What is Leather Protection?
Leather Protection is a product that’s applied to leather to help ageing, wear taking place and soiling happening to the leather that causes damage.
BMW Seat With Dirt Build Up
We all know how important it is to keep our shoes protected and polished, but a great deal of people believe that modern leather in cars and on sofas should not be protected as they have a clear coating applied. This is a myth as all modern leather must be protected with a protective coating to slow down any wear processes and to protect against stains and dirt bonding to the surface as it’s this what starts to cause damage happening.
There are a great deal of leather types that all require different care and protection methods. Aniline leather requires different cleaning methods to pigmented leather and Aniline requires more protection than the pigmented leather types as the pores in aniline are open. This is because it’s a dyed through leather rather than a painted coated leather.
Leather Sofa Showing With Dirt Build Up. This Can Be Avoided With The Correct Protection Applied.
There are many types of leather cleaning and protection products on the market some are good, and some are bad for leather, things like saddle soaps which is used to clean saddles, harnesses and tack has its place in the market. But is useless for cars and sofas, as it’s predominately an alkaline product that causes damage to the surface of leather in cars and on furniture.
There are so many myths out today about what to use on leather to protect it from peanut butter, to APC (all-purpose cleaner) to baby wipes to body lotions for humans, cow’s milk to butter all these products are wrong and cause an enormous amount of damage to modern leathers.
Understanding what type of leather you have is essential for the correct protection products to be applied. Robornes provide a protection product that gives a 3 or 5 year guarantee on leather against stains, soiling and UV protection. Restorers is one of the industry leaders in leather care produce, having a range of natural products designed to keep each leather type in perfect shape. Aniline cleaners and protection products, luxury leather cleaners and protection products for semi aniline and clothing and leather cleaners and protection creams for pigmented leather found in most cars and on most furniture.
Aniline leathers require a very gentle cleaner to remove dirt and grime, but with aniline once a stains has gone in to the leather it’s almost impossible to remove this from within the leather, this is why it’s important to keep aniline leather protected correctly with the correct products and care procedures. Applying a specific aniline protector and protection creams allowing the leather to breathe yet stay protected against soiling and dirt bonding to the surfaces and getting into the pores causing staining and damage. Aniline requires more care than any other type of leather and a correct care plan is required to ensure its life is extended retaining natural oils and fats within the skin to keep it soft and supple.
Pigmented leather is a more robust leather that is naturally tanned with a coating that gives them a waterproof coating. Cleaning of a pigmented leather is easier to do and can even be wiped over with a damp cloth. If you don’t have the correct cleaning solutions, a great deal of people use APC to clean leather this should never be carried out as it breaks down the clear coating quickly causing damage to the painted surface in time. Protecting pigmented leather is as important as UV rays can damage the painted finish very quickly if protection creams or protection barriers are not applied. Keeping the surface protected prevents the painted surface from drying out and cracking taking place.
Dirt and Grime Bonded To This Car Seat, Protection Avoids Dirt and Grime Causing Damage To The Leather Surface.
There are several ways that leather can be protected, and all leather must be protected to avoid damage taking place, you can apply aniline protectors to aniline furniture as well as protection cream and dye stoppers. Normally with aniline it’s best to apply the aniline protector and then protection cream or aniline protector, dye stopper and protection cream for advanced protection. With pigmented leather apply dye stoppers and protection cream, or if you wanted, either can be used to help prevent damage taking place.
With semi aniline leathers, they are finished off with a pigmented clear coat to given even colour distribution, this is a much finer coating than a pigmented finish so requires a great deal of more care, so it’s best to apply a dye a stopper and protection cream over the top of these, or if you didn’t want to use a dye stopper just the protection will be sufficient to give them protection.
With any leather type the lighter the leather the more protection that’s applied the better as lighter leather will show up more dirt and grime than darker leathers.
Car Seat With Dirt Build UP. Not Removed Will Cause Damage.
When protection is applied to leather it forms a barrier on the surface to protect the clear coating of pigmented leather or semi aniline leathers and on aniline leathers it keep its natural feel and touch but helps prevent stains, dirt and grime getting bonded to the aniline surface and into the pores.
Applying protection is essential for modern leathers as the clean coating can easily be removed with clothing just rubbing against it. It’s better to have protection layers applied so the clothing rubs against the protection layers instead to avoid early damage to clear coatings and in time the painted finish.
Stressless Chair With Dirt and Grime Ingrained.