How to Clean Sticky or Dirty Leather?

How to Remove Smells from Leather?

How to Remove Stains from Leather?

How to Disinfect Leather from Covid?


This Mother of all Leather Cleaning Guides is full of professional tips and techniques to remove stuff like ink, skunk or tar from leather car seats, shoes, jackets, bags or leather furniture. If it stains, sticks or stinks, this is it. The advice was specifically given to us from 2 expert leather cleaners with decades of experience. We didn't just copy this information from some place on the internet. FYI, a mix of baby shampoo and clean water will clean most dirty leather. Done. But if it’s a little more stubborn, read on.

DISCLAIMER: Some leather reacts differently based on the type, age, quality or finish of the leather. Be careful to always apply these cleaning techniques and products to a small inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn’t do damage. Clean at your own risk.

Click here to read our List of Household Leather Cleaners and our serious List of Pro Leather Cleaners.

How to Clean Sticky or Dirty Leather?

How to clean leather from:

  1. GENERAL DIRT and FILTH

  2. STICKY GUM, SAP, TAR

  3. WAX or CRAYON

  4. MOLD and MILDEW

  5. GAS, DIESEL or KEROSENE

  6. HUMAN or ANIMAL DROPPINGS

  7. MACE, TEAR GAS or PEPPER SPRAY

  8. PESTICIDES

  9. FIRE SMOKE or SOOT

  10. SALT WATER

  11. FIRE EXTINGUISHER

If you want to know how to remove all kinds of dirt, grime and stickiness from a leather couch, shoes, boots, a leather jacket or a briefcase, read these instructions. For how to remove stains and stinks from leather, read more here.  

 1. How to Clean DIRTY Leather? General DIRT and FILTH

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice

  1. With distilled water, rub it down with a soft cloth. Spray inside and outside evenly and then let it dry.

  2. Maybe a dab of baby shampoo. Baby shampoo is gentle and nicely PH balanced. Remember, you’re dealing with skin. I personally use Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Straight Cleaner if it’s really dirty.

  3. Condition with Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Conditioner to restore the moisture.

2. How to Clean STICKY Leather? SAP, TAR, GUM 

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice

  1. If it’s a small leather piece, put it in the freezer and let it get nice and hard and then chip off the gunk. Do this several times.

  2. If it’s too big to get into the fridge, then put a bag of ice on it to harden the gunk and then pick it off when it’s hard.

  3. Then rub it with a general leather cleaner and conditioner. You can do that with books that get really wet too. Put the book in the freezer and shake the ice out of the pages.

Goof Off is great for removing sticky marks on leather. But be careful since it can clog the pores of the leather. Depending on the quality of the leather finish on your sofa, WD-40 can also clean off gunk, but it can dissolve wax and the dye leading to further damage, like hardening and cracking over time if not conditioned and the oils replenished after the cleaning.  

3. How to Clean WAX or CRAYON from Leather? 

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Wax or Crayon - Lay brown paper bag or paper towel on the wax and then a hot iron on top of that over and over again. Or, put it in the freezer or put a bag of ice on it and then chip off the wax. You’ll have a spot where the wax used to be, so do the oil and grease treatment to perfect it. You can try WD 40 first and then clean the leather again if it leaves an oily mark and nothing else is working.

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

10 Steps to Clean Wax or Crayon off of Leather

  1. Remove as much of the wax or crayon with a brush.

  2. Vacuum to remove the loose particles.

  3. Place a dry towel over the affected area

  4. Make 3 or 4 passes with a hot iron across the top of the towel.

  5. Dip a brush into the citrus-based solvent and apply to the area. Do not oversaturate. Gently agitate it for about 5 minutes.

  6. Rinse the leather with hot water, but not vegetable tanned leather. Use a hot rag if it’s veg tanned.

  7. With the wax/crayon gone, pour some Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner (RTU) onto the area so the remaining residue is removed.

  8. Hot water rinse the leather again.

  9. Dry quickly to avoid water stains on the leather. Put it directly in front of a fan or use a blow dryer, but not with veg tanned leather. Dry veg tanned leather at room temperature.

Moisturize once it’s dry with Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Leather Conditioner

4. How to Clean MOLD or MILDEW from Leather?

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice

  1. Put rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or cloth and dab leather with it.

  2. Dab Hydrogen Peroxide and see what happens.

  3. A good leather cleaner like Chamberlain’s Leather Milk for a good wipe down and then let dry.

  4. Once the leather is dry, condition again with our leather conditioner.

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Some people are allergic to mold and others have a high tolerance. Different people will react in their own way. When cleaning mold, we recommend going outdoors. When the spores are disturbed, they will fly into the air and it’s better for them to fly outdoors than into your carpet and air duct system.

  1. Use a damp towel (regular water) to get as much of the contaminant off the leather.
  2. Lightly put some hydrogen peroxide onto a new towel and use it to wipe off the leather. It’ll foam when it reacts with the mold. The reaction is caused by rapid oxidation which causes the mold to decompose. The foaming action helps lift the mold off the leather and makes it easier to clean. This may cause bleaching, so this should be tested in an inconspicuous spot first. Over the counter hydrogen peroxide has the lowest incidence of this. If you use janitorial grade or laboratorial rate hydrogen peroxide, then bleaching will likely happen and you should definitely use chemical resistant gloves. We recommend the regular OTC to clean leather. If the hydrogen peroxide works well, you can continue with the rest of the leather.
  3. Dry the leather.
  4. Moisturize the leather with a good leather conditioner.  

On a professional level, we use the Esporta to clean mold-infested leather items. Our first step is to clean leather with pro-grade Concrobium (buy here).  

5. How to Clean GAS, DIESEL, or KEROSENE from Leather?

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

  1. Do this in a ventilated area. Use a fan. Remove excess liquids by blotting the leather with a towel. Use protective, liquid resistant gloves (Nitrile gloves are great).

  2. Use Ultra Content Cleaner or Shampoo Super Concentrate and flush the leather area with the detergent cleaner.

  3. Agitate with a soft bristled brush or sponge.

  4. Rinse with hot water.

  5. Dry with a blow dryer or fan.

Moisturize once dry with a quality Leather Conditioner.

6. How to Clean BIRD, RAT OR HUMAN DROPPINGS From Leather?

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Due to the hazardous nature of these types of animal droppings, professional leather cleaning is recommended. Did you know that some leather in Morocco is traditionally tanned with pigeon poop?

7. How to Clean PEPPER SPRAY, MACE or TEAR GAS from Leather?

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

The age old problem of bad guys, how to clean Mace or Pepper Spray off your leather after a date?

These are guides to clean leather from any of the following three (3) types of tear gas. CN (Chloroacetophenone or Mace), OC/OR (Oleoresin capsicum or Pepper Spray), and CS (O-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile).

We recommend getting your leather professionally cleaned from this material. A professional restoration company should call a Certified Industrial Hygienist to verify their work by testing the surface of the leather post-cleaning and ensure that no harmful residue is left behind. The steps below are what a professional restoration company would do to clean leather:

CN/OC

  1. Mix proprietary carpet and upholstery cleaning chemical with rubbing alcohol and warm water.

  2. Wet area of leather with mixtures.

  3. Hot water rinse / extract.

  4. Dry leather with heat, or overnight if vegetable tanned.

  5. Moisturize with Leather Conditioner

CS

  1. Mix proprietary blood and stain remover with warm water.

  2. Spray mixture onto leather. Allow a dwell time of 30 minutes.

  3. How water extract.

  4. Dry clean leather.

  5. Moisturize with a Leather Conditioner

8. How to Clean PESTICIDES off Leather?

  1. Dampen with Extreme Laundry Detergent.

  2. Hot water rinse.

  3. Dry the now clean leather.

  4. Moisturize the leather with a Leather Conditioner

9. How to Clean FIRE SMOKE and SOOT from Leather?

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Washing the leather that’s covered with smoke and soot particles is not recommended because the agitation may cause the contaminants to embed themselves further into the leather, if it’s cheap leather. But…

For consumers, we recommend using a dry-chemical sponge to wipe the leather. Start from one end and wipe the sponge to the other end. The sponge will pick up the particles and start to turn gray/black. Once the sponge is dirty, use another one. Repeat all over the leather until the dry-chemical sponge stays clean after wiping the leather clean.  

If the sponge isn’t picking up any more soot but the leather still smells, we recommend ozone treatment.  

We prefer these dry chemical sponges. They can be broken into pieces, so you can get a lot of great use out of just a few.  

https://www.jondon.com/dry-cleaning-chemical-sponges-various-sizes.html

Note: Soot is acidic and will eventually cause a yellow-tinted discoloration if it’s left on textiles for an extended period of time. Leather is tougher and may last longer, but smoke and soot affected textiles and leather should be cleaned as quickly as possible.  

10. How to Clean Leather from SALT WATER

Dave's Unprofessional Advice

I took my leather bag shark diving on my honeymoon in Bora Bora and the divemaster told me to fill the tub with fresh water and soak it for a few hours. I let it dry overnight and then conditioned it when I got home. I later used it as my diaper bag for our two kids. It was chrome tanned leather, which saved it, but it softened my bag some. Do not do this with vegetable tanned leather (stiffer leather).

My leather satchel got saltwater spray all over it in heavy surf searching for whales off the coast of Gabon, Central Africa, recently and I cleaned the leather by wiping it with fresh water when I got back to shore. I just remembered this story and am going to condition the leather when I get home. I forgot.

11. How to Clean FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Stuff from Leather?

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

  1. Vacuum to remove as much material. To vacuum, push vacuum down and then pick back up. Do not run back and forth because this will push the dust further into the leather.

  2. If needed, beat the surface with a brush.

  3. Clean using Orange Plus.

  4. Rinse leather with distilled water.

  5. Dry with a blow dryer or with a fan.

  6. Moisturize with Leather Conditioner

How to Remove Smells From Leather?

  1. CIGARETTE, MARIJUANA or FIRE SMOKE

  2. CAT SPRAY

  3. HUMAN and PET URINE

  4. SKUNK

  5. MOTHBALL

  6. DEAD BODY

Chamberlain’s Leather General Cleaning Tips for Removing Bad Odors from Leather

  1. Buy a leather cleaner that has Deconcentrate Personal Care - odor neutralizer in it. Leather Milk’s Straight Leather Cleaner has that.

  2. Find something with an odor neutralizer but that is not just a masking agent like cinnamon oil or something derived from a purified fatty acid that just covers the smell, but doesn’t remove it. It’ll come back later.

  3. For REALLY bad smells, take it to an Air Scrubber, De-ionizer or Ozone machine or rent one. Operation guide at bottom of this page.

  4. Go ask a crime scene clean up or disaster restoration company like SERVPRO and they can help you out too. It’s what they do.

1. How to Clean CIGARETTE, MARIJUANA OR FIRE SMOKE from Leather?

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

The longer the presence of these substances are on the leather, the harder they will be to remove.

  1. Spray Pre-Spray and Traffic Lane Cleaner plus Solvent Additive with hot water onto the leather.

  2. Agitate with soft bristle brush.

  3. Rinse leather with distilled water.

  4. Dry leather.

  5. Moisturize with Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Conditioner

If this doesn’t clean the leather enough, you can try this process again with the Smoke Deodorizer.

2. How to Remove CAT SPRAY or SKUNK Odor from Leather?

ServPro’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Note: a skunk is in the cat family, with a slightly tweaked smell profile, and that’s why dogs chase them.

If the consumer cleaning solution described below doesn’t work, then professional leather cleaning is necessary.

  1. Wet with Bio Odor Neutralizer.

  2. Agitate gently with a soft bristled brush.

  3. Rinse leather with hot water.

  4. Dry with a blow dryer or fan unless it’s vegetable tanned leather, then air dry.

  5. Moisturize with Leather Conditioner.

Cleaning Skunk Off of Dogs (and Off Leather if Desperate)

Dave here: We live out in the country and our Chocolate Lab, Wonder Woman, just got sprayed by another skunk tonight for about the 150th time in 3 years. And it happened about 3 minutes after I got my pajamas on. And she sleeps next to our bed. Here’s what we always do to clean skunk smell off our dogs.

9 Steps to Cleaning Skunk Smell From Dogs

  1. Before anything, wash dog with dishwashing liquid to get the bulk of the skunk oil stink off.

  2. Put 2 cups of hydrogen peroxide in a container with a lid that you can shake up.

  3. Dump in ½ cup of baking soda into the hydrogen peroxide.

  4. Mix in one tablespoon of liquid dish soap.

  5. Shake like crazy. Note: The baking soda will sink to the bottom so keep it mixed up.

  6. Wash dumb dog with liquid dish soap.

  7. Rinse dumb dog.

  8. Dump it all over dumb dog, especially the face and chest where they got sprayed the most. The mixture doesn’t bother dumb dog’s eyes.

  9. I wash the dumb dog again but with normal human shampoo and conditioner.

Wonder Woman always still smells a little like skunk until she fully dries. If you’re going to toss a leather couch because of the stink, then it’s worth a shot cleaning the leather like you’d clean said dumb dog.

3. How to Clean HUMAN or DOG URINE from Leather?

ServPro’s Leather Cleaning Advice

  1. Mix Urine Odor and Stain Remover with water and spray it onto the leather.

  2. Agitate with soft bristle brush.

  3. Rinse with Water.

  4. Dry leather overnight.

  5. Moisturize with an excellent Leather Conditioner

4. How to Remove MOTHBALL Smell from Leather

ServPro’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Mothballs contain Naphthalene, which is oil-based. This is why the odor remains on the surface of the leather even after the mothballs have been removed. To clean the leather of this odor, you need to remove all the residue. Ventilation is necessary.

  1. Remove all mothballs.

  2. Go to a well ventilated area.

  3. Wet area with Solvent Additive.

  4. Hot water rinse. Extraction is better

  5. Dry with a blow dryer or with a fan.

  6. Moisturize the leather again with a nicely PH balanced leather conditioner.

  7. If the scent remains, ozone is necessary.

  8. After ozone, seal the leather.

5. How to get rid of DEAD BODY (Human or Animal) DECOMPOSITION Smell from Leather?

ServPro’s Leather Cleaning Advice

We use Bio-Odor Neutralizer which specifically addresses sulfur and amine based odors. There is not a consumer chemical that we know about that addresses both of these at the same time.  

  1. We recommend you remove all of the debris from the material.

  2. Use a consumer-grade leather cleaner.

  3. Apply an encapsulate to seams, threads, and anything else that you can’t easily wipe off. Febreeze is the most popular encapsulate. Don’t spray the leather -- get the liquid out of the pocket and put it onto the area that you’re trying to deodorize. Dry.  

  4. Taking it one step further, if the encapsulant doesn’t work, you can also put baking soda on those same threads and let it sit overnight.

  5. Clean again with the leather cleaner.

  6. Dry leather.

  7. Moisturize with Chamberlain’s Leather Conditioner.

If this doesn’t work, then we recommend professional cleaning. We’d use our SERVPRO-proprietary chemical first and then put it through the Esporta Wash if the odor lingered.

There is a highly-emotional element when we are helping clients with anything involving a deceased person or even pet. Because of this, we don’t usually recommend them cleaning the leather themselves. Instead, we pick it up from their home, take it from them, and clean the leather so they don’t have to smell or handle it themselves. Then, we deliver it back to them when we’re done.

How to Remove Stains from Leather?

How to remove:

  1. OIL, WAX and GREASE

  2. INK

  3. WINE, KOOL-AID or GATORADE

  4. BLOOD

IMPORTANT: Always dab rather than rub and work from the outside towards the inside of the stain so it won’t spread out further. One of the main rules of stain removal is to be gentle as you clean.

1. How to Clean OIL or GREASE Stains from Leather?

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice:

Five Sort of Easy Steps to Getting Oil, Grease, Wax or Crayon from Leather

  1. First put dry corn starch on the exact oil or grease spill area. Lightly make sure it’s rubbed on and leave it a night or two then use a soft brush and brush it off. If need be, do a second treatment.

  2. In the morning, rub with water in the direction with the lines on the leather (grain).

  3. Clean again with Chamberlain’s Straight Cleaner, Baby Shampoo or cut a lemon or lime in half and rub it on the spot. You can also get the leather degreaser product - Leather Master by Dr. Tork is good stuff. I like All Purpose Orange Cleaners.

  4. Wipe off with clean and wet hot cloth.

  5. Condition it with Chamberlain’s Leathermilk Conditioner.

ServPro’s Leather Cleaning Advice

For WAX

  1. Lay brown paper bag or paper towel on the wax and then a hot iron on top of that over and over again.

  2. Or, put it in the freezer or put a bag of ice on it and then chip off the wax.

  3. You’ll have a spot where the wax used to be, so do the oil and grease treatment to perfect it.

  4. If nothing else is working, you can only try WD 40 first and then clean the leather again if it leaves an oily mark.

Ten Steps to Clean Wax or Crayon off of Leather

  1. Remove as much of the wax or crayon with a brush.

  2. Vacuum to remove the loose particles.

  3. Place a dry towel over the affected area

  4. Make 3 or 4 passes with a hot iron across the top of the towel.

  5. Dip a brush into the citrus-based solvent and apply to the area. Do not oversaturate. Gently agitate it for about 5 minutes.

  6. Rinse the leather with hot water, but not vegetable tanned leather. Use a hot rag if it’s veg tanned.

  7. With the wax/crayon gone, pour some Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner (RTU) onto the area so the remaining residue is removed.

  8. Hot water rinse the leather again.

  9. Dry quickly to avoid water stains on the leather. Put it directly in front of a fan or use a blow dryer, but not with veg tanned leather. Dry veg tanned leather at room temperature.

  10. Moisturize once it’s dry with Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Leather Conditioner

2. How to remove INK from leather?

Ink is the hardest of all to clean off, but this is your best bet. So, your toddler found a Sharpie permanent marker or pen and drew pretty lines on your expensive leather briefcase or couch and now you want to know how to clean the ink off. This is the hardest stain to clean off of leather and near impossible. Some would say you’re screwed, but not us. You can make it go away by using either the Committed Method or the Creative Method.

Chamberlain’s Committed Methods 1 & 2

  1. Dab the leather with cleaner, do not rub it which smears the loose ink around.

  2. With a fine little paint brush dipped in bleach or in a commercial grade hydrogen peroxide, carefully and exactly follow the ink lines to bleach out the ink spot. It will bleach the leather and damage it a tad, but that’s okay. You’re going to have a good story.

  3. Get Furniture Clinic leather dyes, mix the right colors together on a small plate and then spot dye the leather. There will be instructions on the package how to mix them.

  4. Condition the leather.

OR

  1. Get some VERY fine sandpaper, like 1000 grit, fold it over and with the folded edge of it finely sand along the ink marks. It will damage the leather a little, but it may be better than the alternative.

  2. Spot dye the spot you sanded off. You may want to sand off the leather around it so it isn’t really obvious that you cleaned just one spot.

  3. Condition the leather.

Dave’s Creative Method

Take your leather to a really good artist or tattoo artist and have them finish the artwork that the toddler started, in a creative way. And when your artist kid gets old enough, they’ll carry that old briefcase (as long as you bought a quality one) into an interview and get asked about the artwork. They’ll have a good story and will get the job because he made them smile. Condition the leather afterwards.

3. How to Clean RED DYES like WINE, KOOL-AID, GATORADE from Leather?

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice:

  1. Dab a cotton ball into white vinegar and water mixed evenly or lemon juice with water or rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. We use Chamberlain Leathermilk’s Straight Leather Cleaner.

  2. Dab specifically and then slightly rub the stain with a toothbrush.

  3. Let it dry overnight.

  4. Once dry, put corn starch or talcum powder on it and leave overnight again.

  5. Remove the powder.

  6. If the stain is still there, then put the same powder on it overnight again. Some say baking soda works, but we’re not sure.

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice

Full restoration may not be possible if the stain has been there for an extended period of time or if previous soap-based cleaning has already been attempted because the stain will have been set in. This should always be tested in an inconspicuous area first in case the leather dry rubs off. Also, excessive heat may cause damage to the fibers.

Here are 9 Steps to Cleaning Red Dyes and Stains from Leather

  1. Moisten the leather with clean water.

  2. Sprinkle Natural Fabric brightener on the surface.

  3. Cover with a wet cotton towel.

  4. Apply heat and steam to the towel with an iron. Gently work the area with the tip of the iron. Check every 15 seconds.

  5. Change the position of the tip as the color lifts.

  6. Repeat as needed until your leather is clean.

  7. Clean water rinse to remove chemical from the leather. If it’s not removed, it will probably bleach it.

  8. Dry the leather overnight.

  9. Moisturize it with Chamberlain’s Leather Conditioner.

4. How to Get BLOOD Stains Off of Leather?

Chamberlain’s Leather Cleaning Advice:

A lot of it is the same as for wine, Kool-Aid or other stubborn stains.

Here are 6 Steps to Cleaning Blood Stains from Leather

  1. Dab a cotton ball in white vinegar and water mixed evenly, lemon juice with water, rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. We use Chamberlain Leathermilk’s Straight Leather Cleaner.

  2. Specifically dab and then slightly rub the stain with a toothbrush.

  3. Let dry overnight.

  4. When dry, corn starch or talcum powder on it and leave overnight again.

  5. Remove powder.

  6. If the stain is still there, then put the powder on it overnight again. Some say you can use baking soda, but I’m not sure.

But be careful, because a leather cleaner that has a high alcohol content that can lift the original color out of the leather. If that happens, you’ll have to spot dye the leather. And if you do, Patricia Chamberlain uses Furniture Clinic leather dyes which come with instructions.

SERVPRO’s Leather Cleaning Advice:

Bloodborne Pathogen & Other Potentially Infectious Materials

  1. Use a damp towel (regular water) to clean as much of the contaminant off the leather.

  2. Lightly put some hydrogen peroxide onto a new towel and use it to wipe off the leather. It’ll foam when it reacts with the mold. The reaction is caused by rapid oxidation which causes the mold to decompose. The foaming action helps lift the mold off the textile and makes it easier to clean. This may cause bleaching, so this should be tested in an inconspicuous spot. Over the counter hydrogen peroxide has the lowest incidence of this. If you use janitorial grade or laboratorial rate hydrogen peroxide, then bleaching will likely happen and you should definitely use chemical resistant gloves. We recommend the regular OTC. If the hydrogen peroxide works well, you can continue cleaning the rest of the leather.

  3. Dry the leather.

  4. Moisturize the leather after cleaning with a PH balanced leather conditioner.

Professionally, we always take the highest level of precaution with this type of cleaning (blood and other human fluids). We would use personal protective equipment to handle the object.

What are the Best Household and Commercial Cleaners for Leather?

Here’s our List of the Top 12 Household Leather Cleaners

  1. Water cleans leather

  2. White vinegar and water equal parts

  3. Saddle soap is a great leather cleaner

  4. WD-40 can be a great leather cleaner sometimes

  5. Lime or lemon juice can be a really good leather cleaner

  6. Baby shampoo cleans leather

  7. Corn Starch pulls things out of cleaner

  8. Baking Soda soaks up certain smells

  9. Talcum Powder cleans too

  10. Ice helps a ton with hard gunk

  11. Rubbing alcohol works as a cleaner of leather

  12. Hydrogen Peroxide neutralizes some smells

Top 10 Consumer and Commercial Grade Leather Cleaning Products

  1. Order Solvent Spotter online. It is a rapidly drying solvent blend to remove oil based stains. - stand in, consumer solvent spotter. It is the closest to SERVPRO. In regular stores, not the same but easier to get is this one.

  1. Citrus Solvent 100% organic and biodegradable way to remove adhesives and other solvent needs. Used in place of solvent spotter when ventilation or bioimpact concerns are present. Made from orange oil.

  2. Any mechanic’s orange based pumice type hand cleaner is great.

  1. StainZap oxygen based stain remover and deodorizer. Used to clean directly or boost detergent based cleaning. Consumer - Oxiclean.

  1. Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner (RTU - Ready to Use) A broad spectrum blend of detergents, solvents, and other cleaning agents to be a general purpose stain remover focused on fabrics. General purpose carpet stain remover of various brands would be equivalent.

  1. Bio Odor Neutralizer Specially formulated chemical to combat odors related to sulfur and amine-based odors. The chemical is designed to bond and neutralize the odor particles in those chemical categories. The most common bad smells in those categories are skunk, fish, cabbage, spoiled food, and human dead body. There is not an easy consumer solution to this product. It is an actual proprietary chemical. Read this article on different ways of attempting to clean when you don’t have this product. Mostly focus on removing as much as possible and treating with chemicals to encapsulate the odor particles not removed.

  1. Urine Odor and Stain Remove Environmentally friendly mix of bacterial cultures and enzymes to breakdown natural odors caused by organic residues. Focused on pet odors but good for anything that nature would break down ( feces, vomit, food, human odor)

  1. Shampoo Super Concentrate This is the concentrated version of Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning. It is a broad spectrum cleaning chemical for fibers. Concentrates are generally not sold to consumers but can be bought at janitorial supply stores.

  1. Leather Spotting Agent SERVPRO Proprietary leather cleaner when stains are stubborn. It is drying and requires reconditioning and a blotting cleaning process. There is not an easy consumer equivalent. This is the closest I have found to have similar claims.

  1. Natural Fabric Brightener Very light bleach used to lighten or brighten fabrics that are already a light color. Since we can’t promise a level of bleaching in someone else's chemical I’d recommend a shift to Oxiclean or an oxygen based cleaner.

  2. Pre-Spray and Traffic Lane Cleaner A blend of mild detergent and surfactant to help break soils bond to whatever surface it's on and emulsify with the cleaning solution. This helps remove all the soils from a surface instead of leaving a residue. Because consumer products usually don’t focus on surfactant the best equivalent would be detergent based cleaner or dish soap. IT will take more work but get the same effect.

 How to Specifically Clean Leather Products Like:

  1. SHOES or BOOTS

  2. COUCH

  3. AUTO UPHOLSTERY

  4. JACKET

  5. COW HAIR ON FURNITURE or RUG or BEAR RUG

  6. SHEEPSKIN or SHEARLING

  7. SUEDE

1. How to Clean Leather SHOES and BOOTS?

Obviously, this depends on what you’re trying to clean off of the leather shoes or leather boots. Tar, ink, blood, skunk, mold or just general dirt? That’s the bigger question that you’ll need to read our leather cleaning guide to get specific answers to those questions.

But for just a general cleaning, you can use baby shampoo mixed with water. Then condition it with a PH balanced leather conditioner. If you spent good money on your leather shoes or boots, then don’t mess around. Buy some leather cleaner and leather conditioner. There are some good ones on the market that will clean off most things. I personally use Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Straight Cleaner and then I use their Leather Conditioner after the Straight Cleaner dries.

2. How to Clean a Leather COUCH?

This depends on what you’re trying to get off of the couch. Our guide to cleaning off all kinds of stinks, stains and stickiness will walk you through how to specifically clean those things from leather.

You’re in luck because upholstery leather is almost always Chrome Tanned Leather and pretty durable to clean. But ALWAYS clean a sample area where nobody will notice if it discolors. Not all leather is quality leather and dyes may be low quality.

For a general dirty grime spring leather cleaning, first wipe it down with a hot wet towel (distilled water if it’s really dirty). Sometimes that’s enough. If that’s not enough, then use a little Baby Shampoo mixed with water. Let it dry overnight. The next day, condition the leather with a PH balanced leather conditioner. Don’t skimp on this step. Chances are, if it’s that dirty, then it’s dry and hasn’t been cleaned or conditioned in a long time.

The easy button would be rubbing it down with Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Straight Cleaner. Then let it dry overnight and then rub it down with a nicely PH balanced Leather Conditioner.

3. How to Clean Leather CAR SEAT UPHOLSTERY?

Automotive leather is chrome tanned and heavily coated to put up with a lot of rubbing, coffee spills and warm moist air that hits it in bursts now and then. So, it’s pretty durable stuff and hard to clean wrong. I’m not suggesting you try, by going straight bleach or Ajax with stainless steel on it. You would damage it. But good old Baby Shampoo mixed in warm water is a fine leather cleaner.

Even better is Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Straight Cleaner and then their Leather Conditioner. They’re both nicely PH balanced. And I don’t think it matters if you scrub around in circles or side to side. I think people just make that stuff up to sound smart. You can also use white vinegar mixed with equal part water. Also, Saddle Soap is a good mild leather cleaner. It’s basically just pumpkin.

But here’s the important part about after cleaning leather car seats. You need to condition them with a conditioner that has a UV protectant in it since car seats are in the sun a lot. Leather Milk has a recipe with that in it especially for cleaning leather car seats.

I’m not a big fan of Armor All or Lexol for sure. A lot of cheaper leather car seat cleaners are silicon-based and so clog the pores of the leather and cause permanent damage. Waxes do that too. And you don’t want to oil leather car seats.

Be sure not to plug the little holes in the leather on heated and cooled seats. When you put your cream on the rag, rub the first few times in places that don’t have those holes and then rub over the holes.

How often should you clean or condition leather car seats? It’s important that you clean and condition leather car seats once a year.

4. How to Clean a Leather JACKET?

Luckily, most leather jackets are made with Chrome Tanned Leather instead of Vegetable Tanned Leather so it’s easy leather to clean. A little rainwater won’t hurt those leather jackets.

If you want to know how to clean a leather jacket, then my question to you is, what are you trying to clean off of the leather? Bug juice, gum, cigarette smoke smell, blood or just general dirt and grime? Whether you’re cleaning a leather jacket or couch or leather boots, the cleaning agents and techniques are generally the same. Read our leather cleaning guide to get off of the leather what you’re needing to.

For a general spring cleaning of a leather jacket, it’s pretty easy. ALWAYS try hot water first. Rub it down with a hot wet towel then let it dry. Afterwards, rub a good PH balanced leather conditioner on it. For leather jackets, you may want to put a water protectant conditioner on it since it’s leather. If the water didn’t clean it well enough, then you can always use a light soap like baby shampoo diluted with water.

If you don’t want to mess around because you really like your leather jacket, then buy some good quality leather cleaner and also some leather conditioner. There are a lot of good ones to buy. I would personally use Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Straight Cleaner to start. Let it dry overnight and the next day rub it down with Chamberlain’s Leather Conditioner. If you want to go all out, you can use their Water Protectant too. But only after it has dried from the conditioner.

It’s important to clean and condition a leather jacket once a year.

5. How to Clean Leather COW HAIR ON FURNITURE or RUG or BEAR RUG?

I’ve heard that Windex does the job for spots on Cow Hair On. But a light shampoo like Baby Shampoo should do the trick.

SERVPRO’s Advice

General Animal Hide Rug

  1. Vacuum to remove loose particles.

  2. Dip towel into Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner RTU and wring to a damp state.

  3. Very gently wipe the surface in the direction the animal fur is laying.

  4. When the area is wet, gently brush to remove remaining particles.

  5. Dip towel into clean, warm water and wring to a damp state.

  6. Very gently wipe the surface again in the direction the fur is lying to remove detergent residue.

  7. Use a hair dryer and dry soft bristled brush to dry the area completely and quickly. Brush and dry at the same time to keep the fur soft.

6. How to Clean SHEEPSKIN or SHEARLING?

This cleaning tip was given to me by an American woman who has had a wool weaving cooperative in Southern Mexico for 40 years. I asked her how to clean my new wool sweater.

Here are the 6 easy steps to clean sheepskin

  1. Gently hand wash it in the sink with a light shampoo,

  2. Rinse it thoroughly.

  3. DO NOT ring water out. Only squeeze the excess water out.

  4. Lay it on a towel on the floor and roll it up with towel.

  5. Stand on the towel to transfer the water from the sheepskin to the towel.

  6. If the wool is still attached to the skin of the sheep, then put a leather conditioner onto the bottom side that is sheep leather only.

7. How to Clean SUEDE?

  1. Lightly spray with Shampoo Super Concentrate.

  2. Gently agitate with soft bristle brush.

  3. Dwell for 5 to 10 minutes.

  4. Hot water extract. Do 2 wet passes. Turn on a fan and blow the air into it as you do 4 more dry passes. This will help avoid over wetting and make it dry faster.

  5. Once dry, brush gently with a soft bristled brush. There are brushes made specifically for suede.

How to Condition Leather? 

Can you condition leather with olive oil, baby oil or coconut oil? I’ve done it before and it seemed to work. I also rubbed in Baby Oil on my original Saddleback Leather Briefcase. I don’t think it hurt it, but it could have. A lot of people do it.

If you live way far away from civilization on a deserted island and you absolutely need to condition your leather after the shipwreck, then try a light oil like olive oil, baby oil or coconut oil. But not just any coconut oil. It’s best to use an organic cold press coconut oil to condition leather because it’s the lightest. It hasn’t been heated up and processed yet. That’s food grade cosmetic oil like what Leather Milk uses. The lighter the oil, the easier and more evenly it permeates and conditions the leather.

How to Waterproof Leather?

Mink oil, duck oil or other animal fats can darken it. Leather Milk Water Protectant does this too. Be sure not to use a cheap chemical to waterproof leather because it can clog the leather and then it won’t breathe. It’ll be like wearing a plastic bag and you’ll sweat.

Scratches and Cracked Leather - If leather furniture has a lot of cracks in it, a lot of times it’s because the leather has a lot of wax on the top and that just happens. But the leather fibers have not cracked. I think it looks cool.

But if you’re asking, How to repair dry cracked leather? Then try one of these tips. If it happens to just be the wax cracking then put a dry towel over a cracked area and put a hot iron over the towel and see if the heat sort of melts the wax back into shape. If it’s an open crack on a couch or jacket then look for “FC-2 Leather Filler” or if just a light cracking, use the Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Healing Balm which is a deeper heavier leather conditioner.

If it’s not that bad, then rub it down with a cleaner, then let it dry overnight. Then do a light conditioning treatment always testing in an inconspicuous space. And if it still looks dry after overnight, then apply a heavier conditioner like a Chamberlain’s Water Protectant which is of a heavier oil base.

On What Authority Do We Present Leather Cleaning Tips and Tricks? 

Patricia Chamberlain, the OCD owner and creator of Chamberlain’s Leather Milk, told me what she does. She has been conditioning, repairing and restoring antique leather museum pieces and sentimental private leather projects since 2007.

Michael Weaver, owner of SERVPRO North Irving, generously submitted his professional leather cleaning tips and tricks since their family’s business has been doing disaster restoration and crime scene clean up for decades. Their only job is to clean and restore things to new condition after floods, fires, murders and other bad things that happen. Their tips and techniques for cleaning leather are listed after Chamberlain’s suggestions. Some are the same. Michael has been a faithful Saddleback Leather owner for years.

I, Dave Munson, am the owner of Saddleback Leather Co., and I’ve been learning about and educating people on all that goes into quality leather since 1999. We’ve been designing, repairing, conditioning and cleaning leather briefcases, backpacks, suitcases and trunks for two decades now. And hundreds of times a year our customer service folks are asked the question “How to Clean Leather? These tips and tricks are what we use when customers send their leather in to be cleaned or repaired and also what we tell people so they can successfully and safely clean their leather of almost anything that stinks, sticks or stains.

Be Careful With Your Leather

Many well meaning, yet ignorant, people who don’t have a clue about leather types, give horrible and destructive “one shoe fits all” leather cleaning advice that will discolor or dry out some leathers. We live and love leather and so we have a pretty good idea on how this cleaning leather thing works.

A disclaimer: The main reason I wrote this article is to help people clean and care for their leather. But we also sell Chamberlain’s Leather Milk Cleaner and Conditioner because we believe their recipes are the best in existence for cleaning, conditioning and protecting leather. But there are a lot of other products listed here too. What we’re after is that you’re happy with your leather again, not to sell a few bottles of Leather Care, though I’m not opposed to the idea.

How to Disinfect Leather?

How to Clean or Disinfect Leather and Surfaces from the COVID-19 Coronavirus

These instructions for how to disinfect leather and other surfaces are written so that even a 5th grader can understand (no offense if you’re a 5th grader). I am summing up here what scientists and cleaning professionals have recently written about virus dwell time on surfaces. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) said that cleaning refers to removing germs from surfaces and disinfecting refers to killing germs. Both work.

These recent studies on the Coronavirus COVID-19 are from the New England Journal of Medicine, the National Institute of Health, the CDC and articles from other really smart people who specialize in virus and pandemics. And I threw in a couple of ideas that I thought were pretty logical common sense ones too. But unlike fearing a toilet paper shortage, overreacting is better than under-reacting right now.

What kills or neutralizes the virus is when its outer shell dries out or is damaged. The shell is a thin protective gel-like fat layer that this coronavirus has around it. If you can dry it out, then it’s kind of like popping a water balloon. With the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19, the virus can be neutralized as fast as in 15 seconds. But sometimes, when you just disinfect a surface with a cleaner, it can take up to 5 to 6 minutes for that protective layer to deteriorate. I’m not really sure exactly what makes it go faster or slower. So disinfecting AND cleaning is your best bet.

Seems to me, the best way to get rid of the novel coronavirus from any surface is to actually remove the virus with soap and hot water. Ummm… am I missing something? I don’t believe the COVID-19 actually bonds to any surface very well. It just kind of sits there. That’s why it’s so contagious. It comes off really easily when you touch it. It is not loyal. It’ll date whoever touches it next. So, if it comes off that easily, then it should clean it off with a course rag pretty easily too.

A recent study from scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the Coronavirus can live for 4 hours on copper, 24 hours on cardboard and 72 hours on steel or plastic. And the Coronavirus can live for up to 3 hours in the air. Epidemiologists say that viruses live longer on smooth surfaces that don’t have many pores in them, like glass doors, doorknobs and tables. The reason porous surfaces like leather, wood, money, cardboard, hair and fabric don't allow viruses to live as long is because the small holes or spaces in them can trap the microbes and keep them from transferring.

Scientists say that colder temperatures, no air movement and humidity are friends of the virus and keep that protective layer strong. In fact, cold temperatures actually harden the gel-like protective shell around the virus particles. The Journal of Hospital Infection put out a study that says when temperatures go up, the lifespan of coronaviruses goes way down. They said when the temperature goes from 68 degrees to 86 degrees, the lifespan of the Coronavirus lasted on steel surfaces about half as long. So I say, put on some deodorant and open the windows of your home on hot days. Heat up the house with your central heat system because that dries out the air and therefore will dry out the gel-like fat layer of the virus microbes sooner. Cook out the house if you have a wood stove. Get that stove glowing red. The CDC says that the COVID-19 Coronavirus dies if exposed to 132 degrees Fahrenheit for a time. Wash everything on HOT and set it on Extra Rinse. Why not use Blowdryers to disinfect your leather couch or briefcase or wallet. If you dry out that outer protective shell, you’ll kill the virus sooner.

If you disinfect your leather harshly, then be sure to condition it harshly afterward. I recommend Chamberlain Leather Milk to do that best. Do not use bleach or rubbing alcohol on leather because it may discolor. I suggest rubbing it down with a HOT cloth that you can barely hold, along with a dab of light shampoo because it’s PH balanced for the leather. For generally dirty leather, I recommend just hot water. To learn how to clean leather of anything that sticks, stinks or stains, click here.

Read our List of 17 practical ways to disinfect or clean leather or surfaces of the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19.

These tips and tricks will teach you how to beat the deadly virus’s “coronavirus” and drastically shorten its lifespan or kill it quickly.

  1. Keep the floor mopped because droplets that come out of the mouth or from farmer blows, land on the floor.

  2. Get things into the sun.

  3. Leave things outside for air movement.

  4. Open doors and windows for air movement.

  5. Remove the Coronavirus COVID-19 by wiping instead of just spraying.

  6. Wipe surfaces with soap and hot hot water.

  7. Don’t shake dirty laundry.

  8. Set washing machines to use HOT water and extra rinse.

  9. Blow Dry things with a blowdryer.

  10. Turn up the heat in the house to dry out the virus’s gel-like shell.

  11. Use one cap of bleach when cleaning hard surfaces, but not porous surfaces like leather.

  12. Get Hepa-filters for Heat and A/C systems to suck virus particles out of the air.

  13. Leave mail packages in the sun outside for 48 hours if they’re not urgent.

  14. Don’t bring mail into the house. Open it outside and toss packaging because the postman may be contagious.

  15. Park in the sun and roll your windows up so the heat will kill or weaken the virus.

  16. Boil it for at least 5 minutes.

  17. Dilute ⅓ cup of bleach to one gallon of water to clean.

Remember, at times like these, overreacting is the loving thing to do and is far better than under-reacting. You’ll NEVER say, “Man, I wish I never would have disinfected my leather and other surfaces”, but you may say the opposite.