Ongoing maintenance of your leather furniture is the only way to prevent it from peeling and cracking. Real leather will peel and crack as it dries out. Leather conditioners are a great way to protect your leather furniture from drying out, and you’ll need to apply it about twice each year. It’s also a good idea to keep abrasive materials away from your leather to prevent cracking and peeling, including belt buckles, shoes, and multi-surface cleaners, especially those that contain alcohol.
It is usually worth repairing leather furniture, as it tends to retain its value, provided you care for the material. A typical repair for leather furniture will cost about $250, which is significantly more affordable than replacing the furniture entirely. Even if you spend toward the upper end of the typical cost range for a full reupholstering—around $4,000—you’ll still save money over replacing it. Of course, the quality of the leather and the piece of furniture matters. Consult a leather repair professional about whether it’s worth repairing your leather furniture.
If your couch is damaged, you are not out of options. You might try fixing it on your own, bring in a furniture repair specialist, or opt to get rid of it responsibly. Depending on its condition, you could donate, sell, recycle, or drop it off at a local scrap facility.
Paying to reupholster a piece of furniture means you want to hire the right upholstery service, especially for a piece that’s expensive or carries a lot of sentimental value. In your search for the right upholstery company, be sure to:
Ask around to see if friends or family know of any upholsterers
Find reviews of the company or individual
Look at the photo gallery of their work to see if they work on furniture like yours and if you like their work
Check qualifications and references
Ask the upholstery service if they work on furniture like yours, what their schedule looks like, how they handle payments, and how long the job will take
When deciding whether to reupholster, repair, or replace old furniture, consider its age, level of wear and tear, and overall value. It’s usually better to repair old furniture because older pieces tend to be made out of hardwood, like oak and maple, whereas newer furniture is more often made out of plywood, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and other less durable materials. When determining whether it’s worth the price to repair a furniture item, calculate the price of buying a new, similar piece and compare that to quotes from local furniture repair services.
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