Professional Leather Training Course

Day 1 – Understanding Leather Types & Simple Leather Repair (1 day, 09:30-17:00)

The processes of how leather is made. Different leather types and different finishes. How o correctly clean and maintain leather. Basic stain removal. Simple repair and recolouring. 

Day 2 – Complete Leather Restoration (including Change of Colour) (1 day, 09:30-17:00)

Preparation procedures for different types and qualities of leather. How to select and apply the correct products for different types of damage. How to repair and restore damaged leather. The correct processes of restoring heavily cracked, grease contaminated and dried out leather. How to colour change a leather. How to use an airbrush.

Day 3 – Colour Matching (1 day, 09:30-17:00)

Colour theory and how to mix colours to match samples of leather.

* 09:30 – 17:00 each day (lunch hour: 1 hour）
This comprehensive course is very practical and uses a range of different training techniques.

DAY 1 - UNDERSTANDING LEATHER & SIMPLE LEATHER REPAIR

Video

A short video will take you through the tanning process, showing you how a skin or hide is turned into leather.

Leather Types

We go through the various leather types one by one showing you examples of what the leathers look like, feel like and how they react to being used.

Leather Identification

We teach you how to identify and differentiate between each type. You’ll learn a number of different ways to identify leather and will come away afterwards with an appreciation of how unique leather is.

Common Problems

Different types of leather will suffer different types of problems. We take a look at these common problems and discuss the relevant treatments.

Grain Types

When it comes to selling leather, especially furniture, you often hear terms such as top grain, full grain, split or corrected grain. During the course we will discuss this terminology so you have a better understanding of what they mean.

Leather Finishes

Leather can be coloured in different ways, finished with lacquers, oils, waxes or nothing at all. These different finishes are created for aesthetics and so there are many variants. We’ll show you the most popular finishes you’ll come across in the furniture and automotive industry.

Cleaning and Maintain Leather

After learning about the various types of leather, you are introduced to the different cleaning products and procedures for each type and learn how to maintain leather.

Stain Removal

You are shown how to remove stains such as biro, permanent marker and dye transfer from leather; this will introduce you to the products and procedures to tackle a multitude of other types of stains.

Preparation

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail! Preparation is the key to a successful, long lasting repair. We show you the correct procedures to prepare different types of leather before any remedial work is carried out.

Basic Cosmetic Repairs

Under expert guidance you’re shown, and will practice repairing: cuts, burns, holes, scratches, and tears. You’ll work on genuine leather to master the technique and gain hands-on experience in carrying out cosmetic repairs using a range of our repair products.

Matching Grain

We’ll show you methods of replicating grain patterns to basic repairs, enhancing the cosmetic quality of your repairs.

DAY 2 – COMPLETE LEATHER RESTORATION

Preparing Leather

You’re shown how to assess the different conditions of leather to determine what level of preparation is required to restore it. We’ll cover cleaning, identifying areas to be degreased, basic preparation and stripping the colour off.

Degreasing

Unless every drop of grease is properly extracted from the leather, any colour that is then applied will not adhere properly; this could be the most important step of any restoration job. We show you how to degrease leather using a few different methods and how to test to see if the grease has been removed.

Softening Leather

Older leathers, especially classic car seats often become hard and stiff with age. Once the leather has been stripped it can then be softened. This process isn’t just about using the right product but using the product in the right way.

Fixing Cracking

Fixing cracked leather is a more involved process than simply repairing a scratch or hole. Using the right process and products you’ll be shown how to repair cracking so that the repair is strong, long lasting and doesn’t alter the look or feel of the leather.

Adhesion

You’ll learn how to assess whether or not Adhesion Promoter is needed to grant adhesion to the leather and/or if it is just needed in certain areas.

Colour Restoration

Once the leather has been correctly prepared and repaired, colour can then be applied to restore the leather back to its former glory.

Colour Change

The techniques to successfully colour change a leather item.

Spraying

We show you how to spray the Leather Colourant and Leather Finish onto leather using an airbrush to blend repairs in.

DAY 3 - COLOUR MATCHING

Possibly the most important skill you’ll learn! Becoming a competent colour matcher will allow you to quickly repair leather onsite, saving time and money.

Colour Theory

The first thing we do is look at the theory behind colour matching. If we can get you thinking in the correct way, when it comes to physically mixing colours, then the art of colour matching will be easier. We explain hue, shade (or value) and saturation (or chroma) along with complimentary colours and what they do and how to use them. Colour matching can become logical when you know what to look for!

Colour Mixing

We start to colour match samples of leather aiming to achieve the perfect match using colour theory to help.