Leather Top Desk Restored

Intro: Leather Top Desk Restored

I was asked by a local doctor if I would have a try and restore his office leather top desk. He said it had been in the family for a while and had sentimental value. When the desk arrived it looked a lot worse than when I looked at it in his office. The computer and notepads were hiding all the damage. He was also under the impression that it was an antique.

STEP 1: Sanding the Wood

Once I started sanding the wood I realise the top, sides and drawer fronts were a veneer and the base front was MDF.

STEP 2: Clean Up the Leather

To clean up the leather pad on the top I used Dove Bath soap and a soft cloth. Using a damp cloth and soap I cleaned the leather using small circles at a time. This did take some elbow grease, but the results were great. Don't add to much water or the leather will become soggy and pull away from the table. If this does happen , wait until the leather is dry and using a syringe add contact glue and hold in place.

STEP 3: Remove All the Old Varnish and Stain

Next, I put some Kraft paper over the leather top to protect it from getting damaged by the orbital sander and stripper. The layers of varnish were so thick and cracked, that in the end, I used Citri-strip to remove most of the layers.

STEP 4: Stain and Varnish the Wood

Once the varnish started to lift I used a scraper and removed the bulk. The surface was then smoothed out using the orbital sander. I added a dark mahogany stain and 3 coats of oil based gloss varnish

STEP 5: This Is the Before and After of the Table Top

STEP 6: Restore the Drawers

The fronts of the drawers were veneer which was very thin. I used an orbital sander with 120 grit sanding discs to remove all the old varnish and stain. These were fairly straight forward. The drawers were missing some handles, and as luck would have it I had some spare ones from an old piece of furniture I stripped down for parts. If you are a regular DIYer this article will interest you. How to find your DIY materials for free.

STEP 7: Make a Plan to Seal the MDF

Next, I tackled the front of the desk which was a total disaster. It was all MDF which had gotten wet at some stage in its life and had blown out. It was too late to change my mind and take it back. So I used the orbital sander to try and smooth out the edges that had blown out. Most of the varnish had chipped off the front and looked awful so it all had to be removed. Once smooth I added a dark mahogany stain to the MDF. But it just kept absorbing the colour straight away. To stop this, I added a thin layer of varnish to the MDF to seal it. Once it was dry, I added some dark mahogany stain to the varnish and added a few coats which worked great to hide a lot of the damage. I cleaned up the hardware and attached them back to the drawers.

STEP 8: Restored Desk

The finished desk after the restoration. This was real trash to treasure project. The desk is now back in his office looking good. The captain's chair for this desk was in even worse condition and he threw it out. I saved it and restored it and the transformation was amazing. Check it out.

Material list

Orbital sander

Sanding discs

Gloss Varnish

Dark mahogany stain

Dove soap/ leather cleaner

Citri-strip

Comments

[Cornel]

I have an antique library table. The dove soap and water is working well as you can see in the corner. It is a lot lighter cleaned. What do I do then? Which products should I use next to finish it off well? Thank you

[AnitaH25]

From the picture it looks like the colour has worn off. If it was mine I would retain it with leather dye to get some colour back into the leather.

[tobias.claren.9]

Hello.

Is it possible to restore a leather surface like this, without replacing it completely?Homogenize the surface, dye it green (still create those black "cellular edges"?) and renew the gold and black ornaments?

[AnitaH25]

Looking at the condition of yours I would say it is highly unlikely. I do believe you can restore the leather with green dye. But saying this there is a small chance the dye will not stick to the gold detail. The gold detail on the one I restored was a foil surface so if yours is the same the dye may wipe off the foil surface.

I hope this helps.

[tobias.claren.9]

I thought rather that you remove the old paint, and completely reapply.

E.g. with a suitable solvent and sandpaper.

And as I now found out, there gold band is embossed with a hot metal stamp roller into the leather:
The creator of the video did not respond to multiple questions about the tool, but I found it:
https://www.forthillengraving.com/equipment.html
Apparently, the tool also leaves an imprint in the leather.
Possibly you can but sufficiently grind off.
Where gold band is, but there is little depth.
In another desk is next to the gold band also a blind ornament.
There is then without band only an ornament embossed in the leather.
There disappears then (I think up to ~572°F / 300°C) also the green color.
It is then dark or black. Like without the color.
Unfortunately, there are no prices and shipping costs on the website of this manufacturer.
Also, it would be interesting if there were other sources for such devices.
I found on Ebay, Ali etc. NOTHING in the direction.

[AnitaH25]

That tools looks great. If you were doing a few projects like this it would be worth getting one if the price is nit to high.

[laurenstark11]

Hi Anita, I found this beautiful Ethan Allen desk on the side of the road but unfortunately it was rained on and now the leather is pulling up and somewhat ruined. Any tips on how to restore? Thank you!

[AnitaH25]

If it was mine I would try and glue all the areas back down first. I have done this in the past by putting some glue into a syringe and pushing it under the loose edges and weighing them down with something heavy while it dries. If you do this make sure you add some saran wrap or plastic between the two surfaces so they don't get glued together. If the surface is too warped you might have to remove the middle and replace the thick cardboard behind the leather. On one of my tables, the middle was real leather, so I was able to add water it loosened the glue without damaging the leather. I hope this helps. Good luck with your restoration.