Leather and Vinyl Repair Kit for Furniture, Leather Scratch Repair for Upholstery and Boats, Easy Color Match, All-in-One Color Restorer for Jackets, Purses, and Shoes

We have a greyish/brown leather couch that got scuffed up during a move.After a bit of research, it leather repair was feasible for an amateur.. and picked a leather repair kit. There are many on Amazon that use a few different techniques. I wasn't sure which was going to be the best, so just went with this one.Mixing the color was probably the most frustrating. My dark gray looked a little bit brownish. There was another reviewer who mentioned there was a strong bluish tint to the black, which was true. However after experimentation with adding different colors (in may case a dab of yellow and a bit of red) I got a fairly good wet match. I used the recommended trycolors.com site to add different colors that would move me closer to my desired color before actually adding the color. It is also frustrating since the color dries to a slightly darker shade. I could have kept on mixing to achieve the perfect match but didn't want to risk having to start from scratch.The instructions also recommend cleaning the the area first with alcohol. I did that and saw that it left cloudy mark on my leather - Im not sure if it took of a bit of the existing coloring/finish or it was just dirty (the couch was fairly new) - but I recommend cleaning with a damp cloth if the area isnt too dirty.There were different types of damage to the couch it too a little bit of experimentation to find the best techniques. Initially I circled all the areas I wanted to address with some chalk (if you get a good enough color match and have many areas you are addressing, it was hard to find the repaired area again). There were deep scuffs that went into the leather itself (completely removing the dye/finish) and scuffing up grains of the leather as well as scratches that only took off pint point areas of dye). I used an exacto knife to remove the raised bits of leather first so the area was flush (be careful not to gouge the leather itself).. if you don't have a steady hand you can probably just skip this step.I then applied the color using the supplied spatula to the larger areas. To the superficial scratches (where dye the size of pinhead were removed) i would put a little bit of dye in with tooth pick, blow dry it to speed the drying process then wipe with a towel moistened with alcohol to flatten the area. The larger areas, I would apply thin layers after allowing some time to dry (can blow dry to speed the process). The area remains tacky to the touch.. which is fine. Don't put apply too much color at once.Once everything had dried sufficiently (i went over it a few times with the blow dryer, and left it for a period of time (30 min-1hr), i again wiped the area with a cloth moistened with alcohol to get a smooth finish. (the larger scuffs was the most difficult to get a smooth finish, and aggressive wiping seemed to remove the coloring even when i thought it was dry - so i wasn't too aggressive with wiping it) I also was careful when wiping with the alcohol since i was worried it might make the area more cloudy.My last step, after the area was completely dry (no longer tacky) - I buffed it with a clean dry cloth to attempt to match the shininess of the rest of the couch. This was somewhat effective.. its not perfect but good enough. In bright light you can see the areas of repair as the shade is slightly different. however in the regular lighting in the room, it is hard to see the areas of repair unless i pointed it out.I haven't used the product to mend torn leather.. I may attempt to repair a tear in my car. Will update this review if I do.

Pros:- It works! I repaired a frequently used sofa cushion a year ago and the rips haven't reopened. (New rips appeared next to the old ones; I'm hoping the nonwoven reinforcement backing fabric I added this time will prevent any new rips.) I had a rip pop open on a different sofa cushion immediately after I repaired it, but after following all the tips I listed below, I was able to repair it successfully.- The burgundy and walnut brown were close enough matches to my furniture that I didn't need to do any additional mixing, and they matched the Fortivo burgundy and medium brown recoloring balm.- It works well on vinyl, too.Cons:- Two of the tubes in my kit were already dried out when I opened them. The consistency should be like mustard. If it's like stiff dough, it's unusable. Contact customer service if this happens. They sent me one replacement kit, then they gave me a 15% discount coupon for future purchases.- The kit doesn't come with a pre-mixed green. I mixed my own with yellow, blue, and a touch of black. I used the pre-mixed portion, then when I had to mix more, it wasn't exactly the same shade as my prior attempt.Tips:- Follow the instructions closely. Do not rush.- It's better to do multiple thin layers than a thick layer. This stuff doesn't work like spackle. You can't go back after it dries and easily remove just the excess amount and no more. Wipe excess away when the product is still wet. You should have some overlap on both sides of a tear to make the repair stronger.- Use a backing fabric to strengthen and stabilize the leather. The kit comes with fabric, but a nonwoven interfacing fabric that doesn't stretch is better, especially when you need to cover a larger surface area for multiple rips. I used Corazza non-stretch reinforcement backer with adhesive, which is designed to use on leather.- For sofa cushions, remove the casing, turn it inside out, attach the reinforcing fabric to the back, turn right side out, replace the cushion, then conduct the repair. The cushion puts some strain on the leather cover and may cause the rip to gape a bit. That's OK. Better to fill in that gap with the repair product than to have it pop open if you repair it without the cushion in place. If you are going to replace your cushion cores with new ones, do that first before making the repair.- If you can't remove the casing, follow the directions for cutting and inserting a piece of fabric into the rip. Nonwoven fabric is better. Gluing it in place is better.- If the edges of the rip still touch, glue them together with leather glue or superglue to give extra strength to your repair.- The product can be applied with the supplied plastic spatula, a brush, or even a fingertip. The spatula works well in getting a smooth, flat finish. The brush or fingertip work well for pushing the product into cracks and scratches.- If you have more than one rip on a cushion, repair them one at a time, especially if they are close together.- The kit comes with plastic gloves which will help keep your hands clean, but they aren't absolutely necessary. The repair product washes off with soap and water.- To keep unused product from drying out, put a pin into the tube tip opening.- Clean the spatula, brush, and mixing container with soap and water before the repair product hardens so you can use them again.- Use recoloring balm to recolor worn areas and blend the color of the repair into the surrounding area.- Use a good leather conditioner, such as Smith's leather balm, to recondition and protect your leather now that you've got it looking good again.I'm attaching before and after pictures of my repairs. Note that I also used recoloring balm on the burgundy and leather sofas, and I used leather conditioner on all three projects.