What Are Caustic Cleaners?
APC Damaged Leather Sofa
Is APC safe to use on Leather?
Simply put NO. DON’T use APC on leather neat or diluted in any form as it’s highly dangerous for leather.
To give you an overview of some contents in an APC this may alarm you what it can do to your health……..
Corrosive to metal:
Serious Eye Damage/Irritation:
Skin Corrosion/Irritation:
Specific Target Organ Toxicity (single exposure):
Specific Target Organ Toxicity (respiratory irritation):
Specific Target Organ Toxicity (repeated exposure):
Label elements Signal word Danger Symbols Corrosion | Exclamation mark | Health Hazard | Pictograms Hazard Statements May be corrosive to metals.
Causes serious eye damage.
Causes severe skin burns and eye damage.
May cause respiratory irritation.
Causes damage to organs: blood or blood-forming organs | Causes damage to organs through pro
Some APC products contain – Sodium metasilicate
Sodium metasilicate is not a cleaning agent by itself. It is a VERY strong base. The pH of a 1% aqueous solution is about 13
Take a look at this link on Wiki about – 2-Butoxyethanol another ingredient within some APC’s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-Butoxyethanol
The damage an APC can cause to genuine leather is outstanding. NEVER use an APC on leather as this can weaken the surface structure causing the surface to become sticky which means the solvents are reacting with the clear coated finish, breaking this down.
Once the clear coat surface finish has been broken down you then start to remove the painted surface coating in time removing all of it, drying out the leather, then cracks start to appear.
The contents of an APC alone should be warning enough not to use them on leather items, they cause all sorts of damage, not always visible to the naked eye at first, only via the correct viewing equipment can the damage be seen.
An electronic microscope is what’s best to use on all leather cleaning works and restoration process you carry out to ensure you have the best knowledge to hand when dealing with a restoration process. The purpose of an electronic microscope is it can see damage on the surface that the naked eye can’t see.
Through a microscope you will see damage to the surface coating like small hairline cracks, in some cases darker shades. The darker shades is where the clear coating has been removed and the colour is being worn away and the leather below the painted surface is being attacked.
Caustic Cleaners – Top Coat Layers Shown
Leather Cleaning solutions with an alkaline content are caustic in concentrated forms and cause damage to clear coatings and the binder pigment colours.