How to Set Cat Scratches on Leather Furniture

Unless kitty is constantly wearing nail tips, cats and leather typically don't mix. If your feline has made your expensive furniture into her scratching post, it may not be completely across repair. Try to salvage your leather chair or sofa with some tips from the experts.

What You lot'll Need

  • Leather cleaner
  • Pair of scissors
  • Sponge
  • Paintbrush
  • Leather bounden glue
  • Sandpaper
  • Leather putty
  • Leather colorant
  • Leather sealant
  • Leather finish

Fixing Damage Acquired by Cat Kneading

Non all cat scratch damage is created equal. The expanse of furniture that Fluffy has clawed volition decide your best approach to the gear up. If kitty is on her hind legs and excavation her nails into the sides of the chair or sofa, part of her claw activeness involves extending and retracting her talons. By doing and then, says Harry Kahn of Skilful Leather Care in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Kitty is essentially plucking out the hairs (also called fibers) from the leather. The consequence is an surface area that looks like a pilled-up sweater, with picayune thread balls roughening upwards the surface.

Fixing Cat Scratches on Furniture

  1. Prepare the damaged area by thoroughly cleaning any grime or dirt off with a cleaning product specifically designed for cleaning leather. Any professional person leather care service tin recommend a quality brand, frequently sold in their stores.
  2. Trim the loose fibers by clipping with scissors as close to the base of the pilling as possible, being careful not to cut, puncture or cause farther impairment. Any shorter hairs left backside will not bear upon the feel and expect of the end issue, nor the quality of the repair.
  3. Apply mucilage specifically made for binding leather by putting a small amount onto a sponge and rubbing it right into the damaged area. Allow fourth dimension for the start coat to dry, and re-utilise 7 to 9 times (with sufficient drying time betwixt each awarding) to ensure a long-lasting, strong repair.
  4. Use fine sandpaper (1200 grit) to lightly smoothen the area treated with the leather glue. Take your time and employ a gentle bear on to avoid roughing upward the repair. A proper sanding job will produce an fifty-fifty, smooth surface to provide the base of operations for the rest of the repair process.
  5. Remove whatever sandpaper residue to prepare for the heavy filler, a sort of leather putty, awarding. Using a palette knife, spread the filler in a thin layer on top of the scratches. Allow the filler to dry for xx to 25 minutes, inspect your work, and reapply an additional layer if needed to fill in gouges, deep scratches, and holes.
  6. Once the heavy filler has stale, take your sandpaper out again and smooth out the repaired area. After it's sufficiently sanded, wipe down the leather with the special leather cleaning solution to remove any sandpaper residuum or dirt. The repaired area must be clean in lodge for the colorant to adhere to the leather.
  7. After the leather cleaner has stale, put a modest corporeality of the colorant on a fresh, clean sponge and apply a thin layer to the repaired area. Too putting the colour back into your leather, sometimes it also reveals spots that need some extra repair. If so, reapply more filler, sand it downward after it has dried, and reapply the colorant over again.
  8. Once the first coat of colorant has been applied and stale, a spray-on colorant that comes with an airbrush should be swept over your repair in single layers. Permit each application dry out before applying the next. Utilise as many thin layers of colorant every bit needed to completely blend in the repaired expanse with the intact area and to hide the repair.
  9. Employ leather lacquer (likewise called leather sealant) to seal the color in and prevent rub-off or fading. Using a clean sponge or airbrush, apply the sealant in three or 4 layers to enhance the repaired leather's flexibility and sturdiness. Allow each layer dry out thoroughly before applying the next.
  10. The terminal step is to apply a leather end product, again in thin layers with sufficient drying time in between each one. The finish should exist applied with an airbrush or make clean sponge in four to 5 layers. This seals in the work y'all've done and protects it from ordinary wear, merely unfortunately, your cat'southward nails can ruin it again.

Fixing Damage Caused by Swiping

Repairing damage washed by kitty scratching across the surface of your leather, rather than kneading information technology with her claws, is a much simpler, quicker process. Provided the scratches are strictly on the surface and accept not cut the leather apart, the lighter shade of discoloration tin be subconscious with a leather re-coloring balm. Simply apply the balm to hide the scratches and blend it in with the remainder of the leather on the piece. Kahn advises that if the scratches accept cut through the leather, no practice-information technology-yourself set up will be adequate; information technology'south best left to the professionals.

Although the repair process is long and irksome, your leather tin can be restored so well that only you and Kitty know most the harm.

Image: Sarah Fields Photography via Shutterstock.

Valerie Trumps

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