Product Overview
Vachetta Leather Browning Remover & Care Kit V3 by Leather Doctor cleans, rinses, pH balances, hydrates, softens, removes browning, & protects veg tan leathers.
People Also Ask:
1: What is Vachetta or Veg Tan Leather?
2: Why does Vachetta Suntan?
3: Why does Vachetta easily Develop Browning Discoloration?
4: How to Correct Vachetta Leather Browning Discoloration?
5: How to Control Vachetta Leather from Crackings?
6: How to Control Vachetta Appearance in pH Balancing and Redox Process?
7: How to Control Vachetta Softness with Strength?
8: How to Control Vachetta Structure Absorbency?
9: How to Control Vachetta Surface Scuffing?
10: How Fatliquoring Works?
11: What are the Vachetta Leather pH Balanced Cleaner 1.2 and Leather Acidifier 2.0 systems?
12: What are the Leather Hydrator 3.3 and Leather Fatliquor 5.0 systems?
13: What is Vachetta Leather Redox Treatment 2.8?
14: What is Leather Protector D?
15: How to Work with Vachetta 1.2 and Acidifier 2.0 systems?
16: How to Work with Hydrator 3.3 and Fatliquor 5.0 systems?
17: How to work with Vachetta 2.8?
18: How to work with Protector D?
1: What is Vachetta or Veg Tan Leather?
1.2: Vachetta also known as Veg Tan is a vegetable-tanned leather type that derives its pale biscuit color directly from the vegetable tannins and the skin itself, without additional color or finishes, just naked and naturally made popular by Louis Vuitton bags.
2: Why does Vachetta Suntan?
2.1: Vachetta behaves just like our light-colored skin and gets a suntan when exposed to sunlight, contrasting with other aniline-dyed leathers that fade.
2.2: Lightening the suntan is performed with Redox (oxidation-reduction) reaction treatment.
3: Why does Vachetta easily Develop Browning Discoloration?
3.1: Vachetta easily develops browning discoloration due to its pH sensitivity to alkaline solution and when neglected often suffers unsightly browning stain marks from various liquid sources.
3.2: Even clean rain or tap water often leaves a lightning spot with an outer ring.
3.3: The pH 7 alone of water will often cause a rippling effect on the tannin that destabilizes and causes it to migrate.
3.4: The higher the pH value above water the darker the browning stain becomes, a common mistake with baking soda, saddle soap, and branded harmful cleaners and conditioners ignorant user experience as discussed in this forum.
4: How to Correct Vachetta Leather Browning Discoloration?
4.1: Vachetta leather browning discoloration correction is performed in two stages, a pre-cleaning, and a post-treatment.
4.2: A pre-cleaning first is a soiling removal in combination with pH balancing the leather structure improves the appearance and returns the pH chemistry integrity to its original pH neutral of between 3 to 5.
4.3: When pre-cleaning becomes satisfactory fatliquoring must continue while the leather is damp and terry towel extraction shows dry.
4.4: Due to the physic of the 'Van de Waal Forces', when leather is wet and dry again without sufficient fat and oil to separate and lubricate between them, the fibers shrink and become stuck together, and when flex cracks.
4.5: A post-treatment with Redox (oxidation-reduction) reaction is performed after the leather is fat liquored sufficiently to about 15% of fat and oil content when dry.
5: How to Control Vachetta Leather from Crackings?
5.1: Vachetta leather that is aged, dried, or cracked should first be fat-liquored to regain softness with strength before a Redox (oxidation-reduction) reaction treatment to reverse unwanted browning discoloration.
5.2: This fatliquor conditioning precaution is to prevent any further cracking accelerated to the leather when dry.
5.3: Due to the 'Van der Waal Force' phenomenon in the drying process; the empty or insufficient fat and oil in the leather fiber structure most likely will result in stiffer leather as the fibers become stuck together.
5.4: Slower natural drying will reduce the stiffness and ill effects of insufficient fat and oil.
6: How to Control Vachetta Appearance in pH Balancing and Redox Process?
6.1: To control a resulting even appearance always feather out from the area of browning discoloration to the edge of the panel and extend to the entire article.
6.2: Achieving an even saturating appearance with soaking products will translate into a dry even appearance.
6.3: Redox or oxidation-reduction reaction treatment is always the last process after the leather is well conditioned with fatliquor.
6.4: In mild cases cleaning with a low pH of 1.2 and rinsing with a pH of 2.0 is sufficient to reduce most rings and brown water spotting.
6.5: Browning caused by a higher pH value or sun tanning will then need a redox reaction treatment that follows.
7: How to Control Vachetta Softness with Strength?
7.1: Vachetta leather by vegetable tanning, unlike the other chrome tanning types, is more susceptible to stiffness and cracks as it is characteristically more fat liquor-thirsty.
7.2: Cracking leathers are handled with care during the dry inspection and repeat fat liquoring each drying cycle water evaporates until the leather takes no more and is left to slow dry.
7.3: Surface residue cleaned up with a hydrator removes sticky residue.
7.4: Massaging, flexing, or stretching when almost dry produces a softer and stronger leather
8: How to Control Vachetta Structure Absorbency?
8.1: Vachetta structure absorbency is controlled by the amount of fat and oil in the leather structure.
8.2: Since fat and oil are VOC or volatile organic compounds, they evaporate with aging and heat, thus these empty spaces become absorbent from any liquid stains.
8.3: Fat liquor is the lifeblood of leather, keeping Vachetta periodic fat liquored not only reduces absorbed stain but prolongs the life of the leather with suppleness.
9: How to Control Vachetta Surface Scuffing?
9.1: Vachetta is naked and unfinished leather and easily scuffed, sealing the scuff and concealing scuffing repairs is performed with a draggy feel and non-stick surface protector, besides keeping it soft and strong with sufficient fat liquor.
10: How Fatliquoring Works?
10.1: Fatliquoring works by hydrating the leather structure relaxing and separating any stuck-together fibers plumping it with softness and allowing free water movements ready for fatliquoring.
10.2: In a bottle, 5/6 of the fatliquor water contents will evaporate and only leave 1/6 of the remaining fat and oil in the leather structure.
10.3: The fat plumps the leather with fullness, and the oil lubricates the fibrils like millions of interlocking hinges for sliding over one another smoothly with softness and suppleness.
10.4: Fully saturated leaving the breathing pores open when dry makes the natural leather less absorbent to liquid stains.
10.5: Fatliquor unwanted surface remnants when dry are removed with a hydrator ending the fat liquoring process.
10.6: Slow drying will produce a softer leather and flexing or massaging it while almost dry also helps in extra desired suppleness.
11: What is the Vachetta Leather pH Balanced Cleaner 1.2 and Leather Acidifier 2.0 system?
11.1: Vachetta 1.2, is a pH 1.2 cleaner for restoring Veg-Tan and Vachetta's common blotchy browning stains.
11.2: Acidifier 2.0 is a pH 2.0 rinse to control, neutralize, and pH-balance leather from denaturing to bleeding, streaking, or getting tacky.
12: What are Leather Hydrator 3.3 and Leather Fatliquor 5.0 systems?
12.1: Hydrator 3.3, relax and hydrate dry, stiff, shrunk leather, nubuck, suede, hair-on rug, woolskin, and sheepskin before fat liquoring for suppleness.
12.2: Hydrator 3.3, is also used as a surfactant cleaner to remove unwanted surface fat and oil after fat liquoring.
12.3: Fatliquor 5.0 is a pH 5.0 ionic negative (-ve) charged micro-emulsion of fat, oil, and water conditioner for softening leather and suede when dry.
13: What is Vachetta Leather Redox Treatment 2.8?
13.1: Vachetta 2.8 is a Redox (oxidation-reduction) reaction treatment for lightening sun-darkening, UV lighting, and water-browning stains.
14: What is Leather Protector D?
14.1: Protector D is a non-film-forming, protective conditioner that enhances a natural draggy feel, with a nonstick breathable barrier to shield the detrimental effects of sticky soiling.
15: How to Work with Vachetta 1.2 and Acidifier 2.0 systems?
15.1: Vachetta 1.2 is applied and worked with a lint-free folding towel with detail brushing accordingly and feathering out to the edge of the panel changing folding sides as soiling shows.
15.2: Even product absorption is observed for a desired appearance when dry.
15.3: Acidifier 2.0 is applied and worked accordingly as above with towel extraction until the new folding sides show clean again with an even appearance before hydrating.
16: How to Work with Hydrator 3.3 and Fatliquor 5.0 systems?
16.1: Hydrator 3.3 is applied and worked by towel padding or brushing accordingly with towel extraction until new folding sides show clean.
16.2: Hydrator 3.3 is again applied to plump with massaging, staking, flexing or stretching, and towel extraction until the new folding sides are dry.
16.3: Fatliquor 5.0 is applied, towel padded, and brushed into the leather to plump softness and let it dry.
16.4: Fatliquor 5.0 is repeatedly applied each cycle the water content dries until the last application when the leather absorbs no more ends the repeat application, and the leather is left for slow drying.
16.5: Fatliquor 5.0 remnant if any is driven into the leather or wiped off with Hydrator 3.3 and left to dry before redox treatment.
17: How to work with Vachetta 2.8?
17.1: Vachetta 2.8 is applied over the dried surface and towel padded saturating evenly without a dry edge to avoid blotchiness or drying marks and left to dry for an oxidation-reduction reaction to take effect.
17.2: The appearance is inspected during treatment or after drying and may be repeated accordingly.
17.3: After dry inspection, any surface residue is wiped away with Hydrator 3.3 and let to dry again for a satisfactory inspection, otherwise repeat.
18: How to work with Protector D?
18.1: Protector D is applied and spread out with a lint-free towel let dry and the leather is ready to use.
Your opinions and insights are precious and will help us to improve our writing and solve your leather problem more efficiently.
Updated Aug 19, 2024. by Roger Koh.