Clean Stained Leather

Leather is used in a lot of everyday items – furniture, handbags, and shoes – and so you might discover that yours gets stained from time to time. Use leather soap to remove general stains. Oil-based stains are best addressed with corn starch, and you can get rid of ink stains with rubbing alcohol.

Steps

Using Leather Soap for General Stains

1. Check your leather’s care instructions. The care instructions on your leather product will tell you if there are any cleaners you should avoid for your particular leather. It should also tell you the best water temperature to use when cleaning your leather.
2. Dust the leather with a microfiber cloth. Before you apply any cleaning products to your leather, make sure you get all dirt or dust off of the surface. This is especially important for leather products that are outside a lot, like shoes or jackets. They tend to attract more dirt and dust than leather products that stay in your home.
3. Dampen a clean cloth with water. Most leathers cannot handle a lot of water, so if you are going to use water, use it very, very sparingly. Dip a clean cloth into clear water, and then ring it out so that it’s just barely damp.
4. Rub the cloth over leather soap. Leather soap is also sometimes called saddle soap, and it can be used for removing general (or unidentifiable) stains from your leather. Simply rub your damp cloth over the leather soap.
5. Buff the stains in your leather. Once you’ve got some leather soap on your damp cloth, rub the leather to create a lather. Don’t rinse the soap off, as this can be damaging to your leather. Instead, continue to rub with your cloth to buff the leather to a shine.

Absorbing Oil Stains

1. Pour corn starch onto the stain. You should do this as soon as possible after you’ve dripped oil onto your leather. This can include the oils you find in salads or the type of oil you find in your car.
2. Rub the corn starch into the leather. Using your fingers, rub the corn starch into the stain. You should feel the corn starch warm up from the friction caused by rubbing. This should reactivate the oil and make it easier for the corn starch to soak up.
3. Vacuum or brush off the powder. After you’ve worked the corn starch into the stain, brush off the excess with your fingers. If you’re working on a large stain, you might need to use a vacuum.
4. Repeat as necessary. Depending on how old the oil stain is, or how much oil there is, you might need to repeat these steps more than once to completely remove the oil. If you’ve repeated this procedure three or four times and still can’t get the oil out, you might need to take your leather to a professional cleaner.
5. Wipe the leather with a barely damp cloth. Once you’ve removed the oil stain from your leather, wipe it down with a barely damp cloth. This removes any corn starch residue.

Eliminating Water Stains

1. Fill a bowl with room temperature water. Overly cold or overly hot water can discolor your leather, so room temperature water is best. How much you need will depend on how large the leather product you’re cleaning is, but you’ll need enough to cover the entire product.
2. Dip a soft sponge into the bowl. You should use a clean, soft sponge for this step. Dip into the bowl of room temperature water, and then ring it out to get it as dry as possible. The only way to remove water stains from leather is with more water, but you don’t want to use too much and damage the leather.
3. Dampen the leather. Work from the center of the water stain out, wiping your damp sponge across the surface of the leather. Don’t scrub when you’re doing this, as this can cause water damage to the leather.
4. Work quickly. You’ll want to wipe the entire surface of you leather with water as quickly as possible. If you allow one area to dry before the others, you might end up with a new water stain.

Removing Ink Stains

1. Dip a cotton ball in pure rubbing alcohol. Dip a cotton ball into rubbing alcohol. Ring it out slightly – it shouldn’t be dripping wet when you use it on your leather.
   • If your stain is bigger than a few pen marks, you should use a clean dish cloth instead of cotton balls. Stains that large might also need professional attention.
2. Rub the spot gently. Using minimal pressure, press the cotton ball over the ink stain and gently rub the spot. You can check every few seconds to see if it looks like the ink is coming out of the leather.
3. Let the leather dry. Once you’ve rubbed the ink spot with rubbing alcohol, let the leather dry. Once it’s dry, you’ll be able to see whether the ink came completely out. If it didn’t, repeat the procedure as necessary.

Tips

• For larger stains, you might have to have your leather professionally cleaned. Professional cleaners know how to clean the leather as well as how to refresh the leather to maintain its color.
• Use a leather conditioner after you’ve removed stains.

Warnings

• Only use lint-free cloths, like microfiber, to clean you leather.
• If you let stains sit for too long, they can settle into the leather and might then require a professional to remove them. Address stains to your leather as soon as they happen.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Clean the Wheels of a Rolling Desk Chair
• Clean Laminate Cabinets
• Clean White Leather Furniture
• Clean Suede Furniture
• Clean Wood Furniture with Vinegar
• Clean Paint Off Leather
• Clean a Microfiber Upholstered Sofa
• Care for Leather Furniture
• Clean a Leather Sofa
• Clean and Maintain a Suede Couch

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