Repairing Leather Jackets and BagsRepairing surface scratches in your bi-cast leather

             Jacket have surface scratches?  Did your purse rub against the doorway when you entered a room and get light colored scratches?  Did your dog or cat lightly scratch your jacket or bag?  Did you just run your fingernails over the leather and it caused light colored scratches.  You may be able to repair the scratches yourself without even buying any special tools.  Here are instructions for a simple do-it-yourself repair technique for removing scratches from your bicast leather.

1. Be sure that you have bi-cast leather.  Bi-cast leather is a common type of leather that many people have bought over the past 3-5 years.  It is usually shiny, a dark color with lighter "distressed" areas at the edges, seams and in higher use areas.  If you were to place a drop of water on this material it would bead up and easily roll off of the surface. There have been many lower price-point bags and shoes made of bi-cast leather.

2. Here is a section of bi-cast leather with surface scratches.

 

3. Because bi-cast leather is an embossed combination of leather and polyurethane, surface scratches often only effect the top polyurethane layer of the material.  In fact, the light appearance is the scratching of the polyurethane.  So embossing, or heating up the polyurethane can often remove the scratching.

4. Start with a hairdryer on high heat and wave it over the scratches.  This may darken the scratches.  On the other hand, it may not be enough heat to remove the scratches.

5. If the hairdryer doesn’t work you may need to use a heat-gun. WARNING:  Leather must not be overheated because it will shrivel and burn with prolonged direct heat.  So, if you use a heat gun hold it 6" from the leather and wave it back and forth over the scratched area.  As the polyurethane heats it will melt and darken back into the leather.

6. Finally, rub over the area briskly with a soft dry cloth to even out the sheen. You should be able to produce a result like this one:

 

 

        That’s all there is to it.  Many of you can use this technique to remove surface scratches in your bi-cast leather.  If the leather is torn, deeply scratched or badly discolored you may need to hire a pro.   But you can do the minor scratches yourself.  If you use this technique, take  before/after digital pix and send them to us to show off your handy work. Send them to stories@leatherhelp.com.

 

 

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