I have a coffee table that has leather stretched over it, making the grain prominent and the leather hard. During my many moves, it has picked up scrapes and scratches, which are fine and add character. What isn’t is the white scuffs on it from rubbing against the walls of hallways and such by inattentive friends during the moves.
I’ve tried scrubbing with a bristle brush with no luck. It’s not the greatest piece of furniture, quality wise, so I’m a bit hesitant to go too nuts on it, since I may cause more harm than good.
Any suggestions on something to try to get the scuffed in white paint off?
If the paint is latex softening it up with a 1 part hot water to 5 parts isopropyl alcohol mix on a sponge and then using a q-tip or the edge of a credit card will usually let up gently rub/scrape the paint off in small sections after you let the sponge sit on the paint for a short bit. You may need to use a leather polish or conditioner afterward as this may darken the leather slightly at the worked point and a conditioner will help to even that spotting out. You can also use brown Kiwi shoe polish and rubbing with a q-tip to even out discolorations after drying.
This requires a lot of patience and working small areas at a time as you have to keep the area wetted while working it.