a spray, and it is worked in a circular motion under moderate pressure — the guide sets a memorable limit, no more force than a firm handshake, because scrubbing damages the surface and makes a stain harder to shift. Leather is air dried with no heat applied, and heat and sunlight are named as harmful in their own right.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Recorded
- Chlorine bleach
- Not known
- Heat
- Recorded
- Abrasion
- Recorded
- Porous
- Recorded
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
What works
Water is safe on, in specific conditions, Finished leather
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
Only within these limits:
- deionised water, because minerals in hard water may leave rings
- a DAMPENED cloth rather than a wet one — the leather is not soaked
- applied to the cloth, never poured or sprayed onto the leather
- gentle circular rubbing, feathering the edges, with no more force than a firm handshake
- air dried, with no heat applied
The force limit is the guide's own and is unusually memorable: scrubbing damages the leather AND makes the stain harder to remove.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Supported
A positive clearance with five conditions, all of them load-bearing. The never-spray-the-thing instruction appears here too, from a fifth independent domain.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That deionised water is specified because hard water minerals may cause rings, that water-based soil is treated by dampening a cloth rather than soaking, that cleaner is applied to a rag and never directly to the leather, that no more force than a firm handshake should be used, and that leather is air dried with no heat. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Why
- Finished leather is explained by Solvents and polymers
The guide's own reason for its prohibition list: modern leather finishes are WATER-BASED, and the products it excludes attack the finish rather than the hide.
Related
- Finished leather is commonly affected by Oil and grease on textile
Aftercare and prevention
- Solvent wiping requires the aftercare Finished leather
Deep cleaning and conditioning is described as necessary every four to six months, and over-applying cleaner leaves a tacky surface that transfers to clothing.
Hacks and claims involving this
- Saddle soap and mink oil for leather Does not work
- Washing-up liquid on leather Does not work
- Cornstarch or talc to draw out a grease mark Supported
When the obvious answer is wrong
How do I get a greasy mark off a leather sofa arm?
The leather trade body prohibits both by name, and the reason is the finish rather than the hide. Modern leather finishes are WATER-BASED, and its banned list is built around what attacks them: any high pH cleaner, cleaners containing alcohol, strong solvents, and caustic household cleaners such as soap or dish detergent. The stated consequence is cracking or other damage to the surface. It is the same reason saddle soap and mink oil are on the list beside glass cleaner - traditional leather remedies formulated for finishes no longer used.
A different kind of treatment works: Take the dry route first, which is the trade body's own procedure and reverses the direction the oil travelled. Place CORNSTARCH over the mark and rub it gently with a finger until it coagulates with the oil, repeating as necessary. Only when the absorbent has taken what it can does anything wet follow, and then it is a cloth dampened with odourless mineral spirits rather than a household cleaner. Technique carries as much of this as product. Cleaner goes onto a clean white cotton rag and NEVER onto the leather or into a spray. Work in a circular motion under moderate pressure, and the guide gives a memorable ceiling for that pressure: no more force than a firm handshake, because scrubbing damages the leather and makes the stain harder to remove. Air dry, with no heat. Two further limits are worth knowing before starting. Deionised water is specified where water is used at all, because minerals in hard water leave rings.
Sources for this page
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That high-pH cleaners, abrasives, alcohol, strong solvents, saddle soap, mink oil, wax, furniture polish, glass cleaner and dish detergent must not be used because they may crack or damage water-based leather finishes, that a suction and never a rotating-brush vacuum is used, that cleaner goes on a cloth not the leather, and that leather is air dried without heat. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
What CleaningHQ cannot answer yet
These are recorded questions about this subject that we have not yet researched to a standard we would publish.
- Compare treatment of cloth, leather and vinyl vehicle upholstery
Last reviewed by a person on .