How do I Choose the Best Leather Cleaner?

I would just like to remind people that if in doubt, see a leather specialist. Leather is a notoriously tricky product to clean, and it's not very forgiving either, which means that you pretty much have one shot to get it right.

My friend had this amazing vintage leather jacket that she just loved, but it got this weird stain on it one night after she went out clubbing. She picked up a generic leather jacket cleaner and went at it, but unfortunately all it did was create this big halo around the stain, highlighting it and making the situation even worse.

She took it to a leather specialist after that who said that there was really nothing she could do because the cleaner had damaged the old leather so much that it was pretty much stuck that way.

So, moral of the story; if in doubt, save yourself the heartache and see a leather specialist! They may be more expensive, but they are a lot less expensive than a new couch/jacket/handbag.

So I recently got this really nice leather sofa, and of course the first thing I did when I got it home was accidentally scratch it with my purse.

Is there a way that I can use some sort of leather cleaner or restorer to get the scratch out? I had read somewhere that if you use certain types of leather cleaners often enough they will sort of smooth the leather over until the scratch goes away, but I wanted to verify this with someone before I started attacking my leather sofa with cleaner.

So does anybody have any advice about what I can do? I'm just kicking myself for scratching it so soon!

One thing that is very important to remember when you're cleaning old leather is to not just use a leather cleaner, but a conditioner as well.

So many leather cleaners are actually designed only for young, supple leather, and using them on old leather can strip out any remaining moisture and cause the leather to crack or become discolored.

However, if you follow up your cleaner with a conditioner, or use a leather cleaner conditioner combo, then the leather will remain healthy and good looking.

This applies to young leather too in terms of simple maintenance, by the way -- the more you keep your leather conditioned when its young, the fewer problems you're likely to have with it when it's old.

I use toothpaste (the actual paste, not the gel) and an old toothbrush to clean my leather sneakers. I would not use this method as a leather upholstery cleaner, but it works well for scuffmarks on sneakers. The toothpaste is gentle enough that it does not damage the shoes. It also makes the shoes look better than using shoe polish. The shoes look like new after one cleaning, and the stitching even comes out clean.