How we brought 20-year-old leather back to life

I’ve been dreaming of a big, cozy leather chair in our house for years now. Something like the one Carrie Bradshaw had in her bedroom (the one Aiden made). A spot to read and ponder and snuggle kids and maybe even nap. So I was thrilled when I found the chair on Craislist…for A STEAL! The posting was for a “well loved” Pottery Barn leather couch and club chair for $30 (the very kind seller ended up throwing in the matching ottoman for an extra $10). What a deal, right?!

The furniture is apparently part of Pottery Barn’s Manhattan collection made by Mitchell Gold (according to a couple of folks on IG). It’s over 20 years old but still in pretty good shape. I personally love the look of the vintage leather (prefer it to new) and this leather’s patina was good, but it definitely needed some cleaning and conditioning. When I shared the chairs on IG I was flooded with suggestions for this conditioner, and I decided to give it a try. The results blew me away!

Before we get to the conditioner, here’s a look at the before of the chair and ottoman. For the record, it was 4-year-old Daphne who scratched that game of tic-tac-toe on the ottoman 😏

Here’s the product we used...

Buy Leather CPR

Leather CPR is REALLY simple to use. To apply, I used a clean, soft sponge and rubbed plenty of the product in. I let it sit for 1-2 minutes, then rubbed the leather down with the sponge again. Lastly, I went over it with a clean, soft cloth. The whole process took about 5 minutes.

The results were instant. Here’s what the leather looked like after Leather CPR.

jute rug, sandals, jeans

What game of tic-tac-toe?!

The leather is definitely still worn and the deep scratches still show (I call that character ;), but instantly the color was richer and the variation less intense. It’s like the leather drank it’s water, took its collagen, dabbed on it's moisturizer, and came away with a healthy, fresh-faced glow.