Recolouring a club chair

The leather Club chair, a symbol of elegance and refinement, embodies a true art of living. With its generous shapes and timeless look, it evokes the comfort of old-fashioned living rooms and stands out for the quality of its leather, aged over time.

However, like all leather furniture, it can lose its luster over the years. Regular maintenance and well-thought-out restoration are essential to preserve its original charm.

Among the restoration methods, dye and tinted wax spray stand out as a practical and effective solution to revive the color of a Club chair, while restoring that famous patina that gives it all its charm.
Easy to use, they allow you to give a new life to leather faded by the sun and wear.

Our products for dyeing your genuine leather Club chair

What characterizes a leather Club chair?

The leather Club chair stands out for its robust structure and its smooth full-grain leather, usually thick, which develops a natural patina over time.
This patina, marked by color nuances and a slightly worn appearance, is what gives the Club chair its charm.
However, while this natural patina is sought after, excessive wear can dull the overall appearance of the piece. Friction, exposure to the sun, and stains can contribute to fading the original color's brightness.

Why consider recoloring a Club chair?

As mentioned earlier, over time, leather can fade or wear, especially if it hasn't been regularly maintained. Dry, torn, or cracked leather will lose its shine and suppleness, making the chair less attractive and comfortable. Recoloring not only restores the chair’s aesthetic but also prolongs its lifespan.

Indeed, leather recoloring revives faded colors and restores the chair to its original look, or even allows you to choose a more contemporary shade while respecting the vintage essence of the furniture. It's also an opportunity to repair small imperfections in the leather, such as scratches, while providing additional protection.

Preparation and product selection for recoloring your Club chair

As long as you thoroughly clean your leather beforehand with our Leather Stain Remover, you can directly apply our Tinted Wax or Leather Dye. These two aerosol-based products will leave a non-opaque layer of color and revive the original shade.

• The Tinted Wax is more for maintenance than recoloring. It deposits a protective wax-based film, into which we have introduced a small amount of dye. It’s ideal for protecting the leather from friction and reviving the color.
  
  
• The Leather Dye cannot be used on its own. It will require several successive layers of Protective Wax. However, the Leather Dye in an aerosol can be applied directly to simply cleaned leather. The dye’s color will deposit a non-opaque layer, darker or lighter depending on how much you apply to the treated areas.

Since Sofolk Protective Wax and Leather Dye are not 100% opaque, they allow the leather's defects to show through. Stains, cracks, and initially visible imperfections will be, at best, softened but never hidden.
If you want to cover permanent stains or repair cracks and fissures in the leather, you will need to opt for a complete leather renovation kit for Club chairs. This will ensure a flawless final result.

Here’s the procedure to follow for recoloring, preceded by leather repair.

Step 1: Leather preparation

Before starting, it's essential to prepare the surface properly:

1. Lightly sand the leather with an appropriate abrasive sponge to remove the original varnish.
2. Then clean with acetone to dissolve sanding and varnish residues, and degrease effectively.

Step 2: Leather repair

Repair using our vegetable leather repair products to smooth imperfections.

Step 3: Opaque recoloring with Pigment Recoloring

To cover the previously repaired areas, it's absolutely necessary to apply several layers of opaque paint: Sofolk Pigment Recoloring.
The Pigment Recoloring shade should be lighter than the Leather Dye applied in step 4.
At this point, your entire Club chair (or sofa) is uniformly recolored.

Step 4: Recreating nuances with aerosol dye

The aerosol dye allows you to create the much-desired patina effect by playing with color nuances and intensity.
For an aged effect, you can shade certain areas of the chair by applying more or less dye, thus recreating the natural patina effect.
Spray the dye all over, focusing more on specific areas to create a nuanced effect.

Step 5: Finishing and protection

Once the dye is applied and the chair is completely dry, it’s essential to protect the new color with our Protective Wax. This will enhance the leather’s resistance to wear and daily friction while ensuring optimal durability for your recoloring.

Finally, a nourishing treatment will help maintain the leather’s suppleness and prevent drying. Regularly apply our Leather Nourishing Oil to ensure your chair retains its original shine and beauty.

Recoloring a leather Club chair is a simple and accessible solution to revive this iconic piece of furniture. By using a quality aerosol dye, like the ones we offer, you can bring the color of your chair back to life while respecting its vintage patina look.

Note that dyeing an ordinary leather sofa is done with a few slight differences, which you can discover in the corresponding section.

Leather care should never be neglected, and with the right products, you can preserve and enhance your Club chair for many years to come. Supple leather = strong leather = good durability!

Useful links

FAQ Degrease the leather  How to dye leather?  Tips for renovating leather without coloration  How do I paint on leather?  Is it possible to change the colour of leather?  How to recognize real leather?