How to Paint Leather Furniture
If your leather sofa, chair or ottoman is old, don’t despair – just give it some love at much less than the price of new. You can rejuvinate its looks.
Paint leather furniture in the correct manner with acrylic leather paint – you can buy this type from several stores.
Prep Work
Whether your leather furniture is getting old or you want to add a little bit of color, painting may be the answer to bring it back to life. You will learn how to paint leather furniture from preparation to application to sealing in this article.
It’s a different story with leather furniture as you have to take extra precautions to keep it the same quality for many years but you can use dyes and paints in various sizes to get it to look brand new again!
– Clean the furniture first before painting. Use leather cleaner to remove dust, dirt, or oils that may inhibit paint from adhering to leather; lightly sand the spots you want painted.
Pour equal amounts of leather-based acrylic paint and ordinary water into a plastic bucket and use the solution to pour onto a clean paint tray, wet a foam brush, and coat thinly with long even strokes on leather. : Wait at least two hours for this primer to set before proceeding.
Paint
Leather painting is actually pretty easy with a little patience and some good materials. Just clean the surface of your leather primer off dirt or grime, then paint, and also several coats may need to be done with a waiting time of at least 24 hours between coats.
There are even leather paints that are better, because they are made specifically to resist the ravages of ordinary acrylic paint. You can get these in any hardware store and they are really easy to use.
: While painting, create a blended look by dabbining a little of each color at different points on the surface. That way you’ll keep individual shades from overdrying and generating irregular patches. Dry and sand it clean, avoiding the new finish flaking off with an acrylic finisher, to keep leather soft.
Sealant
After your paint has dried, seal it with a sealant to keep the leather free of scuffs and daily wear. Try to pick something that’s made for leather — they can be found at furniture repair stores and paint stores.
Only do small areas at a time, do one thin coat, leave 24 hours, then do another thin coat – that way there will be no color runs and it will look neat and clean.
Beware of grabbing mineral turpentine or paint thinner as it will snag on leather. Instead, spritz mild cleaner with water and rinse off any paint left on it, then polish with leather conditioner to revive and nourish it. To get a great leather item, try reupholstering with new materials or even professional dyeing (this may be time and money consuming, but not as costly as repainting).
Final Thoughts
— When your leather item is finished, it is time to seal it! Sealant is its icing on the cake, sealing it from the outside world and fixing the color.
After the sealant sets, you are ready to wear your newly painted leather piece! Remember that this could take hours or days, depending on the scale and complexity.
The following is how to get your finished leather piece just right:
Beware of Strong Cleaners: Mild soapy water can dull or color paint. Instead, go for leather cleaners or cloths.
Limit Direct Sunlight: Over time painted leather items fade just like our skin. As a way to counter this, rotate them between locations during times of not-use – that way when it is time to be used they will still look new!
