How to Repair a Leather Sofa, 3 Most Pupolar Solutions.

If we talk about the visual style, tone, and expressions of a living room, a sofa plays a dominant role. This is because the sofa serves the living room for two most important purposes, which are aesthetic and functionality. And if your living room owns a leather sofa then it may add a traditional and elite functional touch to it. But if your leather sofa becomes damaged due to an accident then it will surely destroy the aesthetics and decorum of your living room. However, you don’t need to worry about the commercial or professional repairing cost of the leather sofa, because in this easy peasy (DIY) guide we will provide you the pro practical techniques and solutions to find how to repair a leather sofa at home.

Accumulate the material

The arrangement of the material to repair a leather sofa depends upon the volume of the damage that your leather sofa actually suffers from.

For trivial rubs or scratches

Soft cleaning cloth
Leather restoring gel or cream
Leather restoring conditioner
Sponge cloth

For peeling leather surfaces or tiny holes

Spatula knife
Leather dye kit
Leather filler as a restorer
Leather-specific adhesive gel
A piece of microfiber
Leather restoring gel
Sandpaper with a grit of 200 or more
Leather fabric patch having the same color

For burns or major holes

General leather sewing or stitching kit
Leather repair kit (a complete tool kit)
Leather cleaner / Home made leather cleaner
Leather patch with the matching color
Tweezers
Spatula knife

Method -1 How to repair a leather sofa with minor scratches

1. Clean the damaged part of the leather sofa

You don’t need to purchase an expensive cleaning kit from the physical or online market because you can easily prepare it through simple DIY techniques using kitchen-based products. Take a glass bowl and mix half a cup of diluted white vinegar or distilled fruit vinegar with half a cup of drinking water. Make sure that you can use distilled or diluted vinegar while making homemade leather cleaner otherwise, it will harm your leather sofa. In the next step, you need to dip the soft piece of microfiber in the cleaning liquid, squeeze back the extra liquid in the bowl, and then rub or apply it with soft hands on the damaged part of the leather sofa.

The cleaning liquid can easily absorb the dust particles and invisible fibers from the damaged area. Make sure that you can spare the damaged part under the ceiling fan for few minutes until it becomes dry. This cleaning process can also be helpful in the processing of the following detailed methods to repair a leather sofa.

2. Repair the minor scratches or scuffs

When the damaged part of your favorite leather sofa is ready for repair, then you need to apply the leather repair gel or leather filler on it and spare twenty to thirty minutes for the drying process. Once the repaired part becomes completely dry, you can apply the leather conditioner which will restore the original condition of this specific part of the leather sofa. This method is also useful to repair cracks in a leather sofa.

How to repair a leather sofa using gel — Image credit : Youtube

Method – 2 How to repair a leather sofa having tiny cuts or peeling surface

1. How to repair or fix a leather couch that is peeling

If your leather sofa is suffering from a peeling surface, then the treatment is much easier and shorter in that case. The first step of cleaning is exactly similar to the above-mentioned in method – 1. The only additional starting step is the application of sandpaper to remove the peeling fibers from the surface of the sofa. In the next step apply the leather restoring cream or gel on the peeled portion of the leather fabric by using a sponge cloth or spatula knife and spare it for the drying process. In the last step apply a leather conditioner to boost the finishing of the texture of the repaired area of your leather sofa.

How to repair a leather sofa with peeling surface — Image credit : Youtube

2. Repair treatment to the tiny minor cuts

If your leather sofa is suffering from a minor cut then the repair treatment is slightly different than peeling sofa surface. However, after the cleaning step, you need to pinch both sides of the cut and apply the leather-specific adhesive gel on the cut of the leather fabric. Make sure that you can give reasonable time to the gel so that it will become completely dry. In the next step apply the leather filler to complement the finishing of the repaired area of your leather sofa. If the texture of the leather fabric is shiny then you can also apply the leather conditioner to restore its shine.

Method – 3 How to repair a leather sofa having major holes or burns

1. Vacuum and clean the damaged area

This step is 100% similar to step 1 of the above-mentioned method 1 of sofa repair. The only additional thing you can implement in this process is that you can deeply but carefully vacuum the dust particles from inside the leather fabric hole.

2. Apply a patch on the major hole in the leather fabric

First of all, cut a piece of leather repairing patch of the same color for the major hole of your leather sofa, but the size (length, width) of the patch should be a little bit larger than the size of the hole (2 to 4 inches). After cutting the piece of the patch insert it inside the hole of the leather sofa fabric. You can use the support of your tweezers and spatula knife to place the piece of the patch right in the center of the hole. In the next step, you can press the damaged area to check and adjust if the patch has created any cluster in that area.

In other words, you need to make sure that the damaged area can give a smooth expression while rubbing your hand on it. In the last step, you need to join both parts of the cut of the fabric with soft hands.

How to repair a leather sofa with patch — Image credit : Youtube

3. Apply the leather-specific adhesive gel

Remove the cap from the adhesive gel and apply it to the inner side of the leather fabric from where it appears like a hole. As a general rule of thumb, one drop of gel is enough for each inch of the single side of the tear of the leather fabric. You can simply use a cotton bud or earbud to apply this gel to the inner side of the leather fabric. After applying the gel to the inner side of the fabric you also need to paste the 3 to 5 drops of the gel on the piece of the patch. Leave the leather fabric with the gel for 1 or 1.5 minutes before pressing it with the piece of patch placed under it.

Now pinch and compress both sides of the leather fabric with the best effort of your fingers. In the next step hold the iron without an electric connection but with reasonable pressure to the repaired area of the leather fabric for approximately 25 to 30 minutes. You can also use a hair dryer to dry the implementation adhesive gel.

4. Restoration of the repaired area

A leather repair kit also holds a filler in it, which can be used to better finish the repaired area of the leather sofa. So apply the leather filler with the help of ear buds on the repaired area of the leather fabric and wait for 15 to 25 minutes so that it will dry. Now in the next step open the pot of the paint and carefully paint the repaired area of your leather sofa within 4 to 5 minutes and leave it for the drying process of the magical finish. If you already have a leather conditioner in the living room cleaning kit then spray 1 or 2 puffs on the restored area of the sofa, which will help the restored area to regain its original shine and texture.

You can also fix a large hole in a leather couch through the application of the same method because the couch and sofa are interchangeable names of the same furniture items.

Restoration to repair of leather sofa — Image credit : Youtube

5. How to repair a leather sofa with major burns

First of all, trim the burnt fibers from the burnt surface of the leather fabric and apply the sandpaper with a soft hand to the surface of the fabric to make it smooth again. From here the cleaning of the burnt leather fabric is similar as mentioned above in the first heading of the method – 1. In the next step after cleaning the burnt area, you need to carefully apply the leather filler or restoring gel on the burnt surface of the fabric and leave it until it dries. In the third step apply a thin layer of matching paint with the help of a brush to the repaired area. In the last step restore it through gentle application of the leather conditioner.

But if a hole appears due to the burnt surface of your leather sofa, then the trimming and cleaning process is the same as mentioned in the above paragraph. After the completion of the cleaning process cut a piece of a leather patch of the same color with the sub patch behind it but with a slightly larger size and place it underneath the hole of the leather fabric. You can use tweezers and a spatula knife for the accurate placement of the patch. In the next step paste the leather adhesive gel on the patch to the inner side of the sofa fabric and join both corners of the fabric.

You can use an iron to press it with gentle pressure by your hands. Now apply the leather filler using ear buds to smooth and strengthen the repair process. In the last step apply the leather conditioner to best finish the repair process.