I’m still slowly going through our house and purging the stuff we don’t need or use. (Why is this taking me so long?) I have a pair of leather work boots that are too big for me, and the Big Man has a leather motorcycle jacket that no longer fits him. I thought I’d clean them up a bit before they find a new home. My purse needed a little attention, too, so it was a good time to get it all done.
I found a diy leather cleaner on Pinterest when I needed to clean up my old purse to sell. It worked out real well, so I stuck with that one for this time around too. (One other cleaner I found was made with equal parts water and vinegar. I heard it dried out the leather, so I’m not sure why you’d go with that one. If anyone has tried that recipe, I’d like to hear how it turned out for you.)
Take 1/2 cup olive oil, add 1/4 cup white vinegar, and whisk together. (You can add 3-4 drops essential oil of your choice here too.)
Last time I made this, I made the full recipe. After I was done, I realized how little I needed. This time I knew I’d need more if I was going to clean that jacket.
Before and after pictures.
There was more of a color change in person than the picture shows, and it feels so much softer.
I didn’t really need to do the back side, since this side is already smooth from being against me, but I wanted to make sure both sides were the same color. This just shows how bad I am at phone photography, since in person, there was very little change.
Almost like new! I was surprised the cleaner didn’t mess up the embroidery.
Easily cleaned off the bug guts and now it’s shiny and soft.
I think I should change my middle name to over-estimator. Is that really all I used?!
If you use the cleaner on uncolored leather, the darker color is usually temporary and should lighten up with some time.
Nice life hack!
Thanks! I was hoping by skipping the EO, the leather would keep its smell(I like that smell) but I don’t think it happened.
What do you think it would do for a couch?!
I bet it would work just fine. If it’s a suede leather, it’ll darken some for awhile, but if it’s the other kind (I can’t come up with the words right now) it’ll make it soft & shiny. Plus you’ll want to wipe off any excess and add a scent to it, unless you like the smell of vinegar :)
I think I'll add some scent to it!! lol it's just a normal real leather couch.
That's awesome! I'm going to make some of this...less of this, haha!...and give it a try on some boots of mine that need some work. Thanks for sharing!
I even had to wipe off the excess from the coat. It goes a long ways! I think I’m going to store the rest in a glass jar.