How to restore leatherette?

Artificial leather is used for the production of haberdashery goods, clothes, shoes, for upholstery, car covers. The finished coating is obtained by applying a textured polyurethane film on a cotton base. Such a film is safe for human health, passes air well. Items and furniture made of eco-leather are resistant to abrasion, scratches and other damage. Any product eventually becomes unusable, therefore, in order not to complicate the situation even more, it is necessary to take measures in time. Today we will tell you how to repair leatherette with your own hands. A few simple solutions to this problem will be presented to your attention.

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What to do if the eco-leather jacket is cracked?

Your favorite jacket has lost its former luster, and scuffs, creases and other damage have formed on the surface? How to restore a leather jacket - let's take a closer look at your next steps:

• Assess the degree of damage. This is necessary to do first of all so that you understand what kind of repair the product needs, how long it will take. First of all, you need to inspect the jacket, if there is severe damage on its surface, then for its restoration it is necessary to use deep staining agents, and the repair process itself will be painstaking and long.

Important! Minor scratches on artificial skin should be removed immediately after they are detected. This must be done to further preserve the thing and protect it from the occurrence of more serious damage to the material.

• Do it yourself. It is advisable to do such actions only in the case of minor defects on eco-leather. If you decide to restore badly damaged leatherette on your own, then you risk spoiling the product.
• Use the services of qualified professionals. The best way out of this situation is to turn to a professional. This is due to the fact that working with natural and artificial materials requires special care, skills and compliance with restoration technologies.

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How and how to restore leatherette?

So, we come to the most important question: in what ways to restore the faux leather? Upholstery on the couch is subjected to mechanical stress almost constantly, especially if there are small children in the house. You don’t always want to get rid of a cozy sofa made of leather substitute, if cracks and damages, outerwear or even small accessories appeared on it. There are several options for getting rid of this problem.

Orange peel

With this available component, you can give the former shine to gloves, purses, card holders and other small accessories. Please note that with this option it is impossible to remove scuffs and cracks in eco-leather, but you can only update the coating. Such a procedure is preferably carried out periodically in order to protect the material.

Dishwashing liquid

If a greasy stain appears on your jacket or couch and you don’t know how to remove it, the usual dishwashing detergent will come to the rescue. It must be applied to a sponge and wipe the contaminated area.

Important! When using this method, you can not rub the surface hard so as not to spoil it even more.

Gasoline or turpentine

With this method, you can easily and quickly remove even the most difficult stains.Alcohol is able to go deep into eco-leather, which will visually mask all the flaws of the damaged surface. To apply alcohol or turpentine you need to use a small piece of gauze to apply the product on the damaged material for 15 minutes. After complete drying, the skin will become one whole piece, and the defects will be almost invisible. If your skin has peeled off in the cold, you can restore it by observing the rules.

Important! The most important thing here is to adhere to one rule: do not leave a potent substance on the leatherette for a long time, since it can wash off the paint applied during the manufacture of the product.

Special dyes for artificial and genuine leather

This is an excellent solution to get rid of weak and strong defects of the leather substitute surface. The coloring pigment penetrates deeply into the structure of matter, which allows you to completely eliminate the defect and give the product an attractive appearance.

The main advantage of this method is a rich palette of colors and shades - from standard skin options to acidic. Such dyes make it easy and simple to process and smooth the surface.

Important! To consolidate the result, we recommend coating the paint with a top coat using skin varnish.

Aerosols

They are similar to paints, but are used to eliminate small scratches and smooth the surface. Aerosols must be applied in a thin layer, since smudges and cracks can form due to the thick layer, which will only further aggravate the situation.

Liquid skin

With this tool you can achieve the perfect “skin” relief on the surface of the coating. “Liquid skin” is used to fill in scratches, cuts and small punctures. Before using this substance, be sure to read the instructions for use.

Partial Material Replacement

This method is used only for severe damage to the material - deep cuts and lack of coating on the product. Restore eco-leather with many defects can only specialists with knowledge of special technologies for the restoration of artificial skin. With such damage, it is advisable to give the furniture a banner, as a partial repair is not able to return the product to its original appearance.

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How to restore leatherette on the couch?

Many people like leather furniture. A leather sofa looks beautiful and expensive, but costs a lot of money and requires special care. The eco-leather became the optimal solution of natural material, which outwardly practically does not differ from an expensive coating, and even surpasses it by some criteria.

Do-it-yourself steps to restore a faux leather sofa:

1. Level the surface, remove all protruding threads and fibers.
2. Gently stitch the edges of cuts and holes or glue them from the inside.
3. Wipe leatherette with dishwashing detergent, and then dry well.
4. We select the desired shade by combining several colors.
5. We apply “liquid skin” using an art brush or foam rubber.
6. The repaired furniture is left to dry for a day.

Attention! You can smooth out layers or remove smudges only with a student’s ruler or plastic card.

An ordinary napkin, on which “liquid skin” should be applied, will help to restore the relief. Below is a step-by-step instruction on giving the surface a natural structure:

1. We take a table napkin in our hands, put it on an intact leather covering (you can take a piece of an old jacket or gloves, and then dry it for several hours. This workpiece will serve us as a template for creating an imitation of natural irregularities.
2. We apply a napkin to the already stained areas of the product. So we got a beautiful and embossed imprint that hid all the defects.

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General recommendations:

• The most important thing in leatherette restoration is the restoration of the original drawing.So, for example, it is better to paint over a small damaged area with a brush or spray. Before starting work, it is advisable to degrease the surface for better adhesion of artificial leather to a polymer agent.
• “Liquid skin” should be applied in two stages: first, on the damaged first layer, and after two hours - on the second.
• If the furniture has a large number of scuffs, cracks and cuts, then it will be impossible to restore it. It is unlikely that you will be able to restore the former look of a sofa with a rare leather leatherette (turquoise, light green, coral, lilac), since the applied shade will differ from the factory color.
• It is impossible to recreate a complex skin pattern by using a napkin with a relief imprint, which is used only to simulate the fine structure of a leather coating.
• Aerosol coloring pigment should be sprayed at a distance of at least 20 cm. It is advisable to carry out painting work in a respirator or face mask to reduce the risk of penetration into the respiratory tract. Also, do not forget to put on the hands of plastic gloves that are used by the master when dyeing hair.

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Stock footage

We told you how to restore leatherette with your own hands, using a variety of methods. In order for the product made of artificial leather to serve you as long as possible, you should carefully treat it, protect it from moisture and other influences. Always remember that on-time prevention has never been superfluous.