Find out which leather you own before any wipe touches it

A 10-second water drop tells you whether a Singapore sofa is naked aniline, semi-aniline, pigmented top-grain, or bonded polyurethane. Household wipes at pH 9 to 11 hydrolyse the finish and leave the white bloom people call mould. A 3-seater pH 5.0 to 5.5 foam clean, anti-fungal step and lanolin condition is from S$108 to S$320. Larger sofas run higher. Cracked pigment is a colour restore. Mould in the foam is a replacement conversation.

Put a drop of water on a hidden edge and wait ten seconds. Naked aniline darkens and drinks the drop. It is the most comfortable hide and the least protected. Semi-aniline darkens slightly and has a light finish. Pigmented top-grain sits under a coloured coat. The drop stays beaded. Bonded leather and PU faux leather bead as well, and a peeled corner or a fabric backing tells you it is not hide at all. The same bottle cannot clean all four. Aniline needs almost no water. Pigment needs a film-safe wash. PU that is peeling needs a furniture decision, not a conditioner.

Most household wipes are alkaline, around pH 9 to 11. Polyurethane binders and many pigment coats hydrolyse in that range. The surface blooms, then micro-cracks, then the colour wears off the arm where people sit. In an 80 percent humidity flat the crack holds moisture and mould follows, usually on the back, the underside and the timber feet where air does not move. Painting over mould, or wiping with bleach, pushes water into the crack and stains aniline permanently. The repair wash is acidic on purpose: pH 5.0 to 5.5 foam, lifted off, an anti-fungal on the growth, then a lanolin condition so the hide has some fat left. The room then needs airflow. A conditioner in a closed damp room feeds the next bloom.

Cracked pigment can sometimes be recoloured if the hide underneath is sound. Cracked PU cannot. It sheds. Mould that has entered the cushion foam is a new cushion or a new sofa, because a surface wipe does not reach it. Say which of those you are looking at before the price is a single number. Homey Furnishing does the pH-controlled clean. A fabric curtain or a loose cover is a different company and a different fibre. This page does not sell that fabric.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, carries the permit-exempt portion of this work. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), listed on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, carries any scope that needs an HDB renovation permit. Those two invoices are not interchangeable. Anti-fungal products follow their label. Leather care is not a renovation and not a curtain supply. Waste cloths are bagged. The sofa is the customer’s.

Spend ten minutes with a torch, your phone camera, and a tape before you buy a product or book a hack. Write down what you see. The safe checks below do not ask you to open a live wire, cut a pressurised pipe, or lean out of a window. Do the water-drop test on a hidden face. Count seats. Note if the smell is only on the surface or also when you press the cushion. A smell from inside the foam changes the quote.

Stop at the red-flag column. Stop if you are about to steam aniline, bleach a mould spot, or condition a peeling PU sofa as if it were hide. The reason DIY fails is almost never a lack of effort. It is that the tool or chemical makes the next professional repair harder, or it hides a leak, a live conductor, or a deposit line until the damage is larger than A 3-seater clean and condition is from S$108 to S$320. Colour restoration is extra..

This is the sequence a careful technician uses so you can tell a shortcut from a finished job. Tools stay in the van. Readings and photos go on the same worksheet as the price. pH 5.0 to 5.5 foam, soft cloths, anti-fungal for the growth, lanolin conditioner matched to the finish, and airflow after. No steam. No kitchen degreaser.

1. Step 1. Make the area safe and confirm the symptom still matches the photos. For Find out which leather you own before any wipe touches it, that means Stop if you are about to steam aniline, bleach a mould spot, or condition a peeling PU sofa as if it were hide.
2. Step 2. Measure before touching the finished surface. Do the water-drop test on a hidden face. Count seats. Note if the smell is only on the surface or also when you press the cushion. A smell from inside the foam changes the quote.
3. Step 3. Set protection and lay out the tools that belong to this material. pH 5.0 to 5.5 foam, soft cloths, anti-fungal for the growth, lanolin conditioner matched to the finish, and airflow after. No steam. No kitchen degreaser.
4. Step 4. Carry out the repair in the order the material allows. alkaline wipes crack the finish, aniline is flooded, or mould is painted over and returns in the same crack is the failure this order is written to avoid.
5. Step 5. Test in place. The finish is even, the mould spots are treated or declared to be in the foam, and you know which leather you own. The sofa is dry before anyone sits. A care note says no alkaline wipes.
6. Step 6. Clean, label the photographs against the invoice lines, and leave the statutory openings, weep holes, access panels and labels visible.

The order matters because alkaline wipes crack the finish, aniline is flooded, or mould is painted over and returns in the same crack is what happens when a step is rushed. Handover is a measurement, not a handshake. The finish is even, the mould spots are treated or declared to be in the foam, and you know which leather you own. The sofa is dry before anyone sits. A care note says no alkaline wipes. If the reading or the water test fails, the visit is not closed and a second line is priced before anyone leaves. Permit work, if the diagnosis has moved into hacking, waterproofing, or a new layout, stops here and is repriced through V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H.

Seat count and the finish move the price. Colour work and foam replacement are not hidden inside a clean. Prices below are 2026 Singapore bands for the described scope. They are not a coupon and they are not a guess after an unopened door. A second trade, such as a PUB licensed plumber or an EMA licensed electrician, is named when the law requires it rather than buried inside the labour line. Compare rows by what they include. The planning-life column belongs to that row only.

2026 SGD scope bands

Brand, material and lifespan

Book the leather service and, if cushions are fabric as well, use the upholstery calculator for those cushions only.

Three worked jobs show how the same symptom is priced differently in a new BTO, an older resale flat, and a private condo or landed house. The totals are the lines a household actually paid, not a national average. Permit-exempt invoices are issued by Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. UEN 202018148K.

Case 1: 4-room BTO in Punggol

Pigmented 3-seater, white bloom from baby wipes. pH 5 clean and lanolin, S$240. No recolour needed. They were told to retire the wipes. The arms were even under daylight.

Case 2: resale flat in Toa Payoh

Aniline sofa with a water stain from a steam attempt. The clean could not erase the dark ring. S$260 for a safe wash of the rest, and the ring was declared permanent. A second steam was refused.

Case 3: condo in Tanjong Rhu

Black mould on the back and the timber feet, pigment still sound. Anti-fungal and condition, S$380, plus a note to stop closing the room with the aircon dripping onto the skirting. The foam did not smell, so the sofa was kept.

Do the water-drop test, then book the leather clean with a photo of that drop. Send the photos and the measurements from the ten-minute check. The reply prices the band on this page against what the photos actually show.

• Book the leather clean
• Upholstery calculator
• If the wall behind the sofa is mouldy too