leather couch

Reader Lynda Schnute writes from Richmond, VA: "We purchased a leather couch, loveseat, and two ottomans and paid quite a bit. Within a couple of months, the backs and sides and under the arms became sticky to the touch. You could literally stick to it! We battled with the store for six months before they replaced the pieces. Now, another five months has passed and the replacement pieces are getting sticky -- especially on the backs and under the arms. They said it was top quality leather and it is from a good store. We do have a fireplace, but I never heard that you couldn't have leather in a room with a fireplace. What do we do?" The Bargain Shopper answers: Tanning processes vary from tradition to tradition, and it truly sounds like the leather used to make your furniture may not have been tanned properly.

Meanwhile -- especially if you have the furniture in a room that is heated by a fireplace -- I may have some solutions to help alleviate the problem to some degree. But that will also depend on where you live and the availability of "remedies."

First of all, you should go over all sticky areas lightly with a soft cloth that is only DAMPENED with clean, lukewarm water (wring it out well). Wipe the sticky surfaces smoothly and fan-dry, if possible (an electric hair-dryer will work). You may have to do this several times, to remove any sticky residue.

The process involved with tanning leather removes salts from the hide, and adds certain chemicals. The natural pores of the leather may be clogged -- or, the may be a waxy residue left over from improper finishing.

Either way, the steps you must take are to (a) clean the surface, to "unclog" the pores, and (b) to treat the surface so it remains supple, yet will not "attract" elements from the air and dust in the room that will contribute to it becoming sticky again. Basically, the fireplace is probably causing some tanning elements to "weep" out of the leather itself, so -- although you cannot avoid stickiness in the future -- you can certainly prevent it advancing to problem proportions again, but regular "maintenance" of the leather surfaces,.

Once you have sponged it off thoroughly (and I can't emphasize enough NOT to use an overly wet cloth!), and dried it, you may notice that the surface is not as glossy as it once was. This is good. It shows that you have followed step one correctly. You should also notice that the surface is either not sticky, or far LESS sticky than before.

Next, you will want to clean the surface, to remove any residue of tanning chemicals that may have been drawn out of the leather by heat in the room. Believe it or not, Murphy's Oil Soap -- which depending where you live, you should be able to buy in a hardware store or supermarket (I have found the spray-bottle version at Target), is a very good product for cleaning sticky leather. (Be sure to lightly sponge it off first -- don't skip this step!)

Apply the Murphy's oil again very lightly, and wipe completely dry. You might even be able to "polish" the leather surface a little as you do this, depending on how tautly the leather is drawn over the furniture.

If you cannot find Murphy's Oil, a good brand of saddle soap will work well, b ut you have to use it more "wet," so it does take longer to dry completely.

Lastly -- but only when you are certain your furniture is COMPLETE DRY (maybe even let it "rest" overnight), spray all exposed sections of the leather surface with a good quality leather protection spray, such as you would use to waterproof a leather jacket or boots for outdoor wear. A good version is made by Kiwi. All the effective ones contain silicone.

Again, let your furniture dry thoroughly before you sit on it (overnight, at least), and be sure there is adequate ventilation before you spray, as well.

Periodically, you will have to redo this entire three-step treatment to maintain your furniture in non-sticky good health (and beauty).

It doesn't sound like you will get any joy out of going back to the original store, despite the fact that you paid top dollar and are convinced of the high quality of your furniture, so I would just let it go. Meanwhile, you will probably find that with this regimen of maintenance, your furniture will give you no further problems, and will reward you with many years of happy -- non-sticky -- service.