How to Repair a Pinhole in Leather Furniture
Leather furniture can add beauty and elegance to your home for many years. Leather can also have a much shorter display life if holes are not repaired as soon as they are discovered. Once a piece of leather furniture has been punctured, that area is much more susceptible to tearing. With the proper patching, leather furniture can look almost as good as new.
Preparing For The Leather Repair
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Clean the damaged area of the leather with soap and water or an all-purpose cleaner. Wipe the area down with rubbing alcohol or the alcohol compound that is included in many leather repair kits.
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Remove any frayed edges or thread around the hole with a razor blade. The area to be repaired should be as smooth as possible.
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Choose the "grain paper" with the pattern that most closely matches your leather furniture. The paper in the repair kit impresses a grain pattern into the adhesive filler to match the rest of the furniture.
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Draw an outline of the hole on the grain paper.
Repairing The Hole
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Fill the hole with the adhesive and filler so that it is even with the leather's surface. Run a spatula across the filler's surface to make sure that it's flush with the leather's surface. Let the filler dry for at least four hours.
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Match the color of the leather with the color repair compound in the repair kit. You may have to mix colors to match the leather if it is a different shade and is not a primary color.
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Spread a thin layer of color repair compound around the edges of the hole in the leather. Smooth the compound over the filler with the spatula to get an even distribution. Wipe any extra compound away from the edges of the hole.
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Place the grain paper over the hole, aligning the outline that you drew directly over the damaged area. Tape the grain paper down to the leather.
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Heat the grain paper with the heating tool in the leather repair kit. If the kit does not have a heating tool, you can heat the grain paper with a hair dryer for 30 to 45 seconds. Remove the grain paper slowly from the leather after it has cooled.
References
Tips
- Stay off the repaired leather for at least 24 hours to let the repair set properly.
- For larger holes in leather, a cloth must be inserted into the furniture and then attached with glue along the inside of the puncture.
- Clean the area around the repair with soap and water after you have finished.
Writer Bio
Jeff Dickinson has been writing professionally for 19 years. He began covering sports for The Huntsville Times in Alabama and moved to Atlanta in 1997. Dickinson worked in corporate communications for seven years before beginning his freelance career in 2005. He covers football for the Marietta Daily Journal and FANatic Sports and writes for a variety of websites.
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