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Almost every leather cleaning mistake comes from treating the wrong type. There are three broad categories, they behave completely differently, and a drop of water will tell you which one you own.
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Leather
Put a single drop of water on a hidden area — the back of the frame, under a cushion, the inside of an arm. If it beads and sits on the surface, the leather is pigmented and carries a protective topcoat. If it darkens the leather and absorbs within a few seconds, it is aniline. If it absorbs slowly and partially, it is semi-aniline. Wipe it off either way. That ten-second test determines the entire cleaning approach.
This is the most common leather in family furniture. A pigmented finish is a coloured surface coating over the hide, which makes it durable, stain-resistant and forgiving to clean. It wears by losing that coating rather than by staining, so the failure you see is colour loss at the arms, head roll and seat front rather than dark marks. Pigmented leather tolerates proper cleaning well and responds visibly to conditioning.
Aniline leather is dyed through with no protective topcoat, which is why it feels warm and natural and shows the grain of the hide. It also absorbs everything: water spots, body oil, spilled drinks, dye from clothing. Cleaning aniline requires minimal moisture and an even approach across a whole panel, because any wet patch treated in isolation will leave a boundary. Semi-aniline has a light topcoat and sits between the two, tolerating more but still absorbing readily.
Nubuck and suede have a raised nap and cannot be wet cleaned in place at all; they need specialist dry methods. Bonded leather is not leather in any meaningful sense but shredded hide fibre bonded to a backing with polyurethane, and it delaminates with age regardless of care. If a sofa is peeling in flakes rather than wearing thin, it is bonded, and no cleaning or conditioning will stop the process.
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