Furniture Clinic White Leather Dye & Recoloring Balm - Restore Scratched, Faded Leather on Couches, Car Seats & Furniture - Perfect for Home, Office & Auto Interior Repair

UPDATE 01/2025I still enjoy using this product! The cleaner especially is my go-to for a deep penetrating clean, and since my original review I have purchased a few more colors! I’ve used the kit and coloring balm on leather furniture (now 2 old Ekorness chairs), touching up my leather couch cushions, some leather purses I’ve come across, etc…All in all, the kit itself is worth having around if you are one who cleans/treats your leather items or if you’re like myself and simply enjoy bringing some life back into aged, dried out leather.One thing I did not mention in my earlier review was that unlike leather dye, the balm can be removed if you feel it’s not the right color - making the act of diving into the project so much easier to do!Another thing to point out, is that this is not designed to change the color of your leather - it’s designed to clean, condition and restore areas that have lost color over the years due to wear, sun, etc.. To change it, you’ll need a much different approach… so as long as your expectations are clear, you’ll be fine!One last thing, is to do a water drop test on your leather. If it absorbs a drop of water, you are not likely to have any issues with this kit.Furniture Clinic will continue to be my go-to! I’m slowly adding new colors to my collection as needed and while I do like having the choice of buying just the balm, I’d love to see an attractively priced 3 pack of one color family offered, for example Dark Brown, Brown, & Light Brown.Either way, I will continue to use and personally recommend them to anyone looking to clean up and bring some life back into their leather goods.ORIGINAL 05/2024I really enjoy thrifting and have seen so many really nice leather products over the years that unfortunately show obvious signs they have not been well taken care of over in the hot, dry climate we live in.That said, I recently found a vintage Ekorness Stressless Reclining chair that I have dated to bring nearly 30 years old. While beautifully aged in some spots, there were even more problem areas too so my first priority was to get it clean and conditioned and second priority to address the color.I was torn between using this over dye, but ultimately decided to use this kit because it’s both affordable and easy to apply. Had the leather been better cared for over its lifetime, I would have gone with dye, ultimately requiring a different budget and approach.First, I love the cleaning solution. It’s pretty darn powerful! You do want to apply enough so that when you squish the sponge it creates a foam to apply. I found that while I wanted to cleans large section first then wipe, it’s better to clean in small section, wipe, then move to the next section. For me, even though I felt like I was using the right amount, it dries really quick. For any dirt/grime to effectively be wiped awa, there must still be foam.The balm reminds me of like a silky-soft-butter - it applies nice and smooth! I again ran into some issues with it drying too quickly through and after some some back and forth. For me, I found it easiest to use a tongue depressor stick to scoop out maybe 2 tablespoons or so of the balm onto the pad, work it onto the leather in a circular motion, then repeat. Dipping the pad into the container was messier and led to inconsistent application.The color overall is nice! I would recommend applying when you have access to either bright consistent lighting or natural lighting without direct sunlight. I started working on it in my sunroom, however I found that the shadows being created as the sun moved by throughout the day kept messing with me thinking I had an uneven application .I find it’s easier to work in a separate room with two large photography lights.My only gripe, is that I wish the kit came with a large sponge for the cleaner, a small sponge for the conditioner, and 3 pads (for wiping away dirt, for applying color, and for buffing). As is, my kit came with 1 sponge and 1 pad.