PEELING LEATHER

How do you tackle peeling leather? There is a solution but it will always have drawbacks!

From experience I know whatever causes the peeling (also known as de-lamination) theres a chance it's going to happen again due to the flex of the leather during useage.
It's all about managing your customers expectations and giving no guaruntee, consider that you don't want a problem you didn't create becoming your responsibility down the line.

What causes peeling on genuine leather?

It can be a variety of causes

1. The pigment coating hasn't been bonded correctly to the leather during the tanning/finishing process, quite simply the pigment isn't stretching with the leather and pulls away from the surface.

2. From time to time I have seen pigment peeling off aniline leather, again at the tannery they may be left with odd aniline hides which they spray with pigment to make up a batch, the oil or wax content within the aniline leather can contaminate the pigment and cause it to peel.

3. Some delamination slightly crumbles or peels leaving a cleaner version of itself underneath, this is most probably the clear sealant breaking down due to wear, dirt and lack of care routine.

How do we tackle it?

If its the pigment or sealant is peeling, sand back as much as possible until it peels no more.
Clean the area using a water based cleaner, rinse using solvent prep cleaner.
Apply bonder using a cotton bud or finger cloth the smooth over the edges and adhere it down to the surface, this is a slow painstaking process but necessary.
Re-color and seal if required.

Why is the repair likely to be short term?

Not all repairs will fail but its likely to be a high percentage.
The problem is the peeling starts from underneath the pigment, we can only repair from the top of the pigment.
The area will always remain fairly unstable, when leather is flexing during useage it puts a lot of stress on the pigment which simply can't hold on to the leather forever.

If you have any technical leather problems, contact Jackie Roberts - Head technical advisor for Buffalo Products.
contact@buffaloleather.co.uk