Leather Scratch Repair for Handbags and Shoes You’ll Want to Keep Handy

How many times have you bought an expensive leather handbag or pair of gorgeous leather shoes only to notice that you somehow marred their beauty with a scratch? Though you can’t remove that damage, there is a way to disguise the flaw with leather scratch repair for handbags and shoes that can help return the beauty to those leather items.

Please keep in mind that the type of leather matters for leather scratch repair of handbags and shoes to even belts and wallets. You can’t try this method on handbags or shoes that have a buttery soft leather. What I am about to share with you is in regard to the tougher type of leather, preferably without a textured grain that you typically have for briefcases to leather shoes.

To begin with, I always found it is better to clean the outside surface with a mild detergent or a leather cleaner and throughly dry. You don’t have to do this, but do wipe off dust or grime that may have accumulated that could hinder the leather repair.

Next, I just take a soft cloth and some olive oil just like a leather conditioner. You can use anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon to lubricate your cloth. I like to use less than more because you can always add extra olive oil later if you run out.

Take the treated olive oil cloth and start rubbing over the scratch using small, circular motions as you go. I want to clarify that the olive oil will gradually soak into a heavier leather to condition it, but will ruin those soft buttery handbags so keep this in mind. This leather fix works best on lighter scratches over deeper ones for help with hiding them.

In that case of more severe, deep scratches, you need another leather scratch repair method. What can help with this particular problem is picking up a leather dye. However, you just don’t want to jump in applying it with your soft cloth immediately. It always is a wise idea to test how the product works in a less conspicuous area first to see how the leather reacts. If the leather doesn’t appear worse for doing so, then go ahead and apply some for use.

To finish that leather repair, you will want to use another clean soft cloth with some neutral leather polish that could fortify the placement of the dye much more than going without.

You can also use a small amount of petroleum jelly in the same way as leather conditioner to help seal in the dye or just to help the appearance of minor scratches on heavier leathers as well. It also will give the leather a nice shine.