How to Repair Claw Marks to a Leather Chair
Your favourite leather chair might also be the cat’s favourite place to scrape and perform her nails, leading to a less-than-attractive leather finish about that after beautiful chair. While leather is quite a bit more durable than many other fabrics, it’s still subject to scratches, tears and punctures. A leather repair kit with tint-matching abilities repairs any kind of pit left behind from cat claws, while a mild scratch requires much less intensive measures to repair.
Slight Scratches
Occasionally, claw marks lead in scratches that only slightly influence the surface of the chair leather, looking a bit like abrasions. Wipe such scratches with a dab of white vinegar on a soft white cloth; the vinegar makes leather fibers swell, which might mask the scrape. If any small fibers stick out, then trim them off with scissors. A leather polish that is very clear or matches the leather’s wax rubbed above the area hides the scratches even more.
Discolored Claw Marks
If the claw marks on the leather are only discolored areas with no visible damage to the leather, then wipe them with a leather conditioner to see whether the marks go away. The leather conditioner functions a bit like moisturizer for skin, making it soft and supple. When it doesn’t do the trick, drawing the scratches with a mark that matches the leather might work; test first in an inconspicuous area, since the incorrect color might be more obvious than the claw marks. A leather shoe polish matching the sofa tint, rubbed above the general scratched area with a soft cloth, blends the colour in a position to mask the scratches completely.
Puncture Management
Sometimes, those claw marks go clean through the leather in some places, leading to small punctures. Push raised leather around the hole back in the hole with a toothpick if it’s raised up, then mix up a little bit of leather repair alternative with tint included in the repair kit until the shade matches the chair. Spread a rather small quantity of the repair alternative above the puncture hole with the small spatula from the repair kit, wiping off excess with a damp sponge.
Tear Repair
In some cases, those claw marks might tear through the leather altogether, leading to a tear that requires a repair. Mix a leather repair alternative with a suitable tint included in the kit. A scrap of material, such as an iron-on stain marginally bigger than the rip, goes from the hole to help hold the repair. Apply the repair solution above the tear, then set the grain paper above it, grain-side down. Iron the grain newspaper to transfer the grain’s look to the repair. After waiting a few minutes, pull it off to show a repair that should be tough to distinguish from the surrounding area.