How do I clean body oil residue from a leather couch
September 29, 2009 10:27 AM Subscribe
How do I clean body/hair product residue buildup from a leather sofa?
The backrest on my leather sofa has accumulated a thick waxy residue on the places where people's necks/heads rest. Yeah, it's gross, but the couch is dark brown and I just noticed it when I accidently scratched the couch with my fingernail and instead of scratching the leather, I got a dark waxy residue under my fingernail. It's only in the places where heads/necks rest, so I am assuming it is from body oils and hair products. It's pretty thick. I "clean" the couch with a leather conditioner, but I never noticed this as you can't really see it on the dark sofa so it has been building up for years.
How do I get it off? Some warm water and mild dish soap? I have no idea what kind of leather it is, so my internet surfing is frustrating as everyone has a different method depending on the type of leather it is.
The backrest on my leather sofa has accumulated a thick waxy residue on the places where people's necks/heads rest. Yeah, it's gross, but the couch is dark brown and I just noticed it when I accidently scratched the couch with my fingernail and instead of scratching the leather, I got a dark waxy residue under my fingernail. It's only in the places where heads/necks rest, so I am assuming it is from body oils and hair products. It's pretty thick. I "clean" the couch with a leather conditioner, but I never noticed this as you can't really see it on the dark sofa so it has been building up for years.
How do I get it off? Some warm water and mild dish soap? I have no idea what kind of leather it is, so my internet surfing is frustrating as everyone has a different method depending on the type of leather it is.
Since I always forget to pick up saddle soap when I'm shopping, I usually end up using a Mr. Clean magic eraser on our light grey leather loveseat - test it first, since yours is darker and might show a residue, but it works really well on ours.
posted by annathea at 10:54 AM on September 29, 2009
posted by annathea at 10:54 AM on September 29, 2009
Mr. Clean magic eraser?!
That seems like it would rip leather apart. It makes my hands hurt when I use it, and they're essentially covered in leather. I would be very, very cautious if you try this approach.
posted by runningwithscissors at 11:18 AM on September 29, 2009 [1 favorite]
That seems like it would rip leather apart. It makes my hands hurt when I use it, and they're essentially covered in leather. I would be very, very cautious if you try this approach.
posted by runningwithscissors at 11:18 AM on September 29, 2009 [1 favorite]
seconding saddle soap. I just used it to clean the gunk off of a leather watch strap, and it did a fine job, and made me feel all cowboy-like in the process.
posted by reverend cuttle at 11:26 AM on September 29, 2009
posted by reverend cuttle at 11:26 AM on September 29, 2009
runningwithscissors - yep, I was leery to try it. It worked...magically. But as I mentioned, I have a lighter color sofa than OP. Also, I didn't scrub it, I dampened the eraser and wiped the sofa down pretty gently - it didn't require any force to get a lot of smoke and crud off of it when I took possession of it.
posted by annathea at 12:28 PM on September 29, 2009
posted by annathea at 12:28 PM on September 29, 2009
In case it helps, here's how to tell what sort of leather you have:
Is it very uniform in appearance, even in colour, and glossy? You probably have a pigmented leather with a polyurethane finish.
Did it come with an intentionally distressed appearance (i.e. a worn-in, slightly scuffed look)? You probably have a semi-aniline wax pull-up leather (i.e. with a wax surface protectant).
Is it very matte, soft, and natural, with the occasional subtle mark/scar on the hide? You probably have a lightly oiled, fully aniline leather with no surface protectant.
I would try leaning this first with leather wipes, or a baby wipe that contains lanolin. Failing that, try a leather cleaning kit.
posted by hot soup girl at 4:32 PM on September 29, 2009
Is it very uniform in appearance, even in colour, and glossy? You probably have a pigmented leather with a polyurethane finish.
Did it come with an intentionally distressed appearance (i.e. a worn-in, slightly scuffed look)? You probably have a semi-aniline wax pull-up leather (i.e. with a wax surface protectant).
Is it very matte, soft, and natural, with the occasional subtle mark/scar on the hide? You probably have a lightly oiled, fully aniline leather with no surface protectant.
I would try leaning this first with leather wipes, or a baby wipe that contains lanolin. Failing that, try a leather cleaning kit.
posted by hot soup girl at 4:32 PM on September 29, 2009
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posted by iconomy at 10:32 AM on September 29, 2009