Are you having a hard time maintaining your leather furniture? Are you receiving conflicting advices from everyone you speak to? Leather is an expensive material, and very few people know how to maintain it. All across the internet, you will find several ways to clean your leather, but no one can vouch for their authenticity. Out of desperation, you end up applying a few leather cleaning products that do you more harm than good.

Let’s take a look at some of the products that can ruin your leather.

1. Nail Polish Remover

One of the most common products that people apply to their leather is nail polish remover. It is a fact that nail polish remover can get rid of stains for the time being, but it makes your leather suffer in the longer run. Nail polish removers contain acetone, which deprives the leather of its natural color. When the color is gone, the leather is left with an ugly patch that blemishes its overall look.

2. Window Cleaner

In order to clean their leather furniture, people often apply window cleaning products like Glint and Windex. It may seem like a helpful solution for a short period of time, but in reality, it isn’t. Window cleaners contain a certain percentage of alcohol. The alcohol in the window cleaners damages the top coat of your leather, making it appear dirty.

3. Shoe Polish

A lot of people fail to distinguish between the leather on their sofa and the one used in making shoes. The leather in each of these items is tanned in a different manner. Therefore, different cleaning products are required to clean them. Shoe polish cannot be used on leather furniture because it cannot adhere to your sofa the way it does on your shoes.

4. Markers

One of the misconceptions people have is that they think they can use a marker to fix any faded color on their sofa. In reality, doing so is impossible. The look of the leather is not confined to color only; instead, it is a combination of color as well as texture. Most sofas have a glossy finish, and applying marker on them will only make them appear messy.

5. Hair Spray

Using a hair spray on your sofa isn’t a good idea for two reasons. Number one, hair spray contains alcohol that affects the quality of leather. Secondly, hair spray forms residues on the leather, which only makes the problem worse.

If you want the leather on your furniture to stay safe and last long, make sure never to use the above-mentioned products for cleaning it.