Leather furniture is easily scratched. Pens, sharp shoes, pets and even fingernails can mar the pristine appearance of finished leather. Should a scratch or two blemish your leather furniture, you don't have to sit and glare at those unsightly marks if you don't want. You can easily repair furniture scratches by yourself at home. Try olive oil. If that doesn't work, use an iron before settling for covering the scratches with shoe polish.
Dab some olive oil onto a cotton cloth and rub it into the scratched leather furniture. Rub it in a light circular motion. The olive oil gives the leather more flexibility and helps to bond the leather back together. For the lightest of scratches, this alone might restore your leather to a like-new appearance.
Take another cotton cloth and get it damp. The cloth should not be dripping wet, but it should be damp enough to leave wet residue when you remove it. Use a hair dryer to heat the damp cloth over the leather scratches. The heat from the iron brings the natural leather oils to the surface and repairs the scratch. Some experts use an iron, others use a heat gun, but extreme heat can ruin leather in an instant.
Match shoe polish to the color of your couch if necessary, or purchase a leather repair kit matched to the color of your leather. Some scratches are simply too deep to repair with oil but not deep enough to call a professional. So disguise the area. Apply shoe polish with a cotton swab applicator. Rub the scratch clean and buff it with another cotton cloth. Follow packaging instructions if you use a leather repair kit.
