How can you quickly and efficiently remove a stain on leatherette?

Things made of leatherette will look like new for a long time if you provide them with high-quality and regular care. In addition, every housewife should know how to remove streaks and stains from a rather capricious surface.

Many women face difficulties in this area because... Persistent formations are not so easy to remove using gentle means, and aggressive substances negatively affect the quality of the material. In fact, everything is not so hopeless. You just need to know which products work best with which type of stains, and which reagents are best to avoid altogether.

Recommendations for cleaning leatherette

There are several rules for working with things made of leatherette, the observance of which will allow, if necessary, to quickly and efficiently remove fresh stains and organize complete regular care of the surface:

1. The optimal tool for everyday care of leatherette products is wet wipes. It is with their help that it is recommended to remove dust and minor dirt from the surface. In some cases, they help get rid of fresh stains.
2. Dried stains are strictly forbidden to be scraped or scrubbed with the help of preparations that contain petroleum products.
3. Do not try to remove dirt from leatherette using solvents, alkalis and strong acids. It is not recommended to use solutions intended for washing dishes or treating plumbing fixtures in everyday life.
4. In order to prepare stains for further treatment, experienced housewives advise moistening them with a regular soap solution or water with the addition of a small amount of ammonia.

In general, it is better to begin removing contaminants immediately after they are detected. Only in this case will a minimum mechanical impact be required, which usually leads to rapid wear of the surface of the product.

Removing stains depending on the type of contamination

For high-quality and gentle removal of stains from leatherette items, it is recommended to use narrowly focused products rather than universal approaches. This will not only achieve the desired result, but also not affect the color, texture, or density of the material.

• Blood stains. If the formations are fresh, you should try to wipe them off with a cloth soaked in cold water. Dried dirt should be thoroughly moistened with 3% hydrogen peroxide applied to a cotton pad and left for a couple of minutes. The dirt will dissolve and you only need to wipe the surface clean. Old stains can be removed in the same way, but it is better to use a weak soap solution with the addition of a few drops of 5% ammonia.
• Alcoholic drinks, fatty sauces. In this case, the optimal solution would be soapy water with the addition of vinegar (no more than a tablespoon of caustic product per glass of water).

Tip: Leatherette does not like hot water or exposure to hot steam. Using steam generators or trying to soak the surface of stains with boiling water can negatively affect the quality of the material and change its color.

• Plasticine, resin, chewing gum. Traces of them can be removed with ethyl alcohol, the main thing is to wet the surface more and rub less.
• Fruit and vegetable juices, jams, preserves. Here you will need a soap solution, but with 10% ammonia or citric acid, previously diluted in water.
• Coffee, chocolate, tea. On the stains you just need to apply thick foam obtained by whipping the soap composition. After all the bubbles have burst, carefully wipe the surface with three damp cotton pads and rinse thoroughly with clean water several times so that there are no streaks left.
• Cream, oil, lipstick. Small stains can be removed using a soap solution. To clean a large area, you will have to use turpentine or ethyl alcohol. In this case, we do not simply wet the formations, but, as it were, collect them, working from the periphery to the center.

• Nail polish. Even large stains can be easily removed with nail polish remover without acetone or other aggressive reagents.
• Oil paint. First, the surface is treated with turpentine oil. After the main dirt has come off, use a soap solution, and then a large amount of clean water. If necessary, repeat the approach.
• Ballpoint pen ink. The most common table salt will help here. It is good if it is small, otherwise you can scratch the material. The product is added to a soap solution that is applied to the stain. To be sure, you can add more salt on top and leave for several hours. Then remove the entire composition and wipe the leatherette with clean water.

In cases where the type of stain is not entirely clear, cleaning should begin with a regular soap solution. If the approach does not help, we gradually add auxiliary components, starting with the most gentle ones (soda, salt) and moving on to more aggressive ones (alcohol, turpentine).

How to clean light-colored leatherette?

You need to be most careful when working with light-colored items. If wet wipes do not help, we try to remove the contamination using one of the following methods:

• Lemon juice. Take a fresh lemon, cut it in half, squeeze the juice into a container, strain the liquid. Soak a cotton pad in it, wring it out and apply it to the contaminated surface. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes, dripping a few drops of juice onto the surface of the disc every three minutes. Then remove the cotton swab and lightly rub the stain with a soft damp sponge, rinse everything off with clean water.
• Milk. When the contamination is superficial, it is enough to rub it thoroughly with milk at room temperature. If this is not enough, add lemon juice to the milk and repeat the manipulation.

• Citric acid (acetic acid). In half a glass of water, dilute half a teaspoon of citric acid or a teaspoon of table vinegar. We wipe the resulting solution several times, but do not rub the stain.
• Ammonia. To 2 parts of lukewarm water, take 1 part of ammonia and half a teaspoon of glycerin, mix well. Apply the composition to the stain and wait until it dries. Then rinse it off with clean water, wipe it with a cloth and, if necessary, repeat the manipulation.

Once the surface is finally cleaned, it should be blotted repeatedly with soft, dry wipes to remove as much liquid as possible. If you leave the leatherette to dry on its own, it can thicken and dry out, which will immediately affect its appearance.