# Cleaning Turmeric stains on Leather



## wookey

Can anyone suggest a good leather cleaner that might clean Turmeric stains off of light grey leather?

The previous owner of my mates M3 put a take-away curry bag on the passenger seat leaving a nice yellow stain :wall:

He's tried various products from Halfords but they've not worked. I've been looking at LTT leather maxi cleaner, but don't know how effective it would be on Turmeric stains.

Thanks.


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## quattrogmbh

I'd be really surprised if anything would shift it. It will be well absorbed into the leather. 
I know how hard it is to shift turmeric stains on kitchen worktops, so sealing it and redying the leather may be the only way forward.

Good luck.


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## gt5500

Believe it or not my mum who is Indian passed a secret on to me regarding removing turmeric stains, her secret, hang the stained item in direct sunlight after washing and the stain vanishes. I have no idea how this works but it does, only thing is I am not sure if it would work on leather or how you would put the seat in direct sunlight.


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## wookey

He's tried that, as it's a convertible, but didn't make much difference


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## SteveOC

gt5500 said:


> Believe it or not my mum who is Indian passed a secret on to me regarding removing turmeric stains, her secret, hang the stained item in direct sunlight after washing and the stain vanishes. I have no idea how this works but it does, only thing is I am not sure if it would work on leather or how you would put the seat in direct sunlight.


That does seem to be a popular method - here is a variation that includes using lemon :

http://www.ehow.com/how_5132224_remove-turmeric-stains.html

Steve O.


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## judyb

The turmeric has dyed the leather (it is a very strong aggressive dye) so this has to be treated the same way as dye transfer. The longer the turemeric sits on the surface the harder it will be to remove as it moves further into the finish on the leather. Maxi Cleaner is specifically formulated for dye transfer and if this does not clean the dye off then there is no 'cleaner' that will. The only thing you can safely try beyond this is alcohol cleaner - if there is any colour left after this the problem will only be resolved with solvents and recolouring.

Anyhing that 'guarantees' to remove dye transfer from leather can only do so by damaging the finish on the leather which will then need to be replaced. It is fare safer to use tested products and processes. The key to cleaning leather depends greatly on product choice and processes - understanding the problem and what products will do together with tried and tested processes will give the best results.

It is important with dye transfer to allow the products to do the work and not to use aggressive cleaning methods.

Hope this helps


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## wookey

Thanks Judy - I'll have a chat with my friend and get some Maxi Cleaner ordered.


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