Leather chairs and sofas.

We've had our (black) leather suite for 10 years. It still looks in excellent condition with no tears or flaking leather.
Apart from having the seat pans re-filled a couple of years ago when we moved it has had nothing else done to it.
To restore the shiny look I spray it every few months with Lord Sheraton Leather Cleaner.
I still remember the day we went to purchase it... husband and I walked into the shop dressed head to toe in leathers (we were on our motorbike I hasten to add). The young salesman who looked barely old enough to be allowed out without his mummy then spent 10 minutes trying to tell us how to look after leather and explain that leather was not the same as other material.
Did he not see what we were wearing? ?

Older friends have a leather suite and they hate it. They slide off all the time! Did you know that Multi York do refurbs? My sister had hers for over twenty years then gave it a new lease of life with new cushions and covers ordered from a Multi York shop. Multi York have a selection of density of cushions. DH and I have the hardest ones and they are brilliant for my back. (And no, we've no connection with the company!)

We have had a leather suite for 11years,still looks good despite grandkids spilling things etc,all I do is wipe it down with leather wipes,found in most supermarkets.THe leather suite has outlived my friends cloth one,bought about the same time, so she is buying a leather one hopefully in the sales,we dont have pets,so unable Tto comment on that,but i think cats may be a probem

WE have had our leather suite for five years. It has withstood the GC and a cat!
I too find that I need a throw to cover the chair arms. If I’m wearing a short sleeved top, my bare arms get stuck to the leather!

I love our leather suite but we had to buy a fabric covered chair for DH as he found the leather too hot and sticky in the summer (he's always too hot even in the depths of winter - sighs of envy!!!).

I don't know if its connected to the 'grade' of leather, but a friend of mine found her cream sofas took on the hue of whatever had been on them. It made her life (and everyone else's - including her cats) a misery.

Be careful of people wearing jeans as the studs on the back pockets scratch the leather.

Well I'm probably being a daft fool but I bought two Parker Knoll leather sofas just before i got my new puppy! So far little paw nails have scrabbled on the leather to get up to me and so far no marks...hopefully this will continue!

My last suite before this leather one was purchased in 1989. Last month when the new one was due I advertised it in the Freebies section of Gumtree and the young couple who came to take it away couldn't understand why we were getting a new one. It was because my OH wanted a recliner and felt his seat was uncomfortably low since he now has two new knees. If it hadn't been for that we would still have a 28 year old (still modern looking) suite. At least there is a young couple starting out on married life who will get the benefit of it.

Our last suite was leather in a dark green,and I loved it. It withstood teenagers abusing it, the dog lying on it and general busy family life. I used lord Sheraton’s cream every couple of months,I rubbed it in and left it for a while.Then buffed it off. It did wear a little on a seam but after 15 years I wasn’t complaining.I patched it and used it for another 6 or 7 years,and only got rid when I moved house and we decided that we should renew it. I hate this fabric suite we now have and can’t wait to replace it.

Had a cream Stressless sofa and two recliners (made to measure as I like a large chair and husband likes a small snug one ! Sofa was really lovely BUT we had three cats, so it was always covered (as were the chair seats when we were not on them !) .....removed the throw on the sofa for washing .THE CAT (we know which one !) had got underneath the throw and virtually destroyed the back of the sofa .....mad was not a word sufficient enough to use ....it was only one of the cats that ever attacked it, and we would spray it with Feliway etc etc ...she never touched the chairs, only the sofa ....could have stuffed her and made a footstool ....but damage was done, and not a lot you can do ....eventually moved and sofa was too big for new house so gave it away to next door's daughter who was getting a new house and couldn't yet aford a sofa ...she said it was fine as they had no pets and the back was against the wall anyway ! ......so if you have a cat or two, BEWARE .........

I hope that all goes well with whatever you decide but may I add a word of warning? I've read in the financial pages that Multiyork are in trouble financially so do your homework.

Ski 43 Did you use Lord Sheraton leather shine? I rather like the mat effect of the original leather and just want to keep the leather supple without making it shiny.

DFS sells a product called cherish
It contains leather wipes a cream conditioner and pen ink remover (useful with young DGC).
We also paid at point of sale for an added repair insurance, so glad we did as our young DGS accidentally scrapped the leather on the armchair.
The insurance (which lasts for 10yrs) paid for the repair which completely invisible. Phew!

Cherrytree59, I just looked up cherish leather care and ended up on Secret leather sexy mens leather ... Oooh.....he's not even sexy.....sorry,...... back to caring for one's leather suite..... I don't want a shiny finish, just nourished leather.

We have had two Parker Knoll armchairs for 3 years. They are comfy and show no sign of wear. I just dust them each week. They replaced a Multiyork sofa. We had our other Multiyork sofa recovered by Plumbs as we loved it’s shape.

It was leather balsam.It does say to polish immediately whoops.Used it incorrectly for years.It does leave a slight shine. I would check out some review sites,and get a few more opinions as,my one leather chair I have now has a slight shine.

My daughter took out insurance with her suite, and when damaged by the cat it was repaired.That might be worth looking at.

We have had our leather suite over 9 years and although I have never liked the colour it has been a godsend with dogs. I have had legs put on to make it higher now. I could never have allowed the dogs on a fabric suite. A quick wipe down with a damp cloth once a week is all it needs. Luckily the cat has never scratched it. The little angel on the left of the photo is actually a 6 month old terror. Bless her.

Golly, what a great lot of really helpful information. Evertheoptomist, we will definitely smooth creases out after sitting for a while. That is really useful. Emilyharburn, that link is so informative. Espee, the store we are buying from didn’t actually mention a leather conditioner kit but we will be asking when we go back in January in the hope that they will have some discount in the sales. We missed the Black Friday one by a day! Rosina, saddle Soap brings back memories. I had forgotten about it! Thank you everyone else. I have noted the care with biro, hot cups on arms and the use of leather care cloths to help in an emergency. Also, throws which we tend to use on our fabric suite. They will still be a good idea for protection and as GoldenAge said for comfort. I am taking screen shots of all your posts to keep as reminders. Thank you all so much.

I'll go against the grain(!) here and say that I don't like leather. It's cold and cheerless-looking, to my eye and chilly and slippery to sit on.

I have sofas from M&S that are covered in a chenille fabric. They're 15yo and have at least that amount of life again left in them, I reckon. Which is quite annoying

esspee
Try DFS then cherish leather.
I just call into my local DDS store.

The conditioner is a leather protector
It does not make the leather shine
The cleaner and the leather protector are in wipe form
and come in individual sachets.

I love my leather sofa. I don't do anything special to it, it gets wiped if dgd spills something but that's about it!
I have to admit I've 'Homered' my end i.e. knackered the cushion! I have the number of a repair firm, i will definitely be getting it fixed in the new year!
I would love a deep purple chunky cord fabric sofa but it isn't practical with grandchildren I feel!

Daisy Boots, love your photo. I can see those dogs are really badly treated! Where do you sit? Probably in their dog bed!
Nohogran, we are doing just what you did. We also had our Multi York suite recovered by Plumbs (the covers wash well). Essppee, how can anyone get into such a situation just looking for leather cream?ski43 will look into that insurance idea. Lovebeigecardigans my daughter mentioned Multiyorks troubles just the other day. We are hoping to buy the Parker Knoll chairs and sofa from House of Holland. Violette, my heart bleeds for you. Did you rename your cat? If so I can guess what it was.

I always thought leather would be good with dogs, until we bought a couple of leather sofas from DFS. It could just be that the quality of the leather they use isn't very good, but after a few years both sofas were full of scratches from our little shih tzu. She doesn't have particularly sharp claws either and she has her nails clipped every 7wks and I always use my own nail file on them afterwards to make sure they are smooth, yet still she managed to ruin the sofas. When we replaced them with some fabric ones, which we have been much happier with, the charity shop who came to take away the leather sofas were in two minds about taking them when they saw the scratches on them