leather couches | Imamother

amother

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 11:34 am

I am looking to buy real leather couches. Wondering about maintenance and upkeep, especialy with children. Any advise is welcomed.

queen

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 12:10 pm

great for children as e/t just wipes off. no need to worry about spilled bottles etc.
We bought a protection plan along with couches which came with 2 bottles of cleanser. We were told to once a year wipe down entire couch with those shampoos.
Much better than fabric with kids around.

Younger Me

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 12:15 pm

when you have kids, leather is not a luxury, but a necessity. that's whywe bought a leather couch and we also always get leather seats in the car when we get a new car.
so much easier and cleaner......

cindy324

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 1:09 pm

I just have one piece of advice to give you:

BUY AS DARK A COLOR AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!

I have beige/off white (it was a gift, not a personal choice) and the dirt from the kids jumping on it, sometimes with shoes, just gets ground into the leather. Takes lots of scrubbing to get it all off.

Actually , I have one more piece of advice: HIDE ALL THE PENS!!! especially if you have small kids, ink is very difficult to get out of leather, and the more time that passes , the harder it gets.

shayna82

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 2:34 pm

amother wrote:

I am looking to buy real leather couches. Wondering about maintenance and upkeep, especialy with children. Any advise is welcomed.

we did a lot of research on real leather couches. you need to get top of the grain leather. thats the real long lasting stuff thats not treated with anything. thats the best part of the cow. all the levin, department stores, room ful express, ikea... thats not top grain leather. those are 4000 a piece couches.

go to clubfurniture.com, probably the most like what im saying. 4000 for a couch, 1200 for a chair, 500 for ottoman.

good luck!

greenfire

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 3:14 pm

Cindy - I think you could dye the couch darker.

So long as they're kiddies and not kitties it'll work. My mother has one but the cats scratched it up.

Esther01

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 4:47 pm

ditto-the darker the better.

we have dark brown and unfurtanatley the pens weren't well hidden, but the marks blend in with the couch.

I wash it down every erev shabbos with wet shmatteh and dry it right away. not good to leave leather wet or else the natural oils of the leather dry out.

S.Shcwartz

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 6:39 pm

We have a black leather couch with two little kids, with pens and crayons... it still looks brand new. I wash it once a week with windex.

lubcoralsprings

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 7:27 pm

I recommend dark leather couches. They are easy to clean and don't show stains. You can buy a seven year gurantee for no scratches for around three hundred dollers and let me tell you its worth it.

bonzie

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 7:47 pm

we also got black leather reclinging couch, its great for spills!!
At this stage I my life I dont need "top of the line leather" ill have to get new couches eventually anyway so im not going to spend 4,000 on one little couch

shayna82

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 7:51 pm

thats just the point, you wont have to buy new couches for a lllooong time if you buy one that is good quality.

but hey, its the same like- not buying a house, only renting. buying a cheap couch cuz you have littel kids, versus buying a nice one that will last and last.

I like to buy quality.

bonzie

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 7:59 pm

shayna82 wrote:

I dont see how that's like buying a house at all...

anyway I would end up buying a new one anyway, I get bored of the same furniture for 15 years, so ill buy quality but not to the point that it'll last forever since I dont have in mind keeping any of my furniture forever

its the way I grew up my parents bought good, but it wasn't until all of us were a lot older that they redid the entire house and really put a lot of money into e/t, it wasn't worth it b4 then..

cindy324

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 10:37 pm

shayna, my couch is one of those quality, real top of the line couches.

Does this mean I shouldn't make my kids crazy when they pounce on it, and jump up the back and sit on it, and play sliding pond on it? Are they supposed to stand up to all that abuse?

Greenfire, it's a sectional, 3 pieces total, I think dying it would probably be very costly.

shoy18

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 10:42 pm

If you don't want to spend a fortune, buy one with a lifetime warranty if anything happens to it, they either fix it or replace, and if its a set and one piece is ruined and the set was discontinued you get a whole new set

amother

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 10:56 pm

" lubcoralsprings
You can buy a seven year gurantee for no scratches for around three hundred dollers and let me tell you its worth it."

op here. Do they all sell it and do they replace it if scratched up.

"shayna82
we did a lot of research on real leather couches. you need to get top of the grain leather. thats the real long lasting stuff thats not treated with anything. thats the best part of the cow."

How do you know if its TOP of the grain ? Do you beleave the salesman?
Also one told me about treating the leather and the other told why he thinks it a gimeck and not to.
Thanks for all your responses.

Boys"R"Us

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 11:38 pm

S.Shcwartz wrote:

We have a black leather couch with two little kids, with pens and crayons... it still looks brand new. I wash it once a week with windex.

Is that not hard on the leather? The windex I mean?
We've had a black leather Ikea couch for about 2 years. I WISH we'd had leather when our kids were babies, but anyway... The couch has stood up really well, and with five boys, that is no easy feat!! I wipe it with a damp cloth sometimes, but am never really sure how I should be cleaning it. Is there some kind of oil product (like what I put on my leather boots?)

TIA,

shopaholic

Wed, Jan 03 2007, 10:34 am

When I got my curio cabinet from Macy's they gave me a complimentary cleaning kit with bottles for leather & wood. I only used it once, but I usually use a wipe or wet paper towel & dry it immediately.

Estee2

Wed, Jan 03 2007, 11:34 pm

I've used Huggies wipes -- discovered how well
it cleans, by accident.

I was changing baby, then wiped the couch....
unbelievable how much dirt came up ! Exclamation