Mynkibird Report post Posted June 29, 2020 Hi, apologies for hijacking your expertise. I can't find an equivalent site in the UK so I wondered - if I was polite enough?! - if you might share some expert advice for a non-leather-expert? If not, just tell me to get lost, and I'll quietly back away... I have a lovely, old and squishy but very dark chocolate brown leather sofa suite (I guess you'd call them a pair of couches in the US?). I'd really REALLY like something less dark. I've just moved house so can't afford to buy a new suite or to get it professionally recoloured. I am wondering what you would advise if I were to try to do this myself? There are a couple of sample patches attached to the inner labels, so I was thinking I might do some trials with those before tackling the whole thing? I've been searching and googling as much as I can and it looks like it might be possible to do this by - I think? - removing the original coating (with some kind of specialist solvent?) and then using oxalic acid to strip out any original stain? Would this be about right? And if this worked, I guess I'd be left with the original colour-ish - maybe a tan shade? I'd be quite happy with that but I'm worried about whether I could get it even enough or it would maybe go patchy? Any advice and recommendations for do's and DO NOT DO's would be incredibly welcome - thank you in advance! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Retswerb Report post Posted June 30, 2020 Hi @Mynkibird! First the good news: all are welcome here and I don’t expect anyone to tell you to get lost. Plenty on here from your side of the pond too. And the bad news: the likelihood of you being able to lighten this couch and have it survive the process looking like something you want to keep in your home is very very low in my opinion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toxo Report post Posted June 30, 2020 I don't have the answer to your problem but I will say "blotchy" is trendy these days. People are paying good money for blotchy. Good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mynkibird Report post Posted June 30, 2020 4 hours ago, Retswerb said: Hi @Mynkibird! First the good news: all are welcome here and I don’t expect anyone to tell you to get lost. Plenty on here from your side of the pond too. And the bad news: the likelihood of you being able to lighten this couch and have it survive the process looking like something you want to keep in your home is very very low in my opinion. Thank you for your reply - and the welcome. Yes, that's the kind of honest response I needed! Surviving the process and looking OK would be my basic requirements. Oh well. I'll have to live with dark I guess and start saving up for a new one... If there are any different opinions from others though, I'd welcome hearing them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zuludog Report post Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) I don't think it would be possible to make dark leather lighter, certainly not on that scale. And anything you did try would probably ruin it Have you ever sanded back paint on a piece of wood? no matter how hard you try there are always remnants of the paint left in scratches, nail holes, and so on; I think you would get the same sort of effect on leather. To be sure you would have to sand back severely on wood, and on leather it would damage the leather, as mentioned Usually when you clean back the surface of leather it is so you can apply some sort of coating or leather feeding compound to preserve the leather or make it darker But an alternative would be to give it a good clean and feed, then it might look a bit more acceptable I am just about to clean my Stressless leather chair with cleaner and protection cream from the Leather Repair Company www.lrcuk.com. I've never used it before, but it has good review; otherwise Search t'Net, there are lots of products Another possibility would be to fit covers - Search t'Net for 'stretch covers for sofa'. Or you might think you're better off putting the money towards a new sofa in the first place Finally, welcome to the Forum. Although it is based in America there are members from all over the world, including the UK Edited June 30, 2020 by zuludog Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnv474 Report post Posted July 5, 2020 (edited) If you want the short answer, then skip the idea of lightening the leather by stripping it and re-dyeing. That would be a job best left to specialist professionals--not just professionals, specialist professionals. If you do not mind having the leather an even color throughout, then you can use Leather Refinish by Wood-N-Stuff. These are a highly flexible surface dye (think 'paint') made specifically for the purpose of recoloring leather. You NEED to buy the prep, which helps with adhesion. Wipe down the couch with prep, then use a sponge dauber to apply the Leather Refinish in overlapping circles. Don't aim for full coverage on the first coat. Let the couch sit for at least a few hours between coats (you need at least two). A couch like this can be done in one day by a beginner, with about 2 hours of actual work and lots of time watching paint dry (prep, paint, wait, paint, wait, etc.). If you can paint a wall you can do it. It's fairly easy and if it needs touched up sometime that is easy too. It costs about $20 per seat cushion, so a 3 person couch would cost about 60 bucks or so. If you later decide you want a different color you can paint over it. Edited July 5, 2020 by johnv474 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
