Cracked or peeling leather? Don’t toss your favorite piece just yet
At Leather Restore Pro, we bring dried, damaged leather back to life using expert repair techniques and premium products.
Serving NYC and Long Island, we help you save money and extend the life of your furniture — a smart fix instead of costly replacement.
What Causes Leather to Crack or Peel?
Leather is essentially animal skin, and just like our own skin it requires care and maintenance. When leather loses its natural oils and moisture, it dries out and becomes brittle – at which point cracks can form on the surface. Peeling often occurs when the top protective or color layer of the leather starts to deteriorate or delaminate. Here are some common factors that lead to leather cracking or peeling:
Dryness & Lack of Conditioning
Without regular conditioning, leather dries out over time, making it prone to cracking and flaking — like an old couch with a surface that looks dry and cracked like parched earth.
Sunlight & Heat Exposure
Too much sun or heat dries out leather, causing it to fade, crack, or peel — especially on areas exposed near windows or direct light.
General Wear & Aging
Daily use causes friction and creasing, especially on seats and armrests. Over time, this wears down the finish, and aging leather becomes more prone to cracking if not properly maintained.
Harsh Cleaners or Improper Care
Harsh or improper cleaners, like household sprays or baby wipes, can strip leather’s protective layer. This often leads to peeling or flaking — even when cleaning is done with good intentions.
Low-Quality, Faux Leather Materials
Not all “leather” is created equal. Bonded and faux leather often start peeling within just a few years. While we can restore them, the damage may reoccur. In such cases, we may suggest reupholstering with real leather for a more durable and lasting solution.
Understanding why leather cracks or peels shows just how important regular care is. Conditioning and keeping it out of direct sun can prevent most damage. But once it happens, our Crack & Peeling Repair service is here to restore it.
Common Leather Items We Repair
One of the advantages of our service is that we can handle a wide range of leather items. Whether it’s in your home, your car, or your business, if it’s leather and it’s damaged, we can likely fix it. We work with both residential pieces and commercial installations across NYC and Long Island. Here are some of the typical items we restore.
If you don’t see your specific item listed, just ask us! Chances are if it’s made of leather, we have a solution. From a single beloved leather recliner in Queens to an entire set of lobby furniture in a Manhattan office, LeatherRestorePro has the expertise to handle it.
Sofas & Couches
Armchairs & Recliners
Ottomans & Footrests
Dining Chairs & Bar Stools
Automotive Interiors
Commercial Seating & Furniture
Benefits of Professional Leather Restoration vs. Replacement
Why choose to repair your leather furniture instead of just buying new? There are many compelling reasons, especially in the New York area where quality furniture can be a significant investment. Here are some key benefits of professional leather restoration and why it often makes more sense than replacement:
Significant Cost Savings: Repairing a cracked or peeling leather item is almost always far cheaper than replacing it. Purchasing a brand-new high-quality leather sofa or sectional can cost thousands of dollars (reupholstering in new leather can run $600 to $4,000 for a couch alone. In contrast, repairing a few cracked panels or re-dyeing a seat cushion will cost a fraction of that. For example, fixing a small leather scratch or crack might be around $100–$150, whereas buying a new piece of furniture could be 10-20 times that amount. Restoration gives you basically the look of new leather without the huge expense. This is especially valuable for businesses like restaurants or offices – restoring booths and chairs is much more budget-friendly than buying all new seating.
A few things we’re great at
Faster Turnaround & Less Hassle: Replacing furniture takes time – shopping for a new piece, waiting for delivery (which in NYC could be weeks or months if it’s custom order), and disposing of the old furniture. By choosing restoration, you skip all that. Our turnaround is quick – often we can complete the repairs in a single day or single visit, so you get your item back almost immediately, ready to use. There’s also no hassle of moving heavy furniture in or out of your property. For our on-site services, you don’t even have to leave your home or business; It’s the convenient, no-disruption option.
Preserve Quality: It’s often the case that older or higher-end furniture is built to a quality standard that modern mass-produced furniture can’t match. If you have a top-grain leather sofa that just needs some surface repair, it’s likely better constructed than a cheaper replacement you might find in a local showroom. By repairing it, you extend the life of a well-built piece. You avoid “fast furniture” – the low-quality stuff that ends up breaking or peeling again in a couple of years. In other words, restoration allows you to enjoy the full lifespan of your investment. A good leather sofa can last decades with care.
Maintain Sentimental or Vintage Value: Many people have leather furniture that carries sentimental value or is a one-of-a-kind piece. Perhaps it’s a heirloom leather armchair passed down in the family, or a vintage mid-century sofa that you can’t easily replace with something of similar character. Restoring that original piece means you get to keep the item you love. The familiar comfort, fit in your space, and sentimental attachment remain intact – just with a refreshed appearance. You can’t buy memories, and restoring a cherished piece honors those memories while making it functional and beautiful again.
Color & Style Consistency: Replacing one piece of a set can lead to mismatched decor. If only one seat in your leather sectional is damaged, you’d have trouble finding a new sofa that matches your existing chairs, or vice versa. By repairing, you keep the same color and style that matches your other furniture and room design. No need to worry about finding the exact shade of “espresso brown” to match your other chairs – we’ve got you covered. As you can see, the benefits of professional leather restoration are numerous: it saves money, time, and the integrity of your beloved items, all while being kind to the planet.
Pricing & Estimates
We believe in honest, transparent pricing. Every leather repair job is a bit different, but we can guide you with general pricing ranges and always provide a firm quote before we begin work. Our goal is to give you a cost-effective solution that makes sense compared to buying new furniture.
Prices for crack and peeling repair depend on factors like the size of the damaged area, the type of leather, and how extensive the restoration needs to be. Minor fixes (for example, a couple of small cracks on a chair) start at around 150.
In fact, a single small leather scratch or crack might cost roughly $150–$190 to repair in our market. More extensive damage – say a large section of a sofa seat that’s peeling and needs recoloring – could be a few hundred dollars. To give a rough idea, many full chair or cushion repairs might fall in the $200–$350 range, while an entire sofa that needs multiple panels repaired and refinished could be more (perhaps in the $400–$600+ range if it’s a major overhaul). These are ballpark figures; we will assess your specific item to give an accurate quote.
Almost always, repairing is far cheaper than replacing. As we noted earlier, reupholstering or buying a new leather sofa can run into the thousand, whereas our repair services typically cost only a few hundred at most. For example, an average leather couch repair for a homeowner in New York might range between $150 and $600+ depending on the damage – which is a fraction of the price of new furniture. We’re upfront about costs, and if we think a repair wouldn’t be worth it (in rare cases of extreme damage where replacement is more sensible), we’ll tell you honestly.
For payment, we accept all major forms (credit card, etc.), and for larger jobs we may take a deposit upfront with the balance on completion. Rest assured, we stand by the value of our work – you’re investing in extending the life of your furniture at a fraction of the cost of new. And remember, all our restoration work is backed by a 6-month warranty, so your investment is protected
We offer free estimates for all leather repairs. The easiest way to get started is to send us some clear photos of the damaged item (you can upload them through our online form or email them to us).
From photos, we can often gauge the extent of cracking or peeling and provide a preliminary quote range. For an exact quote, we may schedule an in-person assessment, especially for large projects. In many cases, we can give a firm quote over the phone or email based on photos – saving you time. There’s no obligation, so it’s definitely worth finding out what your repair would cost. We think you’ll find it very reasonable compared to other options.
No Hidden Fees. The quote we give you is all-inclusive. It covers all materials, labor, and if applicable, pickup/delivery. We won’t surprise you with extra charges. If during the repair we discover additional issues (for example, a cushion filler needs replacement or a mechanism issue in a recliner), we will communicate any recommended add-ons and get approval before proceeding. But for the surface crack/peel repairs, the price is straightforward.
Proudly Serving NYC and Long Island
Leather Restore Pro is a local business, and we take pride in serving our community.
Our service area covers the entirety of New York City and Long Island. Whether you’re a homeowner in Brooklyn, an office manager in Manhattan, or a restaurant owner out on Long Island, we’ve got you covered.
We routinely handle calls from all five boroughs of NYC – Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island – as well as both Nassau and Suffolk County on Long Island. No matter where you are in the region, our mobile repair team can come to your location. If on-site repair isn’t feasible for any reason, we also offer pickup and delivery service. For example, we might pick up a sofa from a client in Queens, do the restoration in our Brooklyn workshop, and deliver it back to their home in a couple of days, all with minimal effort on the client’s part.
Ready to Restore Your Leather? – Contact Us Today!
Don’t let cracked or peeling leather diminish the comfort or appearance of your furniture.
Get it fixed instead! Leather Restore Pro is here to make the process easy and the results exceptional.
