Most cars these days have some sort of leather in them, whether it is the seats, steering wheel, interior doors, or dashboard. With new cars taking longer to arrive currently due to part shortages, such as microchips, people are keeping their cars that bit longer so leather wipes are in high demand, providing a great way to bring your car’s interior back up to scratch. Also, with the cost of living going up, most people are hanging on to their leather chairs and sofas and simply giving them a new lease of life with a leather wipe. With the rising price of pretty much everything, most people are watching the pennies and keeping their sofas and leather chairs longer! This comes with the challenge of keeping your leather looking like new. An easy way to do this is to use leather wipes that not only clean the leather but also moisturise and condition the leather at the same time thus extending the life of your furniture.
In this blog, we cover off some questions such as:
- What are the best wipes for leather?
- What wipes can I use on leather?
- Do leather wipes clean leather?
- Are leather wipes good for sofas?
What are the best wipes for leather?
Good question as there are many different types of leather wipes such as leather wipes for cars, leather wipes for furniture and leather wipes for sofas… Leather wipes can also be used on your best leather handbag or best pair of brogues. Leather wipes can be used on pretty much anything that is leather as they are designed to clean and maintain the leather. So, getting back to the question. We tend to find that the best leather wipes are made from a soft, thick wipe material that is made from viscose fibres. In the wipe formulation it is also important to have at least three of these important ingredients:
- Surfactants - these are key as they stir up activity on the leather surface that you are cleaning and help to collect and trap the dirt and grime from the surface and onto the wipe
- Cleaning booster – really does what it says but this helps boost the cleaning activity and works hand in hand with supporting the surfactant to remove dirt and grime.
- Shine – it’s got to have some shine about it! Nothing worse than dull leather. After you have finished with this wipe and have wiped the leather surface down, leave the surface to dry and the shine will then kick in leaving the leather surface with a lovely fresh new look shine.
So going by the above it is always good to check the ingredients list and make sure that the wipes you are looking to purchase contain the above and are fit for the cleaning job you have on hand.
What wipes can I use on leather?
It all depends on what you are trying to do and what you want the finish to be like. I often use a sanitising or disinfectant wipe when out in the car with the kids. The small 100 Wipe sits in the car pocket nicely and if using disinfectant wipes these are ideal for cleaning off those little sticky fingers after some food! So, if you are wanting to sanitise and clean then you can use sanitising and disinfectant wipes on leather. Both the sanitising and disinfectant wipes can be used on leather and although these can dull the leather slightly, they are perfectly safe to use. If you are unsure, then wipe a small area and allow it to dry to check the surface. If you want to bring the shine back after you have sanitised the surface, then simply wipe over the surface using a leather wipe to bring back the shine and remoisturise the leather. Always best to avoid using alcohol-based wipes on leather as this can often lift the surface of the leather resulting in the leather drying and cracking with damage being done. Also, when using a leather wipe, try to avoid using the wipe on any plastic or glass surface as this can often leave a residue on the plastic surface which doesn’t look great! For plastic surfaces, it is best to use something like the dashboard wipe. For glass, the glass wipe is also great.
Do leather wipes clean leather?
The short answer is yes but they don’t always sanitise so that is why it is also good to use a sanitising wipe first if you want to be very clean! Cleaning leather is easy when you know how, with it all coming back down to the material used to make the wipe and the surfactants used in the wipe doing the work. The key is to have a thick enough fabric which will pick up the dirt and grime and having a strong surfactant that will stir up the dirt as you wipe the surface. It’s good to pull out two wipes, place them flat on top of each other, then start in the corner and in a circular motion rub the surface all over to remove the dirt. Once you have done this dispose of the wipes and take out another two wipes and place them flat on top of each other and wipe over the surface to remove any further dirt. Now that you have ensured the surface is clean and moisturised, you can then rub over the whole surface with a microfiber cloth to make the surface shine even more. Now leave the surface for 10 minutes and it should look like new!
Are leather wipes good for sofas?
This depends on what your sofa is made from! Leather wipes are ideal for use on both real leather and on man-made leather, great for keeping your sofas looking new. If you have upholstered sofas, then the best wipes to use are the upholstery wipes. Baby wipes can be used on sofas too but they don’t really do anything as they are normally at least 99% water so it is basically just wiping water over the leather surface which you could do with a cloth! Baby wipes will also break up when rubbing the sofa with lint (fluff) becoming stuck to your furniture. Using a leather wipe that has the correct surfactant, cleaner and shine formulation will keep your sofa looking great for many years to come. Even if you have a very old sofa, you can save yourself heaps by just simply wiping down your well-used sofa weekly to keep it looking and smelling like new!
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