How do you take a stain out of leather?
Question:The stain is red dye that came from a ticket that came in contact with water laying on a leather couch. The stain is about 2X3inches or more.
Answers:
hard to answer...
reason is, what dye was used to make the ticket red.
dyes are made for different reasons. food safe, skin safe, permanant, anti leaching, oil solubility, water solubility and more.
cool-aid red can come out of a carpet with oxyclean but would damage skin or leather at high concintration.
if the dye is iron based, oxalic acid or pool rust acid in low doses will work.
BEST or FIRST to try is...
another possibly safe idea is a cotton makup removal square soaked with 50% or 70% rubbing alcohol and alow it to soak or leach some of the color "up and out" or "down and deep"
(I like this because leather is like human skin. rubbing alcohol does far less damage on human skin than the others)
once cleaning is done, use leather protectant or lotion to re-establish the softening oils in the leather
Once a stain is in the leather it cannot be extracted although it may dissipate over time with regular cleaning and protecting. If your leather is an aniline style one that absorbs moisture readily the stain is permanent.
If you have a pigmented suite then Maxi Cleaner may remove the stain.
In either case you should use a good leather protector (one that works - not a conditioner) which will inhibit things like this happening in the future and keep your leather easier to clean.
I'd take it to the dry cleaners or go check out the department stores for things that clean leather.
More Related Questions & Answers...