Jackie,
As in all of these situations much depends on the specifics. The type
of leather, whether it is dyed, and it's condition. Is it torn? does it
have red rot? Is it supple or brittle and friable? Is it stained?
Vacuuaming will remove the surface dust but you probably have more
deeply ingrained soiling present.
Adding oils or oil based cleaners and finishes cause significant
problems in antique or heirloom leathers. Professional conservators
tend to stay away from the "salad dressing" approach. Oil will
eventually change over time and chemically crosslink with the leather -
darkening and making the leather inherently weak as time goes on - it
is an irreversible treatment. It's fine if you have a utilitarian
object like a saddle or tack that you only see lasting 1- 25 years, but
it is not really a method I'd recommend for museum or collectable
objects.
I saw a simple but excellent treatment of 18th century tooled and
gilded leather wall-hanging carried out by a colleague. The surface was
vacuuamed and then he simply applied rennaisance wax with soft cloths
and buffed it out. The microcrystalline wax paste served to both pick
up the grime as well as to saturate and protect the surface. The
efficacy of this approach entirely depends on the specifics of your
leather. As in any potential treatment, always test methods on a small
out of the way area first to assess what it is going to do.
Cheers!
Dave
David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: Jacquelann Killian <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:24:36 -0400
Subject: Cleaning leather
Now, this is probably a question better suited to Restoration-L or
Fixer-Uppers-L, but I thought I'd try here since many of you probably
have some
kind of experience w/ leather! I have a leather upholstered chair that
I would
like clean myself but am unsure of the best way to do so w/ the least
repercussions. This is a chair I actually own, versus a piece that is
cared for
by a museum or institution, so if you have a good experience w/ a
leather
cleaner that you've used in that environment or in your own non-museum
lives,
I'm interested in your suggestions. I got it at an antique store and
I'm
curious to see what can be done to improve its appearance. It's not
filthy, but
it has an overall layer of grime that I would like to work out of it.
My mom has
handed me all level of unusual things including Armorall, shoe polish
(the clear
kind), and car upholstery cleaner... Something tells me something
better out
there exists. Plus, I'd like to be able to sit in it once it is clean!
Thanks in advance for your suggestions-
Jackie
--
3951 Gouverneur Ave., 2D
Bronx, NY 10463
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