Red Stain on Leather

[Togorashi]

I went to Fry`s recently on a hot August Day. When I got back to my car, I threw my bag of gizmos in the passenger seat. When I got home, I picked up the bag and noticed that the red Fry`s lettering had imprinted on to my seat. It was horrifying, but I assumed it would come up easily. After all, most bags are made with vegetable dyes and such. Not this one. One problem was that I was on my way out of town. So the stain in question, didn`t get attention for a couple weeks.



When I did get around to it, I used Leather Masters Strong Cleaner and a white 3M pad. It did NOTHING. Any ideas?





http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/mckinneyjs/Tahoe/IMG_0378.jpg



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/mckinneyjs/Tahoe/IMG_0386.jpg



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/mckinneyjs/Tahoe/IMG_0388.jpg

[Quality Leather]

You will have to try something a little stronger. Dilute some alcohol with water 50/50. Put some on a rag and try to wipe it off.

[judyb]

Dye transfer can be tricky and the longer it is on the leather the harder it will be to remove.

There are stronger detergent cleaners than LM Strong Cleaner around that have been specifically formulated for this problem. If these don`t work then it is not a cleaning problem and becomes a more technical one where solvent based products need to be used. These generally damage the finish on the leather along with removing the dye and will then need replacing.

[Eliot Ness]

I posted your pictures so they would show up in case anyone else has some ideas:



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/mckinneyjs/Tahoe/IMG_0378.jpg



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/mckinneyjs/Tahoe/IMG_0386.jpg



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/mckinneyjs/Tahoe/IMG_0388.jpg

[JasonS]

I have heard that hairspray can work to remove ink stains from leather and even red stains. Use with caution and always try a small inconspicuous area first.

[judyb]

Hairspary can make the matter much worse and should be used with extreme caution. If it makes the dye `bleed` you will have a much worse stain to get rid of.If cleaning processes do not work then you would have to contact a qulaified technician to remove and recolour if necessary unless you feel confident about doing this yourself.

[Togorashi]

I posted your pictures so they would show up in case anyone else has some ideas:





Thanks. Maybe because I`m new, the pictures won`t post. It worked when I previewed the post, but they didn`t go through.





EDIT: Got them to work. Just a problem with the photobucket HTML code I guess.

[Togorashi]

Dye transfer can be tricky and the longer it is on the leather the harder it will be to remove.

There are stronger detergent cleaners than LM Strong Cleaner around that have been specifically formulated for this problem. If these don`t work then it is not a cleaning problem and becomes a more technical one where solvent based products need to be used. These generally damage the finish on the leather along with removing the dye and will then need replacing.



Any products that you can recommend? I`ve never seen any.

[Togorashi]

You will have to try something a little stronger. Dilute some alcohol with water 50/50. Put some on a rag and try to wipe it off.



I`ll give that a shot. Thanks.

[Togorashi]

Diluted alcohol was unsuccessful. No change.

[judyb]

If you have tried the diluted alcohol and there is no change then the dye would appear to have travelled into the finish quite quickly. We have a 5 step process that we use so that we remove the dye with the least damage to the finish.



The next stage after the alcohol, would be a product that combines a solvent and a cleaner (something like Remover 1) and then if this does not work a strong solvents (acetone based) will n be the only thing that will shift it if at all. These will also damage the finish or remove pigment which will need replacing so you will at some stage need to get a colour mixed to match and some high quality finish.

[Irkie500]

one easy way to attempt at getting that out is use a Mr. Clean magic eraser, it amazes me every time i use it at work. Make sure to apply some spray on leather cleaner or soap and water, some type of lubricant helps the process. The eraser removes black marks on vinyl as well.

[judyb]

Magic Erasers should not be used for cleaning leather (particularly on stains like this) as in removing the stain you will damage the finish on the leather which will need replacing. They alright to use as part of a restoration process when you would be using finish anyway but should not be used for cleaning.

[Irkie500]

so are you saying you can use it as long as you condition or treat the vinyl afterward?

[imported_Jakerooni]

I`ve never had any problems ever using a magic earser on any leather I`ve ever cleaned. And I do them almost on a daily basis. You just have to know how to use them. If you get real aggressive you can definatly take the coating off... About like getting aggressive with sandpaper on your paint... If you condition the leather afterwards you`d never know what you used (mild or abrassive) You have to have some common sense about it though. Can`t just go in all heavy and then whine and complain about damage you did...



FWIW I use emlusifiers for ink on leather. They can take out permenent ink in seconds like it was never there. Uber expensive though. (I paid about $250/bottle for mine) but saves me all sorts of time and headaches.