The Budget-Friendly Cleaning Hack To Make Your Leather Couch Look New

If you've ever owned a leather couch, you know that after some time, it can experience staining, darkening, and even strange odors. While it might be tempting to just throw out your sofa and replace it with a new one, consider this budget-friendly hack first before you make any expensive decisions. Forget harsh chemical cleaners that leave overpowering scents behind, and could even potentially damage your delicate, worn-in leather. Instead, try out an essential oil you might already have in your cabinet: eucalyptus oil.

This essential oil is more than just an aromatherapy staple. There are tons of ways you can be using eucalyptus oil in your home, including cleaning your leather couch. Eucalyptus oil is also known to have antifungal and antimicrobial properties, and even has the ability to repel insects like mosquitoes with its fragrant scent as an added bonus. These attributes make a powerful, yet gentle alternative to harsh solvent cleaners you'll find at the store. Using eucalyptus oil as a cleanser can be one of the easiest ways to clean your leather couch, when done properly. All it takes is gathering a few ingredients you'll most likely have at home: a carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil (since eucalyptus oil is a rather strong oil on its own), some vinegar for extra cleaning and stain-removing power, and your eucalyptus oil. Then, you mix them together to create your cleaner. Once you're finished, you'll have a powerful, natural leather cleaner that's great for removing ink stains, sticky residue, surface-level dirt, and odors — not to mention a shiny couch that looks good as new.

The good news is, making this couch cleaner shouldn't take more than five minutes. Plus, it doubles as a fun DIY project that boasts aromatherapy benefits as a bonus. To get started, gather your ingredients. Find a small glass bowl or dish, and mix 1/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup of fractionated coconut oil, and five to ten drops of eucalyptus oil together. Next, put your mix into an airtight container of your choice, but preferably glass. Now, all you have to do is dip a microfiber cloth into your mixture, and apply it to your leather couch wherever it needs a bit of love and care. 

Whether your sofa just needs a quick polish or cleanse, this powerful cleaner works great. As a word of advice: make sure to test your cleaner in an inconspicuous part of your couch before applying it to the entire area to avoid any potential issues. Once you've successfully cleaned your couch and you've found that you have leftover oil, try ways to use eucalyptus oil to create a fresh and clean bedroom.