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Leather couch. Tip for cleaning leather couches

Submitted by Patty Cakes

To keep your leather couches looking nice, mix one cup of salt water (you can make this with one 3/4 cup tap water and 1/4 cup sea salt), two tablespoons of baking soda, and one teaspoon of flour in a large bowl.

Dip wet rag into the mixture and wipe down the couches. Then dry with a dry rag. It will brighten and clean even the dirtiest leather couches.

Visitors comments

Cleaning leather sofa Comments By: lg on 2004-11-28 Considering everything else i found on line told me to have it professionally cleaned--this worked awesome and saved me tons of money. It not only brightened the couch, but it cleaned a spot off our white leather couch that i thought would just be permanent after many failed attempts at removing it. The method did leave the couch a little gritty (the salt) but wiping it down with water and drying got rid of that. Its messy--but this method works.   question Comments By: debbie on 2006-03-16 Will this work on nubuck? I have some old stains and some fading from the sun. TipKing says: I have not tried this tip so I am not able to advise. Sorry!   Cleaning White leather Couch Comments By: Amy on 2006-05-19 Our couch looked really bad its white leather and my husband always wears jeans and the dye would rub off on the the couch. Plus normal wear from guests and pets. I cleaned them today and they look great! They look almost new again! Thank you!   One Mans trash...... Comments By: Ed on 2007-03-01 A friend was giving away his very expensive art deco style yellow leather couch because it was looking more brown than yellow. I took the couch and used this tip and couldn't be happier it worked great. Brightened the leather right up. Thanks!   corn or wheat flour? Comments By: low on 2007-06-07 Please advise, do you use wheat or corn flour? TipKing Says: Probably wheat flour   Thank You! Comments By: Chelle on 2007-09-09 This method is excellent,my white leather sofa looks 100% better! A little messy,but I just slid newspaper underneath the edges of the couch to catch any drips.   PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS Comments By: Leather Agony Aunt - Consultant to the industry on 2007-10-20 The reason that this appears to work is because you will have removed or damaged the finish on your leather. The ingredients are too harsh and abrasive for cleaning leather and will lead to many problems down the line. Follow professional instructions and use tested products for your leather and it will last you a lifetime, using this sort of process your leather will be ruined in no time.   maybe needs to be done more than once Comments By: m on 2007-10-23 My sister gave me her old cream couch which is in excellent condition, however it has deep blue jean stains in it. I tried this technique and it didn't work, it only lightened up the stains. I am unsure if I should do the technique a second time, because my mom said it looked like it was whitening the couch.   question Comments By: Jennifer on 2007-11-21 How do you get ink out of a leather couch? My son accidently got ink pen on the beige leather sofa. HELP!!!   Try This,Too! Comments By: Chelle on 2008-02-05 I tried the above tip,though it was quite messy. I have a cream coloured couch that had denim stains and such on it. The other day I took a slightly dampened Magic Eraser to my couch,and it came out 100% better,with no mess.Be sure not to press too hard,just gentle circular motions. Keep rinsing the sponge as you go,and wipe down each spot with a paper towel as you finish it. My couch looks even better now!   How to Remove Blood Stains Comments By: Gunga on 2008-04-26 Help! I have dried blood stains on my cordova colored leather couch and no idea how to remove them safely....any experience with this?   Cleaning Leather couches Comments By: Louie on 2008-10-04 When I bought my leather couch, I was told by the sales person who had 30+ years selling leather couches. She spoke of simply using Ivory soap. Ivory soap does not dry the leather nor does it remove those products that protect the leather. It cleans and softens leather without drying. Simply wet a soft cotton (old t-shirt)cloth and rub lightly some Ivory soap and start wiping. Rinse the cloth and repeat. After you are done cleaning, wipe couch with clean, dry cloth, removing dirt and excess.   Baby wipes Comments By: casey on 2008-11-22 I do think this tip may strip the leather a little however is good for a quick fix and then add some sort of sealant or leather protectant. I just use baby wipes to clean my white leather couch, the ones without alcohol - they work great and I like the smell. I do think I need to get some leather protectant now to put on after using the baby wipes to keep the leather supple. Any ideas which protectant to get and where from?   Amazing!! Comments By: Steve on 2009-03-14 Quick effective simple and hey presto a wonderful white sofa again, I would suggest a leather treatment for aftercare, thanks!   Don't do! Comments By: catherine on 2009-04-15 This left a terrible film on my couch. I'm afraid it's ruined   Wow!! Comments By: Viv on 2009-08-13 Very dirty white leather stool about 30 years old - looks almost as good as new - amazing. Thank you   For ink stains on leather Comments By: Tate on 2009-09-15 just spray on some hairspray and give it a quick wipe and that will get rid of any ink stains, even permanent marker   Endust will disolve permanent ink from leather Comments By: ALW on 2009-09-27 I have a lovely flower on my modern white leather chair. Discovered endust removes stains without taking the finish off. Also works excellent on vintage wood pieces to clean the grime off.   OUTSTANDING Comments By: Phil on 2009-10-04 Thank you Patty Cakes. This tip worked briliantly. Puts store bought cleaners in the shade. A 5 star fix.   Just incredible Comments By: Anton on 2010-02-13 Our cream leather natuzzi sofa had several very naste stains....we tried everything. It cost me a lot of courage to follow the hairspray tip......ALL stains are gone.....just wipe it with luke warm water after cleaning   Good idea Comments By: clairebuttons on 2010-02-24 I weighed up whether to try this but my cream sofas are on their last legs anyway so thought it was worth the risk. And it worked brilliantly, really impressed. not too messy and I wiped down with a damp cloth after too.   Worked AWESOME! Comments By: Meaghan on 2010-05-15 Worked AWESOME! I bought a leather set from craigslist for $150, they were cheap because they desperately needed to be cleaned. I tried a million and one leather cleaners and to my dismay none of them worked, I was so close to having them professionally cleaned until I stumbled upon this site..... THANK YOU PATTY CAKES :)   ink pen in couch Comments By: edward on 2011-01-19 my kids wrote on my couch with pen i cant clean it please help me   yellow face zinc on white leather couch Comments By: Kym on 2011-02-04 Does anyone know how to remove coloured sunscreen zinc off a white leather couch?   try this Comments By: stevefo on 2011-03-02 saddle soap   hairspray on ink stain Comments By: ChristineWatson87 on 2011-03-29 wow, a few sprays of hairspray got permanent ink RIGHT OFF my leather couch. so amazing because i really didn't think it would work!!!   sun on white leather Comments By: z on 2011-06-10 Does it work if the sun turned it yellow? Or what works? Pls help   cleaning stains off of white leather couch miracle!!! Comments By: anon on 2011-06-19 the hairspray technique really works!!! thanks so much for the tip! i was quite upset until I tried the hairspray method and had success!!! many thanks!!