Anyone have any experience of the detrimental effects of placing leather settees etc within close proximity to radiators? I've a new suite on order and it's just occurred to me that the positioning will necessitate adjacency to a hot Rad - will there be a noticeable deterioration in the leather? What sort of stand off clearance would be advisable?
We've had a leather 3 piece for the best part of 20 years, now. It's just nicely broken in. Various bits of it have been adjacent to radiators in that time with no noticeable change. What *does* cause damage is sunshine, and various parts of the suite are now quite faded. Since we like the "battered" look, that's no problem, either.
At least a foot.
"Radiators" are somewhat mis-named because they're cool enough that they're largely convectors rather than radiators. Conduction will be bad for your leather (so don't put them so close that they're likely to get pushed against the radiator). Radiation is also bad, so watch out for sunlight or radiative heating by gas or open fires. But radiated heat from a hot-water radiator won't be a problem. So long as the temperature isn't reaching a point where you'd be uncomfortable, then neither will your leather sofa.
You should stock up on suitable leather dressings before they arrive and be careful about using them when needed, especially for the first year or two. Follow maker's recommendations, because the best solvents can depend a little on the quality of the leather and how it's dyed or sealed. This is crucial on pale leather ! (or on unsealed finishes like suede etc.) Most dressings will darken most pale leathers.
If it's an old leather sofa, find yourself (or make) some "British Museum Leather Dressing". The recipe is all around the place, it's basically shredded beeswax dissolved in hexane (flammable!) with some lanolin added.
One of our leather chairs sits 8" from a radiator and is totally unaffected.
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