Sectional leather/coated fabric sofas Sectional faux leather sofas Leather & faux leather sofasThere’s something special about leather sofas. It comes from their natural look and texture and the way they age so beautifully. Our leather has been treated to make it extra durable and easy to care for, while still keeping its natural quality. Choose from either a durable coated fabric leather or thick grain leather which ages gracefully. Plus with a 10-year limited warranty you’ll be sitting pretty for years. View details aboutlimited warranties Leather & faux leather sofas IKEA FAMILY products & offersRe-dying leather car seats will give the interior of your car a new lease on life. Not only will it make worn seats look like they have come straight out of the showroom, but re-dying leather car seats will help make the old and stiff leather feel soft and supple. Whilst re-dying car seats is not that complicated, it can be a lengthy process as it needs to be done in two stages so plan accordingly and allow yourself plenty of time to complete the process.
Ensure the surface is clean before starting. Cleaning car leather is a vital part of ensuring the remainder of the task can be completed correctly. Pour the fresh lacquer thinner onto a clean terrycloth shop towel and rub into the leather car seats in circular movements. This will remove the old car leather dye. Apply more of the lacquer thinner until the whole of the seat is covered. Always work on one seat at a time. Leave the seats to dry for several hours and then clean down with a damp cloth. Put on the vinyl gloves to avoid dyeing your hands and put a small amount, usually around 10 drops, of the leather dye onto a dry cloth. Be sure to blot the cloth with another cloth to avoid too much dye being applied. Concentrate on a single section at a time and gently rub the dye into the leather car seat, once again using a circular motion to ensure the dye is being worked into the leather. Pay particular attention to the seams and piping to make sure the dye is covered evenly.
The dye can also be applied with an acrylic brush although using a cloth gives greater control over the dye. Use the cloth to rub the dye all over the leather car seat. Work with small amounts at a time to avoid applying the dye too thickly. If part of the surface is blemished, apply a heavier overall coverage. Once you are happy you have an even coat which has covered the whole of the leather car seat, leave for approximately 2 hours. If the leather car seats look too light in color, applying a second coat of dye will darken it. A second coat can also help cover any blemishes like streaks or areas with darker grain. Make sure the seats are completely dry before applying further coats. Alternatively, if the opposite problem has occurred and, by applying too much leather dye your seats look too dark, use surface prep liquid to remove some dye from the surface of your leather car seats. The final step is to allow the dye to set into the leather car seats and polish them.
Avoid touching the seats for 48 hours. Once they are completely dry, take a cheesecloth polishing cloth, which are available from hardware and auto parts stores, and hand buff the leather seats until you are happy with the finish. The more 'elbow grease' you use when buffing, the shinier your leather car seats will become. Apply pressure accordingly until you achieve your desired finish. Common Terminology - Purchasing leather is not a difficult task. We offer a variety of leathers that will work well for whatever leather project you have in mind. Below you will find a list of commonly used leather terms that describe the various leathers we sell. Aniline Dyed – Leather that is dyed all the way through with a transparent dye. Because the finish is transparent and shows the natural markings of the leather, only the best quality hides can be used. Armor Leather – Heavy veg-tan leather used for shoe soles and for protective armor by historical re-enactors. Bark Tanned – Also known as vegetable tanned.
Leather tanned by the tannins extracted from the bark of trees. Belly Cut (snake) – Snakeskins that are cut on the underneath so the tanned skin shows the snake’s normally visible pattern. Chrome Free – Also known as Aldehydetanned leather, this is the leather that most tanners refer to as wet-white leather due to its pale cream or white color. Used in infant’s shoes and automobiles. Chrome Tanned – This process uses soluble chromium salts, primarily chromium sulfate, to tan leather. Most commonly used for garments, footwear and upholstery. Crust – Leather that has been tanned, dyed and dried, but not finished. Distressed – Leather that is aniline dyed with one color over another (usually darker over lighter) so as to create rich highlights and an artificial aged appearance. This finishing process is intended to emphasize the characteristics of the hide such as scars, scratches and wrinkles. Also called “antiqued leather”. Drum Dyed – The process of coloring leather by tumbling it in a rotating drum immersed in dye to allow maximum dye penetration.
Embossed Leather – Leather that has been “stamped” with a design or artificial texture under very high pressure. Our embossed leathers have textures of ostrich and gator. Flesh Side – The underside of the animal’s hide. When looking at a piece of veg-tanned tooling leather, this will be the rough side. Full Grain – Leather which has not been altered beyond hair removal. It is the most genuine of leathers, retaining all of the hide’s original texture and markings. The hide’s best, strongest and most durable layer. Good Hand – A soft, supple leather that feels good to the hand. Grain Side – This is the hide’s surface that had the hair of the animal. The grain side is used for leather carving and stamping by leathercrafters. Hair Cell Grain – Noticeable appearance of where the hair pores were on the leather. Kidskin – Soft leather made from the skin of a young goat. Latigo – Cowhide leather tanned for outdoor use. Utilized for cinches, ties, and other saddlery work and for army accoutrements.
Milled – During the tanning process, the leather is tumbled in a large drum shaped container to make it softer. Nubuck – Leather buffed on the grain side to give a velvety surface. Oil Tanned – Leather that is tanned using oils to create a very soft, pliable finish. Patina – The aura or luster that develops in leather as it ages with use. Pebble Grain – A cosmetic character resembling small pebbles on the leather’s top side. Printed Leather – Leather that has been “stamped” with a design or artificial texture under very high pressure. Pull-Up Finish – Describes the behavior of leather that has been treated with oils, waxes and dyes in such a way that when pulled or stretched, the finish becomes lighter in the those areas. Considered a mark of high quality. Rawhide – Hides that have only been dehaired and cured but not tanned. Semi-Aniline – Aniline leather that has a matching pigment layer added to even out the color and add protection.
Shearling – A sheepskin or lambskin that has gone through a limited shearing process to obtain a uniform depth of the wool fibers. They can be tanned with either a veg-tan method, normally used for saddles and outdoor gear, or with a chrome method, normally used for garments. Side – Leather tanned from one half, or “side” of a full hide. Skirting – Sides from cattle that are left in their heaviest form for use with saddle making and re-enactment armor. Splits – Leather made from the lower (inner or flesh side) layers of a hide that have been split away from the upper, or grain layers. Split leather is not as durable as full grain leather and is normally used as suede. Suede – Leather that has been buffed and brushed for a more attractive surface. Temper – A characteristic of leathers defined by pliability/softness. Tooling Calf – Normally, a very lightweight veg-tanned leather with a very clean appearance. Top Grain – Usually refers to a process of sanding away the natural grain from a leather’s top surface.