What Damages Leather, and How Do You Protect It?

What damages leather? Sun, heat, body oils, water, and the wrong conditioner. They pull the moisture out of leather, so it fades, stiffens, and starts to crack, and the stitching fails first. To protect it, use a 4-in-1 like Doc Bailey's Leather Black, Leather Clear, or Leather Tonic, which cleans and conditions with lanolin and leaves a protective wax on the surface in one application. Clean it, condition it with lanolin, and seal it with a dry wax.

Good leather is an investment. A leather sofa, a car interior, a motorcycle seat and saddlebags, a saddle, a good handbag or jacket. Good leather is worth protecting. It keeps the weather out, it lasts longer than most synthetics, and on a motorcycle it can save your skin in a fall. Reupholstering or replacing any of them costs real money. Here is what is hurting your leather and how to stop it.

Key Takeaways

• Sun and heat dry leather out. Dry leather stiffens, fades, and starts to crack.
• Body oils, sweat, and water work into the pores and wear leather out at the arms, headrests, and seats first.
• Animal-fat conditioners like mink oil go rancid and feed mold and mildew. Silicone products use harsh solvents that rob leather of moisture.
• Stitching fails first. Lanolin conditioning plus a protective wax stops stitch-rot before it starts.
• Doc Bailey's does the whole job in one application. It is lanolin-based, silicone-free, and made in the USA.

What damages leather the most?

Drying. Leather is tanned, but it still holds moisture inside, and that moisture keeps it soft and bendable. Anything that pulls it out, the sun, heat, water, or harsh solvents, starts the leather on the road to cracking.

What does the sun do to leather?

The heat and the sun pull the moisture out. The leather stiffens, the color fades to gray or brown, and it starts to crack. A sofa by a sunny window, a car seat, a car dash, or a bike seat that lives outside takes the worst of it.

Do body oils and sweat damage leather?

Yes. The oil from your skin, sweat, hair, and grease can stain leather and work against the tanning. That is why a sofa arm, a recliner headrest, a steering wheel, or a jacket collar wears out before the rest of the piece. Regular cleaning lifts it out before it builds up.

What does water do to leather?

Rain and spills soak into the fibers and make them swell. As the leather dries, it loses its natural oils along with the water. Each soak leaves it a little drier and stiffer. A wax layer on the surface keeps the water off the leather in the first place.

Can the wrong conditioner hurt leather?

It can. Traditional conditioners are built on animal fats like mink oil, and animal fat goes rancid. Rancid fat is what mold and mildew feed on, which is why leather put away for a season can come out covered in it.

Silicone-based protectants cause a different problem. The harsh solvents they use to clean rob moisture from leather and vinyl and speed up cracking. They also leave a sticky, slimy, slick finish that grabs dirt and dust, and on a motorcycle seat that slick finish is the last thing you want. Read more in Is Silicone Bad for Leather?

Doc Bailey's conditions with lanolin from sheep's wool, which never goes rancid, and it is silicone-free. Here is why lanolin works so well on leather.

Why does leather fail at the stitching first?

The thread dries out and the elements break it down. Dry leather also shrinks and pulls on its own stitches. Keep the leather conditioned with lanolin so it stays supple, and keep a protective wax on the thread, and you stop stitch-rot before it starts.

How do you protect leather from all of this?

Clean it, condition it, and protect it, and do it in one application so nothing fights anything else. The old way took a separate cleaner, a separate conditioner, and a separate protector, and they were never built to work together. Doc Bailey's started in a saddle shop in 1991 to fix that. Each formula is a 4-in-1 that does the whole job at once and dries to the touch with no stickiness or residue. Here are the four jobs it does:

1. Clean to open the pores and lift the dirt out.
2. Condition so the lanolin oil can flow into the open pores and soften the leather.
3. Restore the hide (Leather Black also restores the black color with its black dye).
4. Protect with natural waxes that lock the oils in.

Leather Black cleans, conditions, re-dyes, and waterproofs black leather in one application. Leather Clear cleans, conditions, protects, and waterproofs in one application. Leather Tonic cleans, conditions, restores, and protects in one application. Pick the one that fits your leather:

• Leather Clear cleans, conditions, protects, and waterproofs leather of any color, including white, multicolor, and exotic skins. It leaves a soft satin finish with no color change, so it is the pick for sofas, recliners, car interiors, and handbags.
• Leather Black cleans, conditions, re-dyes, and waterproofs black leather. It brings faded black motorcycle seats, saddlebags, jackets, car seats, and black sofas back to a deep black, and it does a great job on black vinyl, rubber trim, and canvas too.
• Leather Tonic cleans, conditions, restores, and protects high-gloss leathers, saddles, tack, boots, and dress shoes, and leaves a dry high gloss.

Every Doc Bailey's formula is made in the USA and backed by an unconditional money-back guarantee. Leather Black and Leather Clear have been demonstrated at Sturgis and Daytona Bike Week, and Leather Tonic, the original formula, at horse shows and rodeos, for over 35 years.

For furniture, see How Do You Protect Leather Upholstery From Stains and Spills? For car and truck seats, read How to Keep Leather Seats From Cracking.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main cause of leather damage?

The sun and drying. Heat and sunlight pull the moisture out of leather, so it stiffens, fades, and starts to crack. Body oils, water, and rancid conditioners make it worse.

Is mink oil bad for leather?

Mink oil is an animal fat, and animal fat goes rancid. Rancid fat is what mold and mildew feed on. Doc Bailey's conditions with lanolin from sheep's wool, which never goes rancid.

Why is silicone bad for leather?

The harsh solvents silicone products use to clean rob moisture from leather and vinyl and speed up cracking. Doc Bailey's is silicone-free.

Can I protect leather without making it sticky or slippery?

Yes. Doc Bailey's is silicone-free and dries to the touch with no stickiness or residue. All you feel is soft, clean leather, and a motorcycle seat stays safe to sit on.

How do I protect a leather sofa?

Treat it with Leather Clear. It cleans, conditions, protects, and waterproofs any color of leather with no color change, and leaves a wax layer that keeps spills and body oils out of the leather.

How often should I treat my leather?

Condition every 3 months to restore and maintain correct conditioning. That goes for sofas, car seats, motorcycle seats, saddlebags, jackets, boots, saddles, and tack.