Warning to all Detailers – Valeters – Cleaners
April 4, 2023
Jane Smith, Managing Director
STEAM CLEANING LEATHER ITEMS !!!!!!!!!
The Testing
Steam Cleaning Leather Items – We have been asked a few times about this and if it's safe, we have always said we have never done it so I can’t say for sure,
So decided to carry out some tests to give you some feedback on the pros and cons of steam cleaning leather items.
We have been doing some very extensive testing on steam cleaning leather items and its a killer. We have carried out tests on many different types and styles.
Car interiors should not be cleaned in this way at all Detailers & Valeters Leather Couches should not be cleaned in this way for all your Cleaners Period NO LEATHER SHOULD BE CLEANED THIS WAY THE DAMAGE IT CAUSES IS AMAZING.
Some Of The Results We Found Were As Follows
The Top Ten
1/ It added too much moisture into the leather causing it to swell
2/ When dried out it went hard
3/ Caused damage to the painted surface, breaking down the surface top coat colour
4/ Caused mold and bacteria to grow within the leather as its traps moisture
5/ Bacteria grows and causes a bad odour and smell.
6/ Delaminated the surface coatings
7/ Removed the clear coat lacquer
8/ Caused staining
9/ Caused cracking to appear
10/ Made the leather shrink
You will find using a professional cleaner like our Premium Leather Cleaner and our Premium Foam Cleaner well be far more beneficial than anything else on the market. It's imperative you use the correct products on leather, steam cleaning is not the way forward at all. We found after doing a great deal of testing that it even took off the coloured surface on some car interiors leather and some couches got so badly damaged you would not believe your eyes.
If you are looking for advice on leather care and cleaning please do get in touch and share this post as much as you can as a lot of people are going to get big problems using a steam cleaner on leather. If you want to know the ins and outs of leather care and cleaning please contact us or come on one of our free leather repair open days.
If you're looking for leather training courses and want to know how steam cleaning leather items is a killer for leather then please take a look at our leather repair training courses With very heavily finished leather (effectively fully pigmented – plastic coated if you like) it may be possible to get away with a surface steaming, but there’s no guarantees with that since you don’t actually know what’s underneath and its chemical constituents…
If you take the approach that wet heat is potentially damaging…… you’ll be about right, it's always advised to use water based products made from the finest natural soap flakes, failing that a slightly damp cloth is better than steam cleaning or using harsh household chemicals.
DO NOT USE STEAM FOR STEAM CLEANING LEATHER ITEMS
How do you know if your leather is damaged without the correct methods and processes to find out this video will help.
#detailers #leathercleaning #commercialcleaning #officecleaners #leatherrepairs #leathertraining
Why Not Contact Us?
Call on: 01482 606864
Email us at: help@leatherrepaircompany.com