Natural leather is an expensive material usually used for shoes, belts, jackets, purses, and other articles of clothing and accessories. Leather can become discolored over time, in which case you can lighten it to save money on replacing it. You can also try to lighten a leather item to match other leather items you have. The process of lightening leather does not give you guaranteed results, so you should test in an inconspicuous area before lightening the entire piece. Leather often has a clear protective top finish, which must be removed before lightening the leather.
Removing the top trim
Step 1.
Dip a clean cloth in leather degasser or acetone and wring out excess product. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from irritation.
Step 2
Rub the degasser or acetone directly onto a piece of leather.+
Step 3
Wipe the degasser with a clean cloth to remove the top finish. Allow to dry.+
Step 4
Turn to a clean piece of cloth or use a new cloth as the old one gets dirty.+
Color Bleach
Step 1.
Mix a solution of oxalic acid, a type of bleach for leather and wood, with water to create a bleaching solution for skin coloring. Oxalic acid is commonly used to cleanse the skin; Follow the mixing directions for the cleaner, but add more oxalic acid to achieve a greater brightening effect.+
Step 2
Rub the solution onto your skin with a clean cloth. Allow it to dry to observe the results, then repeat the process, adding more oxalic acid to the water if more results are desired.+
Step 3
Soak your skin in the solution at 10-minute intervals, allowing it to dry between soaks to observe until the desired results are achieved. Try this step at your own risk, and only if rubbing the solution does not produce sufficient results.+
Step 4
Dye the leather with leather dye if you like. There are dye, and dip-style dyes explicitly made for leather.