How to Repair Cat Scratches on Leather

Have you bought a new leather couch or chair only to find it shredded by your cat the moment you turn your back? Well, you are in the right place. Though cats can be lovable and cuddly companions, they can also be little troublemakers due to their inherent instinct to scratch. Many cats hate scratching posts (of course) and decide to use furniture instead. Read this article to find out how to repair your leather if your cat has begun to destroy it. You will also learn techniques to keep your cat from returning to finish the job after you have repaired the scratches.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Leather cleaner and cloths
• Pin or needle
• Leather protector
• Hair dryer
• Dye or shoe polish
• Spray bottle with water

1. Wash the area that you're going to repair with leather cleaner. You probably want to test it on a patch of the furniture that won't show just to be sure that you're not removing color in the process. Wash the whole panel even if you only have a few widely spaced scratches; this will make the adhesive stick better as well as the protectant.

2. Push the "tags" (or pieces of leather that stick up from the cat scratches) down with a pin or needle. Make sure you can do this with as little visibility as possible. In short, be patient. One technique is to tease the tags up and then use the side of the needle to lay them down flat.

3. Use the dye or shoe polish (that matches your leather, of course) to blend in and make the scratches disappear. You may want to apply a thin coat of dye and then blow it dry with a hair dryer before applying another coat. Keep applying thin coats and drying them until you can no longer see the scratches.

4. Apply leather protector over the affected area after it has had time to dry overnight. It's always best to apply a thin coat of the various products listed in this article rather than globbing on a lot with the hope that it'll blend in. Leather is such a smooth surface that it's really obvious when imperfections aren't fixed carefully.

5. To keep your cat from returning to the furniture to do further damage, spray your cat with water directly on its head every time it approaches the furniture. It will soon learn not to mess with you! You can also spray your furniture with spray available at pet stores that deters cats. It has chemicals in it that they do not like, and they won't come near anything sprayed with it.

Tips & Warnings

• It's much harder to fix a bad scratch repair job than to do it right in the first place, so be thorough and patient!

[63miranda]

on 4/1/2009 Boy, do I need to repair cat scratches on leather! 5* and added to favs