Frequently Ask Questions:
1: Why Product in Concentrate?
2: What is Leather?
3: What is pH?
4: What is the pH of Leather?
5: What is Leather-Safe?
6: What is the Suffix Name Represent?
7: How to Identify Leather Stains?
8: In which region(s) do you operate?
9: Which sectors/industries do you serve?
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1: Why Product in Concentrate?
1.1: Concentrate product has an indefinite shelf life.
1.2: Reduces freezing damages,
1.3: Reduces handling damages,
1.4: Save on shipping weight,
1.5: Easily mixed with distilled water before use.
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2: What is Leather?
2.1: Leather is derived from the skins and hides of animals preserved by tanning, softened by fatliquoring followed by dyeing and coloring.
2.2: Leather is naturally acidic and pH-sensitive and denatures when an alkaline solution comes in contact.
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3: What is pH?
3.1: pH is a unit of measure that ranges from 0 to 14 indicating the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a liquid product.
3.2: A liquid product with a pH value less than 7 is considered acidic, a pH higher than 7 is known as base or alkaline and a pH of 7 is neutral.
3.3: The pH scale is logarithmic, for example, if product A is 1 pH less than product B, it means that product A is 10 times more acidic than product B.
3.4: A difference of 1 pH value represents a ten-fold difference in acidity.
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4: What is the pH of Leather?
4.1: The average pH value of leather ranges from 3 to 5.
4.2: Vegetable-tanned has a lower pH point than chrome-tanned leather.
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5: What is Leather-Safe?
5.1: A leather-safe product has a pH value range from 3 to 5.
5.2: Any harmful pH value above or below the pH neutral of leather that comes in contact needs pH balanced to its pH neutral of 3 to 5 from adverse side effects like becoming tacky, bleeding, and stiffness when dry.
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6: What is the Suffix Name Represent?
6.1: The product name suffix represents its pH value, an example Acidifier 2.0 has a pH value of 2.0, meaning a low acidic product meant to pH balance or neutralize the common harmful alkaline soiling or cleaning products to return the leather to its pH neutral of 3 to 5.
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7: How to Identify Leather Stains?
Leather Stains are identified by: Appearance, Odor, Color, Feel-of-Hand, Location, and Buildup or Absorbed!
7.1: Appearance
7.2: Stain identification by appearance will show whether it is characteristic of a spill, rub-on, penetrated or deposited.
7.3: Stain may also reveal dye or finish damages caused by the stain.
7.4: Odor
7.5: Odor-by-smell identification can be helpful in positive stain identification.
7.6: Odors from moldy, smoke, putrid, or ammonia from urine are common odors identified by smell.
7.7: Color
7.8: Color stain identification will also give a clue to the staining stuff.
7.9: Color stains from beverages, nail polish, lipstick, blood, or others could all appear red.
7.10: Color identification may not be right with time and oxidization, a red bloodstain may turn from tan to black.
7.11: Color of the leather may mesmerize or alter the appearance of the stain.
7.12: Feel of Hand
7.13: Feel-of-hand stain identification may help determine the stain types.
7.14: Feel sticky and appear red as a candy, beverage, or sugar substance.
7.15: Feel brittle and stiff could be a nail polish, shellac, or paint stain.
7.16: Feel the smear by hand could be a grease-base stain as lipstick.
7.17: Location
7.18: Location may give a clue as to the makeup of the staining substance in visual inspection and identification.
7.19: Location on the headrest and armrest of furniture is common with dark stains from body oil, grease, and sweat.
7.20: Buildup or Absorbed
7.21: Stains may take several appearances.
7.22: Stains accumulate mostly on top of non-absorbent pigmented leathers.
7.23: Stains are mostly absorbed on unfinished, Vachetta, aniline, and nubuck leathers.
7.24: Stains can also be combined, absorbed, and built up.
7.25: Stains absorbed indicate it was a liquid before it penetrated the leather.
7.26: Stains that are liquid stain may have chemically changed, destabilized the leather chemistry integrity, and altered its appearance.
7.27: Example of sweat stains often react with absorbent leathers and denature them.
7.28: Examples of stains affecting the tanning agent that manifest as tackiness when dry and sliminess when wet are detected by the feel of the hand.
7.29: Examples of stains affecting the dyestuff occur when color appears during wet wiping with a white absorbent towel.
7.30: Examples of stains affecting the fat liquored fat and oil leaching out as a milky film known as spew, the leather becomes stiff, loses its tensile strength, and cracks when stressed.
7.31: In any event, the leather may show a marked color change in that area after spotting, and possibly after cleaning.
7.32: Examples of built-up stains include paint and some foodstuff, etc.
7.33: Examples of absorbed stains include beverages, wine, tea, coffee, etc.
7.34: Examples of combination stains include lipstick, ink, mustard, etc.
7.35: Most absorbed stains will have part of their staining stuff absorbed into the leather and part accumulated on its surface.
7.36: A stain may also be a substance that has wet solvent-soluble and dry solvent-soluble components combined.
7.37: Examples of a compound stain would be gravy which contains grease, flour (from a plant), and milk (from an animal).
7.38: Examples of paint-type stains are readily detected because of their stiff nature and generally bright colors and they seem to be sitting on top of the leather.
7.39: When identifying stains always try to determine whether they are of a protein, cellulose, oil-based, or a colloidal make-up in nature.
7.40: Three common types of soiling or stain are solvent-soluble, water-soluble, and insoluble.
7.41: Stains are often of a combination in nature, and in most instances, there will be no information regarding the stain especially if they are bought used.
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8: In which region(s) do you operate?
8.1: We operate from Vancouver, Canada, North America, and sell worldwide through our online store: www.LeatherDoctor.com
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9: Which sectors or industries do you serve?
9.1: We serve the Leather Care industry including Leather Car Interior, Leather Furnishing, Upholstery, handbags, Garments, Boots, Hair-on Rugs, Equestrian, and Leather Accessories.
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For further reference about other people who uses Leather Doctor Products, with step by step explanations and leather problem discussion, you may visit our Technical Help & Support Forum.
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Your opinions and insights are precious and will help us solve your leather problem more efficiently.
Edited January 3, 2025 by Roger Koh.