Leather doesn’t last forever and will begin to fade and crack if neglected or left in the sun day after day. A Natural material like leather needs to be looked after and carefully maintained. Repairing torn leather or cracked leather is one thing you can do yourself in order to extend its lifespan.
Leather cracks and tears can be repaired using a leather repair kit that contain all the necessary items required for the task. A leather repair kit contains the following items: sponge, leather glue, spatula, leather filler, colourant and leather finish.
Repairing leather can be something we do ourselves without having to fork out hundreds of dollars in order to get it repaired by professionals. I would summarize repairing leather into the following categories: repairing cuts, and repairing tears.
How to repair a small crack, scratch or cut in a leather surface
Cuts in leather are easier to repair than tears. A cut that hasn’t gone all the way through the surface of the leather is easier to fix than a tear that has gone all the way through the hide.
These are the steps you should follow to repair a scratch or cut:
- The first step is to pinch the leather together with your finger so the edges of the tear are exposed.
- Take a scalpel or knife and pour a small amount of leather glue onto the scalpel and dab it onto the 2 surfaces of the exposed cut. Do this all along the surface of the cut so that you provide enough glue to stick the leather together once dried. Once the glue is applied you can stop pinching the 2 pieces together and push the 2 sides together with your fingers or the back plastic end of your knife so that the 2 ends adhere to each other, effectively sealing the cut.
- Gently wipe away any excess glue on either side of the cut while still wet. Allow sufficient time for the glue to dry a bit before you attempt this step.
- Finally apply a colour matching to your leather in order to get the cut to match the rest of your leather. This will help the cut to blend in with the leather thereby concealing it from view.
If this procedure doesn’t work or the 2 sides of the cut don’t stick together follow below on how to repair a tear in a leather surface.
Repairing torn leather.
A tear in leather means that the leather surface has completely split open and you can see right through the leather. A small cut is easier to repair than a long tear, but they are both repairable. A tear requires a bit more effort and you will need to purchase a leather repair kit in order to complete the repair properly. Repair kits can be bought at any leather supply store or online with a quick Google search. Here is a link to Amazon for a look at repair kits they offer.
You will need to go through the following procedure step by step in order to fix the tear
- The first step in repairing a tear in leather is to prep the edges of the tear by removing any frayed edges. Remove these frayed edges with a scalpel or scissors. This will clean the edges and make it easier to hide the tear.
2. Next step is to insert or fit a sub patch. This is a piece of cloth or fabric or leather that is inserted underneath the leather tear and then glued so its sticks to the underside of the leather. You can use a tweezers in order to place the sub patch in position. The leather sub patch should ideally match the colour of the leather that you are repairing.
3. Next apply the leather glue with a spatula that comes with your repair kit. Allow enough time for the sub patch to dry, making sure that you remove any excess glue or residue around the sub patch and tear.
4. The next step, once the sub patch is dry, involves inserting the leather filler into the tear order to fill/ hide the tear. The filler, which is part of your repair kit will be applied in a number of layers and allowed to dry between each layer. The filler layers build up and makes the sub patch area level with the actual leather surface so the tear is no longer noticeable. You can use a knife or spatula to smooth off the final layer so that it is level with the leather surface.
If you are a perfectionist and the tear is in a visible area you can try to match the grain of the leather surface. You can do that with a Grain pad to manually emboss a grain onto your filler. You can also use grain repair to copy the grain in your leather surface.
5. The next step is to apply the colourant. The colourant needs to match or be as close as possible to your leather colour. The colourant is included as part of your repair kit that you purchased. A small amount will need to be placed onto a sponge and rubbed onto the filler and surrounding leather surface
to make sure its blends in as much as possible with the area around the tear. The colourant needs to be applied in multiple coats. Give each coat some time to dry before applying the next coat. Do as many coats as you need in order to hide the tear.
6. The final step is to apply the leather finish now that the colourant has been allowed to dry sufficiently. Apply the leather finish with a sponge and do as many coats as is necessary in order to ensure a great clean repair. If you have done a good job it should be quite difficult to see the tear.
In conclusion.
Repairing cracked leather might seem complicated but it is a relatively simple process if you follow the steps above. Most leather repair kits have all the items that you need to repair cuts and tears. By repairing torn leather you will be adding many years to the life of your sofas, jackets, bags and shoes. I hope you found the above information useful. Please check out my home page if you would like to learn more about leatherwork.