Removing Water Stains From Leather

[nokiddin]

Hey everyone, not sure if this would be the right place to post, but I'm looking for some advice.

My friend has a leater purse, basically a saddle tan color. She had a water bottle leak inside the purse, soaking one corner, which after drying, has left the leather in that area a darker color.

Is there any way to remove these stains? Or do I have to re-finish somehow?

Thanks for the help.

[Bob Blea]

I'm not sure there is much you can do once it has dried. My wife had something similar happen to a purse when we were at a leather show, and she talked to the people at Bee Natural (who had a booth there) and they had her use one of their leather care products and it worked, but I remember that it was critical that she treat it while it was still wet. I don't remember what product it was (might have been Leather Amore) so you might try contacting them and asking for advice. However, once it's stained and dried there may not be much you can do....

[nokiddin]

Thanks Bob.

I will contact them to see if they have any suggestions.

[johnv474]

If nothing else works, one last-ditch option is to dip the entire purse in water then hang to dry. If you do, hang it upside down so water does not stay pooled at the bottom. The idea is not to remove the existing water spot but to minimize the contrast of the water spot with the surrounding area. If you like you can attempt this with distilled water, which does not contain the minerals left behind by other waters (ie spots).

[impulse]

The best way to remove stains/ discoloration, grease etc is to clean the leather with oxalic acid. This is a very mild acid which also has a mild bleaching effect. It is sold in most hardware stores as a "Rust and Stain Cleaner". It comes in powdered form, so mix 1 tspn in 200ml water. Clean the entire surface, wipe dry, then follow up with sodium bicarbonate ( baking soda) solution to neutralize the acid. I have used this for years on greasy, neglected saddlery- it works miracles. When preparing leather for tooling, I always use oxalic acid to even up any discoloration caused by light exposure before casing...................hope this helps!