They look awesome, smell amazing and are luxurious all around, and that is why leather sofas are so incredibly popular. Yet, the couch in a family room is ultimately where adults and children will lapse into mundane activities like drinking, removing nail polish, and applying hand lotion. While we might try in the beginning to prohibit members of the family from doing anything other than rest on the sofa, time passes, and we all pretty much give in.

In fact, it would be a shame in a sense to try and keep the sofa “off limits”, as it is a prominent participant in daily life. Considering a leather couch is a piece of furniture that many people intend to keep for several decades, being on our best behavior is not truly feasible for the duration. Babies will need to be given formula on it, toddlers will place markers on it, teens will be over zealous when smacking the ketchup bottle on it, and fully grown wives will paint their nails while sitting on it.

No point in becoming exasperated each and every time someone takes a chance on it. Instead, the best thing to do is learn what can and can’t be cleaned off of it, what damage can be repaired, and how these things are accomplished. I have been faced with several leather mishaps, and received many a call and email about such calamities. Some of the stories behind how these accidents occurred have been comical, others bizarre to say the least. But in the end no one is exempt from that moment of despair, and desperation to undo what has gone wrong.

Which leads me to my next point. Aside from the mishaps, there are also the unfortunate souls who have caused injury to their leather seats when cleaning them. Some have done additional damage while trying to reverse the results of a spill, and others were just following another’s incorrect advice on how to maintain, or moisturize it.

Be proactive, and request information on how to care for the sofas from the seller, and then ACTUALLY read those instructions. For the main thing to know is all leather couches are not the same, and so relying upon word of mouth could get you into a heap of trouble.