Raw Hide - Not So Raw Anymore - Couch Facelift

I have a VERY expensive leather sofa couch in my front room. It is leather and has feathers in the tops of the cushions making it ultra soft. I have a thing for feathers as I have down comforters on most of our beds and have "feather beds" on top of the mattresses under the sheets. 

I have feather pillows on my bed and feather decorative pillows as well. I LOVE sleeping in a "cloud" as my daughter calls my bed.

So, when I found this couch that was wide and the girls and I could cuddle while watching a movie, and it had feathers, I knew it was for us.  


I purchased the couch for my basement after it flooded a few years back. Click here to read about that.


One problem, it didn't fit down the stairs and into the family room! I paid a guy and we tried for hours to twist and turn and flip it all sorts of ways as the couch we had down there was about the same size. Difference was, the other couch had less of an angle and a shorter back in places.


So, what to do??? It didn't fit in the other area where we have a couch near the banister so the only spot I had for it was the front room. I had a black couch in there at the time and decided to move it near the banister and put the couch in the front room and get rid of the couch we had by the banister. 


Well, this leather couch was to go with the more western area in the house which my front room isn't. Also, I have sun in that room all day. So, when the couch color started fading, I was worried. 

There isn't a place for it other than where it is. It is expensive but in the five or so years I have owned it, it has faded to a point where I am worried it will crack. 

With that, I went to the "boot" store and shoe repair shop in town. I asked the owner what he would use to repair the fading on the couch. I asked if shoe polish would work and darken the color back to original and then maybe a conditioner to protect it from the sun. 

He told me he would worry about matching the color with the polish and that this product he has that conditions leather would darken the leather and perhaps bring back some of the dye color in the couch.

The product is called "Lexol" and has tannins in it. It also conditions the leather so it doesn't crack etc. It does say it will probably darken the leather and to "test" it somewhere not so noticeable.

The owner also told me to use a "spray" bottle to get a fine mist on the leather. I asked about putting it on a cloth and wiping it on and he said it would take lots to do it that way as it gets heavy on one spot and none on after a little wipe. 

I took his advice and put it in a spray bottle but the fumes were getting to me and my nose was running so I tried pouring it on the cloth and it really didn't work well. 

If you were doing boots, it would be fine on a small area but he was right about spraying it on. My problem was that the sprayer I used did a circular pattern in its spraying as you can see by the pattern on the cushion which just meant I had to spray it more and rub it more. 

The product was easy to use and I just sprayed and rubbed for a few minutes after letting it soak in for a few seconds. It dries and the dark water look fades and leaves a nice sheen and color.

I will suggest you use gloves as I could taste the chemicals in my mouth after just a few seconds and put a glove on after that cushion. I could also taste it when I leaned on it with my bare arm as well when I was doing the back of the couch so take care and do it when it is well vented and wear gloves. As you can see, for the $10 investment, my couch looks so much better. It was an easy way to recondition the leather and save it from ripping and bleaching hopefully.

I am going to buy another bottle and redo it in two weeks after the conditioner has time to sink in and then I will coat it again every so often and hopefully get a few more years out of this couch. 

I just searched online for a better price and you can get it online for quite cheap for the larger bottle. Walmart online sells it and a smaller bottle at the store so I am going to see if I can get it shipped to the store and avoid shipping costs. Well worth the money and it gets "five stars" or every site I look on to purchase it!

Prince number one LOVES this couch and has "called" it when I get rid of it as it is long enough for him to stretch out for naps and reading when he visits. I need to keep it in good shape so they can inherit it someday. :-)

Oh, one more thing. It does leather car seats, saddles, shoes, chairs, etc as well. Just thought you may need to fix up an old saddle sometime. ;-)

Doesn't it almost look like new!?!