# New leather chair
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 9, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614 "2024-10-09T18:15:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/1 "2024-10-09T18:15:36Z")
I’m a cheapskate. Shop sales and deals.
Found a great deal on a red leather chair. I’ve always wanted a red leather chair.
It was a deep discount.
I’m thinking, eh fake leather. But who cares? It looks nice.
Before it came I fretted.
I’m second guessing my purchase. Won’t look as good as the picture(yeah, dumb me bought it from a picture). Surely be a cheap piece of crap.
I crossed my fingers and waited.
It was delivered, finally.
Omg. It’s nice. Full grain leather. Comfy. Fits where I wanted it to fit.
I’ve never had a real leather chair tho’.
Not letting anyone touch it.
My question, do I precondition it? How do I care for it? How do I clean it?
(There was a booklet with it but it’s some other language. Maybe Czech or something. I tried translation from an app, not real successful)
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/2 "2024-10-09T19:17:07Z")
You’re gonna need some kind of leather oil or conditioner. I’m not a super expert so can’t say if, say, mink oil or coconut oil is better in your situation, but I’m sure someone will come along and recommend something…
For cleaning, I have successfully used “saddle soap”
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/3 "2024-10-09T19:19:40Z")
Can you give us a link to the item you purchased? That might give us some clues to the details of what you bought.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/4 "2024-10-09T19:55:48Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> My question, do I precondition it? How do I care for it? How do I clean it?
You are asking the wrong questions. What is truly important is how many yellow chairs will you need to buy to make your living room look like Nero Wolfe’s office.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/5 "2024-10-09T20:00:36Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> How do I care for it?
Watch out for the cats!
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### Author:  [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/6 "2024-10-09T20:04:41Z")
This is what I used on my red leather chair for years. It does a great job, even smells pleasantly. The leather stays soft and doesn’t crack, etc.
> **[Leather Cleaner & Conditioner Spray](https://weiman.com/leather-cleaner-conditioner)**
>
> Perfect for restoring luster to large pieces, such as furniture and car interiors.
@thorny_locust is right~do watch out for the cats. Those tiny needle claws can decimate leather faster than you think. They like to sneak up and scratch and claw the back or sides where you don’t notice it until it is too late.
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/7 "2024-10-09T20:04:49Z")
I’m personally into the aged leather look, so I’ve done minimal maintenance to mine. I like it’s slightly louche look.
When I was little my parents had a green leather arm chair. It was very comfortable, so we kids liked sitting in it. But all our shoes had buckles at that time, and my mom lamented for _years_ about all the scratches we put in that chair. I understand – it was probably the most expensive piece of furniture they’d bought to that point.
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### Author:  [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/8 "2024-10-09T20:10:40Z")
You shouldn’t need to do anything more than keep it dusted. Clean spills off with a damp (not wet) cloth. Yes, there are products on the market to condition leather but in my 30 years of selling furniture I never heard a leather furniture manufacturer recommend them.
Cats can be a problem.
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/9 "2024-10-09T20:27:36Z")
I thought that you were supposed to condition them by sitting in them in the nude for the first couple of months to let them absorb your essential au natural body oils.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/10 "2024-10-09T21:29:04Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#):
>
> do watch out for the cats. Those tiny needle claws can decimate leather faster than you think. They like to sneak up and scratch and claw the back or sides where you don’t notice it until it is too late.
Some cats are REALLY into clawing up leather. Some cats aren’t.
Beck’s about to find out which her cats are.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/11 "2024-10-09T21:45:51Z")
So far it’s fat tails and hissing.
They don’t like new stuff to come in.
They do their scratching up in the beams and not much anywhere else…one of the cat trees has a scratching post they’ve never used.
The most furniture they’ve used is walking across the back of the couch to get to the jumping off spot to get up in the beams.
I don’t expect them to bother the chair much.
We’ll see.
@Elmer_J.Fudd …love that idea.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/12 "2024-10-10T06:42:15Z")
Motorcycle Leather responds best to a Hard Ride and Sweat.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/13 "2024-10-10T09:15:33Z")
Can’t offer advice on leather care, but yes, do watch out for the cats. If it’s in a room where you can keep the door closed against the cats, do so. Also, although we all know that Bayliss is a Very Good Boy indeed, dogs can be culprits, too. I have a beautiful antique console-style radio from the early 1940s whose bottom panel was scratched up by the claws of my first puppy. I just consider it part of the radio’s memorable character, but you probably wouldn’t feel that way about your new leather chair! 😉
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-leather-chair/1008614/14 "2024-10-10T13:47:35Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> You are asking the wrong questions. What is truly important is how many yellow chairs will you need to buy to make your living room look like Nero Wolfe’s office.
You are absolutely correct. There is absolutely no point in owning a red leather chair without the corresponding set of yellow chairs that Archie will arrange for maximum effect as you slowly reveal the identity of the murderer. I assume that’s something @Beckdawrek has to do frequently, although I suppose it’s not literally murder most of the time, usually just something one of her kids or grandkids has done.