I have two awesome little antique footstools with black leather tops. Unfortunately, the leather is dry and a little crackly, and the brown is showing through in many spots.
Eventually, I’ll get them reupholstered properly, but in the meantime, I wanted to try to restore them a bit. I’m not expecting perfection, but I think they could probably look a whole lot better. Ideally, I’d like to be able to re-color the leather so it’s uniformly black and condition it so it’s nice and supple. (the leather tops are not attached to the wood bases, in case that matters.)
Google searches turned up a whole lot of information–but of course, I couldn’t tell what was what. There were some sites selling wildly expensive restoration products. There were some “thrifty” sites telling me to just rub olive oil on them. And there was a lot of conflicting information about ordinary leather care products like Lexol.
So, I’m hoping you all could give me some good information on how I can re-color and condition the leather.
I’m not looking to spend a lot on this project. If I were, I’d just get them reupholstered or professionally restored. But I’m happy to buy what I need, especially if I could use the products on other leather goods too.
My favorite leather conditioner is Apple Leather Care.
On your black leather, it doesn’t matter, but one of Apple’s unique characteristics is that it won’t significantly darken light colors and it can be used on suede finishes - you’d still need to brush the nap back up after it’s absorbed. But… you may want to go with Lexol on this because it will darken the leather a bit.
If you want to dye them, that’s a little harder to find - a good brand that’s been around for eons is Fiebing’s. Actually, I’d hold off on dying - it’s insanely messy work, and one slip can ruin your whole week - it’s permanent dye - it will not wash off of your skin. Getting some conditioner into the leather may darken the brown parts enough that they’re not objectionable. (This is why I changed my tune on Apple vs Lexol.) It’s what the antique people would call character.
Ooh! That Fiebings stuff looks great! I might just call them up and ask them what they think.
I like the idea of using the Lexol in the hopes that it might darken the leather a bit. I ought to get some anyway. I wonder if it will interfere with dying later, should I decide to do that.
If they’re really that dry, I recommend using Lexol. Apply several heavy coats, letting each soak in before wiping off with a damp cloth and reapplying. Once the leather is as pliable as it is going to get, let it dry and do a few applications of boot cream, wiping with a soft rag after each coat.
My wife and I had a similar piece of furniture and finally went to the upholstery shop and just bought a completely new pieceo of leather. It wasn’t expensive at all, the shop cut it to order using the old piece as a template, and it saved us the time and mess of trying to clean and recondition old leather.
I’d do that, but it’s not one piece of leather. The tops are more like square boxes with piping on the edges.
I re-examined them, and they’re really not in such bad shape. I’m going to try the Lexol route. Having a little “character” would suit them. They probably outght to be to be re-stuffed and everything, so I’ll get them professionally re-donde eventually, but for now, I think this will work. And the Fiebings leather dye is like 5 bucks, so I can go ahead and do that later if I want.