Maintaining The Leather On Your Theater Seat

One of our favorite materials for longevity, leather requires a little bit of routine upkeep.

You have just purchased a new home theater seat crafted out of leather. It’s been a long time coming, and you can’t wait to get it situated into your home entertainment room. It is super luxurious and comfy—truly the epitome of a luxury theater chair—but even chairs like Valencia’s Tuscany need to be taken care of to last forever. If you didn’t know, now you do, but thankfully, leather upkeep is relatively simple and doesn’t have to be done too often. It can even be kind of fun, since leather products get that fresh-out-of-the-box sheen to them after a little TLC. 

The main way to make sure that your chair stays looking slick, is to make sure that you maintain the leather, keeping it looking shiny, supple, and pristine. If the leather on your chair is not maintained it will start to get stiff and crack and eventually degrade from lack of care—and no one wants that! Keeping a few main points in mind, along with a great cleaning kit for your newly-acquired home theater furnishing, will keep that chair looking like it’s in its prime. This blog post is here to give you some tips on how to maintain your leather so it lasts for decades and you get the most out of your purchase.

Chair Placement

Where you place your home theater seats is vital. Since leather is a natural material and “breathes,” it is susceptible to the elements at play in your home. A prematurely-cracked leather home theater couch doesn’t sound like such a great time, but with a little bit of planning and consideration, damage is easily avoided, keeping that leather seating in tip-top shape. 

If placed next to a heat source, like a furnace or fireplace, the leather will dry up as the heat source blasts your cowhide-fashioned theater chairs. No amount of Botox can fix those fine lines and cracks, so try to avoid placing your leather seats next to heat sources so that the leather does not dry up and start to crack. 

Moving your leather media room chairs away from being in the direct path of heating vents and fireplaces keep them looking their best—leave the fireplace seating to something more heat-friendly that won’t dry up, like fabric chairs. 

Placing your seat in a location that receives constant sunlight is also not a good idea. When leather is constantly bombarded by sunlight, it begins to fade, and particularly hot windows can also cause the leather to crack. This completely ruins the color of the leather, tarnishing its luxurious look. Thus, it is recommended that you place your chair in a location that does not constantly receive direct sunlight. 

If your leather entertainment room fixtures must be by a window, make sure it’s north or east-facing—north windows never see direct sunlight, and east windows only receive morning sunlight, which is much gentler than the harsh rays of afternoon sunlight that west and south windows receive. 

Otherwise, with those tips in mind, you’re already better off than most, and your seating won’t suffer any sort of heat or sun-related damage prematurely. 

Cleaning Your Theater Seat

The next thing you need to do to maintain your leather is to clean it. This can be one of the most neglected facets of leather care, but a little cleaning will go a long way for the lifespan of your new leather media seating. 

Firstly, you want to make sure that you dust your chair every 2 weeks on average. Try to dust your chair using a clean white cloth or a microfiber cloth that will pick up dust and other debris with little effort on your part. 

While dusting, also make sure to vacuum all the dust out of the crevices to make sure that dust is not able to build up—and let’s face it, if you’re snacking on your theater chairs, crumbs will get into and around the seating. Wedge your vacuum’s nozzle into that seating and leave it spotless. We’ve all been there, vacuuming weeks’ worth of crumbs out of couch cushions, and your premium media room seating deserves better.

If debris starts to accumulate on your chair, you should try to wipe it down with a lightly-dampened cloth. Water or leather-specific cleaning products are the best to use on leather when it comes to stains or dirt. Fresh spills on leather seating can easily be wiped away with water—just be sure to take a separate dry cloth or towel to soak up any remaining water that might be left behind. As leather-friendly as water can be, if left to dry on your leather seating, it can leave its own stain behind. 

Being mindful of cleaning and keeping stains at bay will allow your leather theater chairs to stay looking crisp and fresh for years to come. For more specific-stain types, check out our post entirely dedicated to leather stain removal.

Pets and Your Chair

This section only applies if you have pets at home. Our furry companions have the potential to scratch the leather unintentionally when climbing onto chairs to snuggle up with us and relax. If you own only cats, keeping their nails trimmed down on a regular basis will save your leather cushions and other home furniture from the potential of unsightly scratches or tears in the leather upholstery. 

If you discover scratches on your leather theater furniture, liberally apply some leather oil, massage it into the affected area, and finish up with some leather conditioner—that scratch should be much less noticeable now! Alternatively, a can of leather recoloring balm can also help restore any scratches to their former glory. Just be sure to match the color of the balm to your leather seating first, and let the balm work its magic.

Lastly, if your pet has razor-sharp nails, loves to be up on the couch with you, and is infamous for leaving behind long, crazed scratch marks that turn your seating into something gruesome that looks like it came from a horror movie, it is recommended to invest in a protective cover. This cover will protect your chair from scratches, and will prevent your pets’ fur from building up on it as well.

Leather Conditioner

It is highly recommended that you use a leather conditioner on your leather seat every 6 months—not nearly as often as you were thinking, right? A little bit of conditioning goes a long way from your premium theater seats, and they’ll thank you for it immediately after with a shine and luster so bright, it would have you swear you just purchased it.

Leather conditioner is a product that is easily absorbed by leather and nourishes all of the leather fibers. Most leather conditioners are derived of natural substances such as beeswax, mink oil, coconut oil, and other incredibly nourishing materials that deliver massively when it comes to moisturizing. This makes the leather retain its natural flexibility, preventing the leather from cracking and keeping it looking its best.

Conditioner is incredibly easy to apply to leather too:

  1. Start with a clean slate by wiping your leather seating down with a lightly damp towel or cloth, and let the leather dry for a bit after.
  2. Grab your leather conditioner and a clean, dry towel or cloth.
  3. Apply a small amount of the leather conditioner onto your dry towel or cloth.
  4. Rub the leather conditioner into your leather seating thoroughly and evenly—you’ll likely have to re-up the leather conditioner onto your dry towel or cloth a few times to get the entire piece of cinema furniture. 
  5. Allow your seating to soak up all of that nourishing conditioner overnight—don’t sit in it until it’s dry.
  6. Marvel and admire how great your leather seating looks!

Doing all of these things will make sure that the leather on your Valencia theater seat stays in pristine condition for decades to come.