How To Get Gum Off Leather Seats

How to Remove an Indentation From Leather Seats

by Brenda Priddy

red car interior image by Tammy Mobley from Fotolia.com

Indentations in leather car seats are a frequent problem. Boxes, groceries, keys and even cell phones can cause dents to appear in the surface of the seats. These dents often occur due to the leather stretching out from the pressure of the object. Repairing these indentations revolves around shrinking the leather back to its original shape with water.

Step 1

Soak a towel in hot water. Wring most of the water out from the towel, then fold it into quarters and lay it over the dent in the leather.

Step 2

Place a flat, heavy object over the towel. Allow the cloth to sit on the indentation for two hours. After two hours, remove the towel, reheat in the water and repeat the process. Repeat this process two more times.

Step 3

Rub a leather conditioner into the surface of the leather to prevent the water exposure from drying out the leather. Allow the leather to sit untouched for 24 hours.

Step 4

Inspect the leather. The dent should be gone, or at least smaller. If it is not, you may need to use more heat.

Step 5

Soak a towel in water. Wring out enough water so that the towel is wet, but not dripping. Fill the iron with water and turn it to the "Cotton" setting. Turn the iron to the steam setting.

Step 6

Cover the bottom of the iron with the towel. Make sure that no part of the iron itself touches the leather. Touch the tip of the covered iron to the dent on the leather. Iron out the dent through the towel. The moisture in the water should seep into the leather and force the fibers to contract. This will remove the dent from the leather.

Condition the leather immediately after ironing to protect the surface of the leather. Rub leather conditioner into the leather until it will no longer absorb the conditioner. Allow the leather to sit for 24 hours before sitting in that seat again.

References

Fibers: How to Stretch Out Leather
"Leather and Latex Care: How to Keep Your Leather and Latex Looking Great;" Kelly J. Thibault; 1996

Things You'll Need

White towels
Heavy, flat object
Iron
Leather conditioner

Writer Bio

Brenda Priddy has more than 10 years of crafting and design experience, as well as more than six years of professional writing experience. Her work appears in online publications such as Donna Rae at Home, Five Minutes for Going Green and Daily Mayo. Priddy also writes for Archstone Business Solutions and holds an Associate of Arts in English from McLennan Community College.