If you’re looking for an excellent method on how to fix brown water damaged leather, you came to the right side of the internet. We’ll offer you the quickest and easiest way to solve your problem for all beginners and professionals.
Preventing Leather From Getting Wet
Before we proceed to the steps to fix brown water damaged leather, like other people would say, “Prevention is better than solving the problem itself.” That’s why we’re here to offer you some tips for you to avoid this specific problem.
If you invest in an object made out of leather, such as bags, gloves, shoes, or gloves, you need to be aware that leather materials don’t have high water resistance. Having this kind of material needs pre-treating to avoid certain damages. If you skip over this process, the material may harden after getting in contact with water, and you’d have to learn how to soften water damaged leather.
Remember that if you disregard even minimal water damage to your leather, this may cause an overall condition to deteriorate over time. We highly recommend using a beeswax cream since the components are the natural water-resisting solution, but take note that it requires you to test on a small patch first since this can cause a darkening effect. For dark leather like those on car seats, you may not face this particular problem.
Here is how you apply it:
- Ensure that the leather’s clear from dirt since this can interfere with the wax’s effectiveness.
- Apply the right amount of wax with a dry cloth (not directly to the leather material) and then set it to the leather.
- Repeat the process if it is necessary. Allow the leather to dry for around 30-60 minutes. Ensure that you avoid using artificial heat to speed the process since it can cause cracking to your material if you do this.
- Once the wax is naturally dried, buff off polish with a clean and dry cloth.
Now that you know what happens when it gets wet and armed, you object with our tips and tricks to take care of leather well, and you will no longer be in despair!
Steps To Fix Brown Water Damaged Leather
Step #1. Soak the water with linen towels or rags
Soak the water with linen towels or rags. Then, use a wet-dry vacuum to dry out the excess water within the leather material to prevent further damages.
Old conditions may float up to the surface. In that case, if it is necessary to clean it off with a non-slip cloth and cleaning solution to remove the grime and grease. Ensure that the answer’s designed explicitly for the damaged leather.
Step #2. Dry the leather
Don’t dry the leather in this step by placing it out in the sun or artificial drying materials. Instead, the air circulates right around the leather naturally. It’d be best not to dry it completely; you can leave it damp.
Step #3. Condition the leather
While the leather material is still damp, apply it with a leather condition since the pores are still open, allowing the solution to penetrate the material. The conditioner will help neutralize the pH balance rather than the extreme alkaline pH as it will make it difficult to absorb into the leather. Ensure that the conditioner’s applied evenly from the prevention of spotting damages.
Step #4. Dry the leather
Let the conditioner sit in the damaged leather for about 30 minutes. Right after, wipe off with a towel any excess conditioners that pooled on top. Let the leather material dry for several hours before you use it.
What are good alternatives aside from leather conditioners?
1. Leather cleaner
With good leather cleaners, it will help remove the brown water damage and any other tough stains. It will work for all leather items such as bags, leather sofa, boots, and so on.
However, before you do anything to your leather, make sure that you run a spot test first to check the color fastness in an area. Allow the area to dry too.
Then, put a small amount of soft cloth and clean it in a circular motion. Be sure that you wipe off all the flaws present and leave it to dry for about 30 minutes. If you want to enhance the leather’s natural shine, follow it up with a leather lotion.
2. Water and vinegar solution
Mix water and vinegar together for an application to remove the water damaged area on the leather. For this, use a clean and soft cloth and dip it with the solution that you created.
Next, use the dampened cloth to wipe the brown water damage off the material gently. Repeat the process until the flaw goes away.
3. Leather milk
You may use leather milk to keep the leather looking clean and neat. You can easily apply the cleaner to a soft cloth for cleaning and use it to buffer up the area to clean the water damage from the leather in no time.
Conclusion
We’re glad to see you reach this point of the article on how to fix brown water damaged leather. You can do these procedures by yourself, and if you think that you might not do a great job rescuing your leathered object, it would be best if you call for professional help.