Leather Cleaner

For the last few years our leather couches have been tucked away in a sitting area.  But with our new home they are out in the open, by the kitchen, with three little kids and a dog having full access to them.

Are you getting a mental picture of how gross they have become?

I bought some leather cleaner but wasn't very impressed with it, it didn't seem to work very well. Plus it had a warning label that pretty much said if my children come into contact with it then they will die a slow painful death.  So I made my own.

Homemade Leather Cleaner
You Will Need:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup regular vinegar
a spray bottle

Just mix the two ingredients together in your spray bottle and shake it well. Now you just have to spray the leather down and wipe it clean with a cotton cloth. Please note that this recipe is perfectly safe for regular leather but is it not designed to be used on suede.

I sprayed one section of the couch and wiped it all down.  Then I used the store bought leather cleaner on the section next to it to see how they compare.

The Verdict:  It was SO much better then the store bought.  The first thing I noticed was that the olive oil didn't clog up my bottle.  Which was a huge plus. 


Before. 

 After  The DIY is on the left and the store bought is on the right

Here is a list of how the DIY did better then the store bought;

It went farther.  The store bought kind was individual cloths and I had to use 2 of them for just that small section on the couch.

The DIY had the same shine as the store bought but it the shine lasted longer

There wasn't a reside left over

The DIY didn't just shine, it also got off all the gunk from the kids sticky hands and the dogs wet nose.