Review on 🛋️ Revive & Restore Your Leather with NADAMOO Leather Recoloring Balm & Mink Oil Conditioner - Tan (Red Tone) by Christopher Kumar

A project attempted to restore a 20 year old leather living room set that included a lounge chair for two, a sofa and a lounge chair. The leather was very well worn with normal wear and tear from decades of use and covered with cat scratches and claw marks in the upper corners where cats went into town to cut the leather. There are no cuts on the skin, but the surface is quite chewed up. The first step was cleaning the leather, starting with the two-up seat. Based on my experience so far I use a mixture of 1:5 Woolite (washing powder) and water. One part Woolite and 5 parts water. 100% isopropyl alcohol also works well and won't harm the skin. After cleaning, I trimmed the skin of the claws to smooth the skin with a razor and scissors and sanded them. Not perfect as there were a lot of deep scratch marks but better than it was. I rubbed it in my solution again and waited for it to dry completely. A hair dryer speeds up the process. I should mention that this is a very important step, as clean as possible. To be honest I was 50/50 on the result so I just did a decent job, no deep cleaning. When everything is completely dry, it's time to try the balm. The instructions basically said that if water does not drip onto the skin then the product should not be used, which I immediately ignored knowing liquid would be absorbed and the other point was to use a very thin layer and to rub in a circular motion. . This last instruction was key as the product dries very quickly and if you have a thick application when you apply it and it dries before using again there will be streaks and the color will be uneven. So the trick is to just apply a small amount to the included foam pad and work as quickly as possible just in the 6" x 6" area and keep rubbing in and blending as much as you can, even if you have to on the outside. 6 x 6 inches square. Just keep rubbing until you get a uniform color. Then move on to the next area. The coverage is very good and you try to work the balm into the skin and surrounding areas. If you see an area that needs a little more, you can just go through it again. It dries quickly and I found it felt dry after about 5 minutes. I started with the back of a double chair. And would classify the repair as follows. Normal wear and creases have been fully restored, cat scratches were covered about 95% in the first coat and although the scratch marks were well painted they didn't go away and I wasn't expecting it. But it masked the damage better than I expected and it would have been better if I had prepared the area better, but the silicone I use to seal deep skin scratches didn't react well to the balm as it tended to look different spray to drip. Paint I use for car interiors. But everything was fine. As you can see from the photos, normal signs of wear and creases have been painted on very nicely and even cat scratches have been well hidden. Only the deeper scratch marks where he'd cut the skin hadn't gone away, but they looked decent. The color wasn't quite the same as my original sofa but it looks good and with all the creases and scratches it's much better. From what I've seen about this product, it's definitely not a dye, more like some sort of thin silicone glue mixed with color. While not quite like water, it is more viscous than a gel or paste. I noticed that when I put some on my hands and washed them, the product came off in gummy streaks. I also had a ball on a piece of paper and I was able to remove it intact and there were no stains on the paper. But I tried wiping it off the skin after it dries for about half an hour and it stays on, so a good cleaning and prep is needed. Also, using a white paper towel, there was no color transfer with vigorous rubbing. In my experience I use a thin coat of RTV silicone to remove car interior creases before painting and when properly cleaned it lasts forever and never lifts. Corrections, and don't expect your skin to be brand new again. If you expect to just wipe it down and skip the prep work and cleaning, then this isn't for you. But this product is good and with enough elbows you can get a very good result. It took me half a day to make the sofa. Would I buy this again? Yes and I have, like the container they give you gave me a coat on my love seat and it took half the container. I think what's left will fit on the club chair and then the new container will fit on the sofa with additional parts for later touch ups. But remember, thin layers and lots of scrubbing, and don't let clumps sit for a while. The second coat could do better, but the first coat looks good enough. At the moment it dries in about 12 hours and while the leather is still soft to the touch it's just a little stiffer than before but again I didn't use the sealer or mink oil that it comes with, I'll use it in 24 try hrs. I also use Aerospace 303 which you can find here on Revain which is a UV protectant and sealant. Highly recommended and what I use for all my leather products with great long term results. Good luck and I hope this helps some of you out there :D.