How to determine the type of Leather Finish on your Upholstery

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 14:37 Written by Daniel R. Whitney Saturday, 04 October 2008 04:28

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How to Determine the Type of Leather Finish on Your Upholstery

In order to care for your leather furnishings properly, it is essential that you understand the importance of knowing the type of finish that is on your leather. The reason you need to know the category of finish that is on your leather is because different finishes require different leather conditioners, leather cleaners, leather dyes and leather repair products.

It is actually pretty easy to tell the type of finish you have, but first lets talk about the two basic leather finish categories and the types of leather finishes that are used in furniture and automotive upholstery. Category #1: Fully Protected Leather Finishes. Category #2: Semi-Protected or Unprotected Leather Finishes.  Different leather finishes require different leather care, cleaners, conditioners, repair and re-dyeing products. So before you do anything to your leather upholstery you first need to do a very simple test to try and determine the type of leather finish you have.

Take your fingernail and scratch the leather in a inconspicuous area on your upholstery. If it leaves a visible scratch it is unlikely a fully protected leather. If there is no visible scratch then try to drop a drop of water on the area you just scratched. If it beads up and the scratched area dose not discolor within a few seconds you probably have a fully protected leather.

The chemistry used to develop upholstery leather cleaners, leather conditioners, leather dyes, leather care products and leather repair products are completely different for fully protected leather then semi or unprotected leather. This is why it is important to know the type of leather finish that is on your leather furniture upholstery. If you know the finish category you can use the appropriate type of leather conditioners, leather cleaners, leather dyes and leather repair products.

If you use the wrong type of leather conditioners, leather cleaners, leather dyes and leather repair products. You could end up with one of three different situations. Either using a product that is not effective or using a product that will change the character of the leather or worst case scenario ruining the leather.  So before using any leather conditioner, leather cleaner, leather dye and leather repair products on your upholstered leather furniture be sure you know the category of your leather finish.

Decorative Upholstery Tacks - Other Uses!

Last Updated on Thursday, 04 March 2010 15:47 Written by Administrator Thursday, 18 September 2008 08:35

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Other Uses for Decorative Upholstery Tacks

Our customers are very creative and use the decorative upholstery tacks we sell for purposes other than upholstery.  Check out these photos of their projects!  If you have a photo of your decorative nail heads project you'd like to share, e-mail your photos of upholstery tacks in other uses  to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Todd Craig's Butler's pantry wall This is a very creative use of decorative upholstery brass tacks. Not your typical antique or leather upholstery application. The decorative nail heads are actually installed in the grout of the tile work. I have seen decorative nail heads installed like this before. This application they were selective and really spaced out the upholstery nails.

Sandy Merritt's Family Room Wall Wow!! This job took thousands of decorative upholstery tacks. The walls in a family room are then the upholstery is trimmed using a contrasting antique finished decorative nail heads.

Knives by Cary Thomas This is an application I would have never dreamed of for decorative upholstery furniture nails. Used as a finial in hand made hunting knife handles.

Deborah Kohler's Cornice of Wall Decorative upholstery nails used to trim the top and bottom of a cornice board. This crafty customer used a large scale furniture upholstery tack. The decorative nail heads were spaced to end up looking like rivets or the end of bolts.

Purses by Elisa Later Nickel finished decorative nail heads used in ladies fashion hand bags.  In this project the customer used three different sized upholstery nails to trim hand bags giving them a stud finished look.

 

Read more: Decorative Upholstery Tacks - Other Uses!

Do Your Decorative Nail Heads Come In Other Finishes?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 14:11 Written by Administrator Wednesday, 17 September 2008 11:09

Do Your Decorative Nail Heads Come in Other Finishes?

Each of our decorative nail heads comes in several different finishes, usually 4 or 5 different ones.  We stock exactly what is shown in our upholstery tacks photos.  While there are dozens of finishes available from our supplier, no one upholstery nail head comes in every finish.  The more popular the upholstery tack, the more likely the nail head will come in more finishes.

The most common finishes for antique nails are French Natural, Bronze Renaissance, Nickel Plated, Brass Plated, Oxford, Natural, Copper Plated, and Old Brass.   Decorative upholstery nails can also come in Old Silver, Old Gold, Dull Black, Pearl Gray, Shiny Black, Old Copper, Pewter, Nickel Oxford, and Old Silver.  Several brass tacks are also available in primary colors, ie., red, brown, white, black. Other decorative upholstery nail head tacks are available in finishes that are special order.

Thank you for visiting our site. Our goal is to be your go to resource for all your upholstery tools and supplies. If you are not finding the upholstery supplies that you are looking for please call us to see if we can help. We have a very knowledgeable staff of 6 full time upholsters and 2 seamstresses.

Feel free to call us toll free at 1-(866) 528-4170 for availability of finishes for the decorative nail heads you are interested in.

How Many Brass Upholstery Tacks Do I Need?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 15:19 Written by Administrator Wednesday, 17 September 2008 10:31

How Many Brass Upholstery Tacks Do I Need?

The number of decorative brass upholstery tacks you needs is dependent on the size of your project.  First, you need to know the diameter of the antique upholstery nail you wish to use.  Second, you need to measure the total length (in inches) of the area you wish to trim in upholstery brass tack decorative nail heads.  Divide the total length (inches) by the diameter of the furniture nail INCLUDING the space you wish to leave in between the decorative nail heads. Here's a simple example.  Let's say your total project is 140".  The decorative upholstery nail you've chosen is 3/4" in diameter and you wish to leave 1/4" inbetween each upholstery tack head.  That means each upholstery tacks will take up 1".  Thus, you will need 140 decorative nail heads.

 

Do You Sell Antique Nails Made Of Brass?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 16:18 Written by Administrator Wednesday, 17 September 2008 10:15

Do You Sell Antique Nails Made of Brass?

No.   All of our decorative upholstery tacks are made of solid steel.  Brass is too soft of a metal and would bend or break if you hit it with a hammer.  The furniture nails we sell that look like brass are actually electro-plated, giving the upholstery nails their different finishes, including brass, nickel, copper, and other plated metallic finishes. After the decorative upholstery tacks are plated, the specialty effect and a sealer coat is applied to give the desired tarnish or antique effect. If you have any questions about Decorative upholstery tacks or any other upholstery supplies feel fee to call our upholstery supply department @ 1-866-528-4170.

About Us

Last Updated on Thursday, 04 March 2010 16:20 Written by Administrator Wednesday, 17 September 2008 08:53

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Brandt and Whitney Furniture Repair 4885 S. Broadway Englewood, CO  80113 (303) 788-0820

Brandt and Whitney Furniture Repair is a custom upholstery shop near Denver, Colorado and has been in business for more than a quarter of a century. Brandt and Whitney Furniture Repair is your complete one-stop shop for all your custom furniture craft needs including upholstery supplies, upholstery tools, decorative upholstery fabrics, decorative upholstery nails, designer fabrics, wood touch-up, leather touch-up, furniture care, wood care, upholstery trim and gimp.

We stock more than 900 bolts of upholstery fabric, including outdoor fabric (Sunbrella), marine vinyl and leather. We carry many different grades of foam which we cut to size for chair cushions, boat cushions, lawn cushions, and camper cushions. We custom make slip-covers. Every component for furniture repair and restoration is available in our store: gimp trim and chair braid, furniture legs and glides, chair swivel and rocker springs, cord welting, tack strips, webbing, Dacron, pillow forms, and more than 200 styles of decorative nail heads.

Additionally, we are a distributor for Mohawk Finishing Products and carry their line of wood touch-up, wood repair, wood finishing and hardware products. We are also a distributor for C. S. Osborne upholstery hand tools. We also carry a complete line of leather repair and touch-up products, furniture cleaners, protectants, waxes, polishes, and sewing supplies.