# Coloring Leather Furniture

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-leather-furniture/157268>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 24, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-leather-furniture/157268 "2003-02-24T22:50:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rodent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@rodent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rodent)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-leather-furniture/157268/1 "2003-02-24T22:50:42Z")

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I just bought some a used 3 piece leather furniture set for cheap from a co-worker. The problem is that it is white and looks very ugly in my living room. Does anyone know of a way to color the leather cheaply without creating other problems? I’ve thought of shoe polish, but I’m afraid that it would get on a person’s clothes if they sat down on it.

Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-leather-furniture/157268/2 "2003-02-24T23:04:26Z")

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You’ll want to use [leather dye.](http://www.angelfire.com/sc/turtlefeathergourds/angelus.html)

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**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-leather-furniture/157268/3 "2003-02-24T23:09:59Z")

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I had a friend who was a Hollywood Costume designer who said the secret to dyeing leather and getting a consistant color was to wash it with acetone first. Can’t vouch for it my self cause I never tried.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-leather-furniture/157268/4 "2003-02-24T23:15:42Z")

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[Here](http://www.leathermagic.com/WebPages/recoloringkit_p.htm) is another site offering leather recoloring kits for furniture, seat covers, jackets, etc. You can even match the original color, if you want. The kit has stuff the other site didn’t supply, like crack repair compound.