Ideas for upholstery leather?

[zuludog]

I have (or rather, had) an Ekornes Stressless leather covered swivelling & reclining armchair. After nearly 40 years suffering the ravages of family life it became too worn & battered to use - the leather is thin and fragile on the centre of the seat & headrest, and the frame is bent where the kids used it as a roundabout when we weren't looking - that went for scrap.

But much of the leather is in reasonable condition, and I'm in the process of unpicking it as I thought I might be able to use it to make wallets or card holders. However, as it is upholstery leather I think it is a bit too soft & thin for that. It is smooth and black, and my guess is about 0,5 to 0,8mm thick

So I wondered if there is anything else I could do with it, or any way of stiffening & thickening it? For example, I'd thought of backing it with something either to make it thicker, or a contrasting colour, say tan or dull red

Any suggestions or other comments please? Thanks

Edited October 27, 2019 by zuludog

[DebSweet]

Purse maker here.

 

What you need is called 'interfacing' or 'interlining'.

It comes in a variety of weights and types; I could be here half the day describing or debating the stuff.  Every type has it's highest and best use.

 

That said..

 

I'm not sure what the various weights or brands of interfacing are called in the UK.   However,  if you ring one of the local purse makers who make bags out of Harris Tweed, they should be able to help guide you to the appropriate selection of interfacing; they've pretty much got it down to a science.

If all else fails, try your local fabric shop.  There should be a selection of interfacing there to choose from. 

 

Hope this helps!

[zuludog]

Thanks Deb. I've Searched for interfacing on the Net. Now I know what it is I'll look into it some more

[Professor]

I salvaged leather from my old PC chair, the cats had been using it as a scratching post so there wasn't much useable leather left.

I found the flesh side was tacky, perhaps sprayed with something to hold the hair padding in place. 

The surfaces also turned out to be more fragile than I'd expected.

Only thing I plan to use this for is a padded lace on cheek piece for a friend's scoped FN FAL.

[zuludog]

Well, I've finished unpicking the leather now. It wasn't glued anywhere, just sewn, so the reverse/flesh side is OK. There are a couple of worn areas, but apart from those it seems to be in reasonable condition. I've seen on YouTube that you can wash leather so I will - 

Wipe it over with white spirit to remove any dried conditioner & grease that has accumulated in the nooks & crannies

Wash it in the machine on a gentle cycle with a small amount of soap

Let it dry and see what survives. Obviously I'll treat it if I want to use it again

If nothing else I should be able to make a load of round strops for sharpening spoon carving knives!

[zuludog]

OK, I've washed my leather now and it looks pretty good

There is no damage apart from the existing worn areas; it is very clean; most of the creases have gone

It is still damp, I'm letting it air dry, then I should be able to use it with no problems

[wizard of tragacanth]

You could use it for lining jewelry boxes, valet trays or some such thing. Wrap tool handles?

nick

 

[zuludog]

I'm sure I'll be able to use it somehow, if not immediately

I have a couple of Japanese pull saws with the bound bamboo? handles but I didn't find them so easy to grip. I wrapped them with the rubber grip strip as used on bicycle handlebars, but if I need to do it again I'll use this leather

[zuludog]

I've finished playing around with my leather now

After it dried I treated a small piece with some general leather grease that had been thinned with white spirit to help it penetrate, then left it overnight to dry

It's quite good - soft, supple, and a lot of the creases have gone. I won't use it for the best work, but it will be OK for things like linings & tool handles