How to clean a leatherette or nubuck sofa

The designer sofa is an element that can not absolutely miss inside a house. And it is good to choose it very carefully, comfortable and practical to clean, especially if in the house you have small children or animals.
Being a fundamental piece of furniture for an apartment, it is necessary that it matches the style of the living room in which it will be inserted.

The combination should not only concern the color and shape, but also the material with which it is covered. In recent years, the modern style prevails in homes, and leather, eco-leather or imitation leather sofas are perfectly suited to this style. Although they may seem identical to an untrained eye, they have significant differences.

In our catalog we have products made of every kind of material, from the faux leather sofa Raquel to the real leather sofa Flora.

But those who want to give a particularly refined touch to their home can choose an even more beautiful and elegant type of manufacturing for their sofa, nubuck leather.

Being very delicate, it is not recommended for those who have dogs, cats and small children, as it is very easily ruined. Alternatively to avoid these types of problems you can choose the sofa with nubuck effect Barolo.

It can be purchased by those who pay particular attention to the care and maintenance of the house, just think that already sitting wearing a pair of jeans could be ruined. To clean a nubuck sofa you just have to pass a soft and dry cloth.

Hardly any stain will be removed, especially the most stubborn ones of coffee or wine.

There is also a treatment called 3M Scotchgard which slightly protects this kind of leather and gives it a "cloudy" effect, unfortunately it remains the same very delicate, the hold of this treatment is not absolute or 100% guaranteed.

Those who do not want to give up a touch of refinement can choose fabrics that imitate the nubuck effect in a really surprising way. They are usually made of synthetic fibers and polyester, water-repellent and washable with water at 30°.

In addition to being less delicate, they are much cheaper than real leather and allow you to live the living room with much more carefree, without sacrificing elegance.

How to clean a white leatherette sofa

The furnishings of the houses, in recent years, give greater importance to light, light colors, perhaps combined with some darker details or bright color. Many people think to buy a nice white sofa that, thanks to some colored cushions, can be the protagonist of a modern living room.

The effect will be truly magnificent but that color will get dirty easily, so it is better to choose a material easy to treat and clean, less delicate than leather. And the best solution is leatherette.

Who decides to buy a leatherette sofa, has the luck not to have too many problems regarding its maintenance, it is in fact a difficult material to ruin. In any case it is not recommended to use too aggressive products that could stain it irreparably.

To remove dust and carry out a daily cleaning it is enough to pass a simple soft and dry cloth, if there are more stubborn stains it's fine to use a damp one, but be sure to dry the sofa immediately to avoid the formation of halos.

It is also possible to use a vacuum cleaner, or hand-held vacuum cleaner, with a small special nozzle, or with a cloth placed in front to cushion the suction force.

If there are more stubborn stains, such as coffee or food stains, all you need is some cleansing milk, neutral soap and water. And if they really do not go away, you can try using a cloth soaked in water and vinegar or Marseille soap, taking care to treat only the dirty area and to rinse and dry it immediately.

A sanitizing spray can also be used on leatherette, but only occasionally, prolonged use would damage the fabric.

Keeping a white sofa clean is therefore not impossible, thanks to some shrewdness it will be beautiful and long-lasting.

How to clean nubuck effect leatherette?

The nubuck sofas are really beautiful, their elegance and softness has no equal, unfortunately, however, in addition to being very expensive they are also delicate, they are easily damaged and stained.

Those who do not want to give up having a beautiful living room, but want to live it with serenity, can choose to buy the leatherette sofa nubuck effect, cheaper and more practical to use daily, without too much fear of ruining it.

It is however necessary to pay some attention, the nubuck effect does not always provide that it is water-repellent, some stains could therefore be very difficult, if not impossible to remove.

The usual sanitizing can be done with an ordinary dry cloth, perhaps in microfibre which collects the dust better.

Vacuuming is not recommended, as nubuck leatherette is more delicate than classic leatherette and would tend to crumble and spoil more easily. When more difficult patches are present they should be removed with specific neutral detergents, without dabbing the area, the halo would tend to expand, penetrating even deeper.

And if you are not able to solve the problem it is better to contact a professional laundry.

When buying a sofa, but also chairs or an armchair, it is always advisable to ask the furniture manufacturer how to clean the fabric present on the furniture, every material has its own treatment and often you can also buy specific products that will allow to solve dirt problems without too much difficulty.

And in order not to risk making serious mistakes, it is always better to try a new detergent on a small hidden area of the sofa, even if it has been recommended by the seller. Sometimes it is enough to use a product incorrectly to permanently ruin a fabric.

What is the difference between faux leather and leatherette?

Both when talking about clothing and furnishing, the habit is to generalize by defining leather as any type of fabric that can resemble the original one (which technically should be called leather).

Another mistake is to believe that eco-leather and imitation leather are synonymous.

It is therefore worth clarifying all these materials that resemble each other but have very important differences to remember.

First of all, in Italy we use to call leather the version similar to fabric, softer and thinner. It is very resistant, has thermo-insulating properties and favors transpiration; it is a very valuable and expensive material, impossible to reproduce synthetically in an exact way.

Faux leather is always of animal origin, it is in fact tanned leather using methods with a lower environmental impact. Many people mistakenly believe that it is totally synthetic, but in reality the ecological aspect only concerns the processing of the material. It is very difficult to find, it is characterized by imperfections, natural marks and uneven color.

It costs more than normal leather and requires constant maintenance and care, even exposure to the sun changes its color. Therefore, having a piece of furniture or an item of clothing in faux leather is much rarer than you might think.

What everyone usually has at home is a leatherette product, much cheaper, totally industrial and without any animal origin. It is made on a synthetic fiber or cotton cloth, on which a plastic material is applied, which can be polyurethane. Through a press, the various details of real leather are imitated to perfection. Among the positive aspects there is certainly easy maintenance, water repellency and resistance to heat and light, but it lacks softness and wears out much more quickly than leather of animal origin.

As far as clothing is concerned, being fashion items that are used for a short time, durability is not important.

But when it comes to furnishings the matter changes, it is necessary to take into consideration that a leatherette sofa after a few years will inexorably begin to deteriorate and crack.

Distinguishing between leather, eco-leather and imitation leather is not as simple as it may seem, the best thing to do is read the label and be wary of products defined as "real leather" that are too cheap, quality is paid for.