Practical Guide for Leather Upholstery

With Customer Service Postcard

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Dear Customer,

Congratulations on your purchase of new furniture.

Leather as a covering material for your upholstered furniture is always a good choice. Leather is a natural and wonderful material, plus it is almost always easy to care for and durable.

Both because of the quality of the materials used as well as the care we take in the manufacturing process, we are sure that you will be satisfied with your choice for a long time.

Should you, however, still find fault with our products, this practical guide is meant to help you deal with the source of your complaint quickly and without too much trouble on your part to your complete satisfaction.

In addition, in this guide you will find descriptions of specific features of uphols-tered furniture, which may at first seem to be a reason to find fault with the product, but upon closer inspection may not be a fault in the product after all, since it may simply have to do with the design or the type of materials used. This is also referred to as product typical or model and application related features. (See also pages 7 through 9).

Please do take a quiet moment to read our guide in order to get to know your sofa suite a little better and to find tips on enjoying the use of your furniture for many years to come.

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to call us or browse our website online for some answers to your questions. In any event, we hope you will enjoy your new upholstery.

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PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR LEATHER UPHOLSTRY

In order for you to always be satisfied with your new upholstered furniture in your daily use of it, we would like to take the opportunity to use the following pages to provide you with information on the special characteristics of upholstered furniture.

In addition, we will provide you with some information on different leather types used for upholstery and their characteristics as well as some tips on how to care for the specific leather type you have chosen.

Please have your sales advisor mark the upholstery type you selected.

You purchase: 1

Nappa leather, untreated

2

Nappa leather, untreated with additional waterproofing protection

3

Nappa leather, slightly pigmented

4

Nappa leather, pigmented with stronger overlay

5

Suede or nubuck leather

What you should know in general about upholstered furniture:

When judging the quality of upholstered furniture, a differentiation is made irrespective of the materials that were used between three different properties:

A) Properties dependent on the model typeUnderstood in this regard is the overall appearance of a sofa set. This may refer, for example, to the casual design or the construction-based differences in the fi rmness of the seats.

B) Merchandise typical propertiesMerchandise typical properties describe the specifi c features of the individual mate-rials used to produce a sofa set, for example the natural characteristics of a specifi c leather skin or how colours might fade when exposed to direct sunlight.

C) Usage propertiesThis term describes the way an upholstered piece of furniture changes with use. Usage properties do not allow any conclusion as to the selected quality or manu- facturing of a piece of furniture. 3

UPHOLSTERY STRUCTURE

In modern, industrial upholstery furniture manufacturing, a difference is made between two upholstery types: The loose upholstery cushioning and the fi rm upholstery padding.

1. The loose upholstery cushioning

This upholstery type can be recognized by its soft and cosy nature. With this type of upholstery, the covering is not connected tightly with the padding throughout, which gives it the appearance of a wavy surface. The resulting creases on the seat, the back and the armrests are not a quality defect. Among ex-perts, reference is made to a deliberate crease development due to the model design. Ge-nerally speaking, a loose-fit design is at hand when the covers show crimps or waviness either on the back, the seats or the front end of the seat cushion, on the armrests, at the skirt or at the clamping section.

You should expect leather to expand with use and the cover will in this way maintain its typical appearance. This change, however, in no way minimizes the furnitures service life in the least. Evenly smoothing the creases out from left / right on the seats prevents wrinkle creases from being formed if the seat is used on one side only.

As a guideline value for how many additional creases are permissible, nor-mally the following estimate can be used: On a normal seating width, when smoothing out the cover towards the centre, the crease that is created should not be any higher than 2 cm. For larger sized furniture pieces (such as, for example, a two-seater of approx. 100 cm width), this crease may be somewhat higher accordingly, namely around 4 cm. Irres-pective of these values, creases formed in the upholstery for design reasons may of course exceed these dimensions. Principally, however, it can be said that as long as creases deve-loped during normal use that can be smoothed out evenly, this can be considered normal.

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2. Firm upholstery padding

For this type of upholstery, the cover is pulled tightly over the padding and connected. This prevents that while the furniture is used, not too many creases are created. In most cases, the creases that were formed while seated become taut again.However, even in this case it cannot be precluded that with a continued length of use even if only slightly creases will not develop. This should not be attributed to loss of re-siliency in the cushioning, but rather it has to do with the stretching of the cover material.

A typical identifying feature of this type of upholstered furniture is its straight-lined appearance.

The seats comfort level differs from other types upholstered furniture pieces in the fact that you do not sink very deeply into the cushion, but in-stead you have a firm seating position on the padded seat.

Attention! Even in this case, nothing can prevent the seats firm-ness from softening depending on length of use and body weight.

Upholstery Covering with Padding / Cushioning

In this regard we are referring to high-quality upholstery covering, which adjusts to the body form at certain points. This is achieved with a mixture of loose foam rods and feathers, which can shift as a whole based on the person and can then adjust to the body weight. To prevent the fill from shifting, the pads / cushions are stitched into individual cells. Depending on the cover type, the cells may be-come clearly visible on the surface. Optically, slight cavity formations during use are in this case evidence of the persona-lised adjustment of the cushion to the body. Even in such cases, this is referred to as be-haviour typical to the product. By slightly fluffing the cushions (as you would a pillow) the original form can immediately be achieved.

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Loose Back Cushions Attached Back Cushions Seat Cushion

Back Cushions:For loose and attached back cus-hions, which are filled with feathers, foam rods or cot-ton, it is inevitable that these will need to be fluffed up after use to bring them back to their original form.

Seat Cushions: The word loose means that the cushions can shift during use and then need to again be placed back to their original position. The advantage of this type of upholstery technology is that the cushions can in part be exchanged, which will in this way allow them to be worn in equal measure.

Armrests, retractable or cushioned in firmly

The armrests of upholstered furniture serve two very important functions:

A) They serve to support a persons arms B) They are important for the appearance / the design of the furniture

Depending on the design of the armrest, it is not suitable in its carrying capacity to hold the weight of a grown person. This is why you should not sit on the armrest.

The carrying capacity of an armrest is typically designed to hold up to 40 kg. Beyond that, depending on its wear and on the model type, varying degrees of damage can be caused with incorrect use.

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THE CUSHIONING AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

A differentiation is made between two different types of seat firmness in upholstered furniture:

1. Design related differences in seat firmness 2. Use related differences in seat firmness

1. Design related differences in seat firmness are the result of different construc-tion types of the upholstered furniture. This means that the seating comfort of the individu-al elements of a sofa suite can vary depending on which construction design is chosen for the spring base, for the padding and for the individual cushions.

A) Padding B) Spring base

The cushion of the upper part of the seats construction is, depending on the design, the decisive factor for the firmness or the softness and cosiness of the seat.

The springs are the lowermost part of the seats construction. Depending on the design and how they are coordinated with the cushioning, the seats firmness will result.

If an upholstered piece of furniture has various different geometric forms, for design reasons, not every seat element will have the same spring type built in.

Nosag

Rubber Belts

Spring Slats

Construction Related Seat Structure

(Differences in Seat Firmness)

7

The result of this could be that within the sofa suite there are differences in the seat firm-ness. This may apply especially to corner elements, interchangeable elements, ottomans or attached elements. So, it is very possible that the elements listed above despite equal cushioning layers are either softer or firmer than the other elements with a straight lined build type. As springs, the following is used most frequently: Steel coil springs, elastic belts, spring slats.

2. Use related differences in seat firmnessIn this regard, upholstered furniture has undergone a development throughout time, which is referred to as spring deflection. In this case, the entire cu-shioning will change during its use depending on your body weight and depending on the length of use. This process can be most clearly observed if you use the upholstered furniture during the first few months only on one side. What is happening here is an entirely typical process, which takes place for every cushion. Once the cushion has gone through this process, it hardly goes through any more changes. In order to achieve an equally distributed firmness in the seating, it is important to change your seating position from time to time. Such changes in the seat firmness are normal and do not warrant any type of defect.

Solid Wood Frames / Visible Wood FramesWhen solid wood is glued, optical variations in colour may result. For varnished woods or wood left in its natural state, this may be noticeable by significant differences in the colouring. Please keep in mind that wood is a naturally grown material and especially for this reason it appears alive. Small knobs, which do not impact the life of the furniture, may be processed into the frames.

fine paddingcore paddingspring base

8

FUNCTIONS OF UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE

Every piece of upholstered furniture, which serves a function (for example sleeper sofas or bed sofas, recliners or TV sofas, couches with retractable arm rests and the like, have, depending on their value, different types of hardware fittings that generally have com-plex adjusting mechanisms.

In order for each kind of mechanism, depending on the intensity of use and length of use, to remain functional, it is very important that they are well cared for. What is particularly important is the correct use of the individual fittings.For example, for an interchangeable sleeper sofa with a pullout bed or for a recliner sofa with a tilting function, the part in question should not be grasped, for example, only from the right side or only from the left side and pulled out or tilted from that side.By only handling the furniture from the one side, the hardware may be damaged or it can be ripped out of its base typically the border of the frame. In order to prevent this, the extractable or tilting parts are best grasped from the centre or from the right and the left side at the same time and handled in this way. At the same time, when it comes to a recliner no matter whether it has an electric or a manual function the footrest or the adjustable backrest should not be used as a seat.This also applies to armrests of any kind most particularly if they are adjustable or re-tractable (see also the section Armrests).

Should this not be observed when using the furniture pieces, damage is inevitable, which is not the result of its quality or workmanship, but instead is, without exception, the result of improper use or handling. This can usually be recognised by the furnitures twisted, broken or ripped out hardware. Because a piece of functional furniture is regularly sub-ject to a flow of movement, the hardware joints should be checked for dirt from time to time, they should be clea-ned and at the same time the screws, with which the hard-ware is attached, should be checked to see if they are still affixed tightly and if necessa-ry they should be tightened.

If you observe these simple rules, you will own a functional piece of furniture, which will continue to fulfil its purpose for a long time. For furniture with a sleeping function just as with real beds it is important to air out the mattress well to prevent any mildew from developing. Mildew development is never a result of the material used or the furnitures workmanship. It only develops if the furniture is not cared for properly, if it is improperly used or if there is too much humidity in the room. 9

INFORMATION ON LEATHER

In the following section, we would like to give you some explanations on the structure and the care of the leather type you have chosen.

A few notes on the leather production process

For manufacturing leather furniture, hides of cattle are used almost exclusively. In part, these hides come from European breeding, in part they also come from overseas. As a matter of course, the European merchandise shows less natural characteristics as the merchandise from overseas, because the animals there grow in freer and wilder environ-ments.

The raw hide directly from the slaughterhouses cannot be treated in their original thick-ness, but instead is split in a tannery after its first washing process. When this is done, the result is the grain split (the upper side) and the flesh split (the inner side). For leather furni-ture, for the most part, only the grain split is processed.

After splitting and additional cleaning, the leather hides are coloured in a barrel and subsequently dried. Not until after this, a definition is made on how to further process the individual leather types. Only hides with few natural characteristics and scars from the slaughterhouses (on average only approx. 12 to 15%) can be used for the types 1 *+ 2 *.

Hides with a few more natural characteristics are used for the leather type 3 *. To slightly level the hide, now a minimal colour coat is additionally applied to it.

For leather type 4 * this coating is a bit thicker so as to cover the larger quantity of na-tural blemishes that this leather has. That is why in this case the term coated leather is also used.

Leather type 5 * is grouped into suede and nubuck leather. For suede, also sometimes called buckskin, usually the inner side of the grain split is processed, but sometimes the flesh split is also processed. For nubuck leather, the outer side of the grain split is buffed, also having the effect that more severe natural blemishes disappear. This leathers sur-face feels almost like velvet after the buffering process. The result is inevitably that the individual leather types are considered and evaluated differently.

*see page 3

10

Recognising and Evaluating Natural Characteristics

As already discussed several times, a leather hide almost always shows a number of na-tural blemishes. During the short or long lifespan of an animal, it is often confronted with situations, which lead to injuries to the skin. Such could be the insects on the pasture, the barbed wire fence or any thorns. They may also be injuries from tussling during play with each others; or they may be caused by the farmers grooming tool or even by the cattle drover on the way to the slaughterhouse. Also, illnesses, operations or simple normal consequences of the animals life can leave remaining marks on the animals hide. Using the following photos, we would like to present and explain the most frequent natural cha-racteristics.At the same time we would like to define at this point, which of the typical natural blemis-hes may be processed into the end product and also show, which of those are blemishes that may be recognized as a defect if, for some reason, it was cut into the end product through an oversight.What is also important when evaluating the leather is exactly where the natural blemish is located. The professionals differentiate between the seat, the back, the armrest and the body of the piece of furniture. If in the following examples the word conditional is used, it means that depending on the size and the placement of the natural characteri-stic in the individual case, only a professional will be able to decide whether or not the blemish is recognised as a defect. In especially difficult cases, only an authorised expert appointed by a chamber of industry and commerce will be able to make the decision.

Leather 1 *+ 2 *: Since in this case, only a simple barrel tanning process took place and the hide was not coated with any additional finish, any possible natural blemishes that may be on the hide are clearly evident. The hide is fantastically soft and smooth, natural variations in colouring and texture remain visible. The pores are still open, which allows the hide to continue to breath. A difference in temperature when sitting on the lea-ther or touching it can be felt almost immediately.

However, with Leather 1 *, even everyday traces of use can be seen easily, since this leather is in no way protected. Leather 2 *, on the other hand, after being dyed, was coated with an additional layer of protection against dirt and liquids. Especially when it comes to black leather, during the initial period of use the colour may rub off slightly.

*see page 3

11

Leather 3 *: Natural blemishes are also in part still visible, but as said before, are in part also covered with a light layer of dye. The leather is also still very smooth and soft. The pores for the most part are still open, thus temperature variations can still be felt.

Leather 4 *: Natural blemishes are no longer visible. The pores are almost completely or are entirely closed with the dye that was applied. A temperature difference can there-fore hardly be felt at all. Liquids hardly penetrate the surface in the least and remain on the surface.

Leather 5 *: This leather type is very soft and feels comfortable to the touch. Because of suedes fibrousnesses or the results of the buffed nubuck leather, this type of leather is quickly impacted by everyday use, meaning that dirt is very easily visible on it if it is not maintained and brushed regularly. Especially when it comes to black leather, during the initial period of use, the colour may rub off slightly.

Generally speaking, leather does stretch with time. This may lead to the development of creases to a certain extent. What is also important is that you protect your leather furniture from direct sunlight, since many leather types especially untreated lea-ther can fade if exposed to strong sunrays.

*see page 3Splitting in the surface ofcovered leather because

of insufficient care

Normal extent of wrinkles developed during use

Rubbed off colour from head grease

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Defects in the pigments may be processed into the surface

Tick bites may be processed into the surface

Rubbed off colour through use Fat creases may be processed into the surface

A bit too much difference in colour Scars from operations may conditionally be processed

into the surface 13

CARE

In principle, what can be said is that all leather types must be cared for and cleaned re-gularly. This is to say that all leather types should be brushed from time to time or careful-ly vacuumed. Every leather type should definitely be protected from direct sunlight, since exposure to the sun will inevitably lead to a loss of colour and dry it out.

Leather 1 *+ 2 *+ 3 *: Should dirt or grime be absorbed in these leather types, they can be cleaned with an alkali-free soap and water that has been boiled. Always clean the surface from seam to seam (and not simply around the stain) and rinse the leather off with plenty of water after the cleaning process, so that no soap residue is left in the leather. Other than that, the surface should be cleaned regularly with leather cleaner and a leather cream. In the case of open-pored, smooth leather, make sure that the leather cream is applied very sparingly.

Leather 4 *: Only clean regularly with leather cleaner and a leather cream.

Leather 5 *: Along with brushing and vacuuming, for this type of leather, a suede cleaning cloth should be used regularly to care for and clean the surface. This leather type is definitely not to be cleaned with leather cleaners or leather creams that can be purchased in stores. Only use leather sprays on this type of surface.

Generally, what also matters in this case:The sooner damage is treated, the better the chance of eliminating it completely.

*see page 3

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CLEANING

Stain Leather 1 4 Suede 5

Beer R 1 R 1

Blood R 4 R 4

Butter R 2 R 3

Cola R 1 R 1

Vomit R 1/R 4 R 1/ R 4

Colour Loss R 4 R 4

Grease R 2 R 3

Felt Marker R 4 R 4

Head Grease R 4 R 4

Scratches R 4 R 4

Ballpoint Pen R 4 R 4

Medicine R 4 R 4

Nail Polish R 4 R 4

Juice R 1 R 1

Ointment R 2 R 3

Liquor (white) R 1 R 1

Liquor (brown) R 1 R 1

Chocolate R 2 R 3

Sweat R 4 R 4

Ink R 4 R 4

Urine R 1 R 1

Wine R 1 R 1

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CLEANING SUGGESTIONS

R 1 Dab, do not rub, immediately with paper towels or a kitchen rag, then clean with distilled water and let it dry. If necessary, repeat the process and possibly use alkali-free soap. When cleaning, always wipe from seam to seam and not simply on the soiled spot.

R 2 Remove any residue from the leathers surface with the blunt side of a knife carefully. Then clean with a paper towel or a kitchen rag and use distilled water to wash off any remaining residue. Any grease absorbed into the leather will not be able to be removed entirely. However, the grease stain will work itself out throughout the fol-lowing weeks by the leathers own breathing activity.

R 3 Remove any residue from the leathers surface with the blunt side of a knife carefully. Then clean with a paper towel or a kitchen rag and use distilled water to wash off any remaining residue. Once the leather is dry, re-work the surface with a suede cleaning cloth. Any remaining grease stain will under the best circumstances work itself out with time.

R 4 Any of this kind of damage or change can only be removed reasonably well by an expert. To reduce visible damage somewhat, however, you can follow the instruc-tions under R 1.

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IMPORTANT!

Removing difficult stains (such as blood, ball point pen, etc.), or touching up faded co-vers with colour, should, when possible, be done by an expert. In this case, we suggest you ask your furniture store, your catalogue company or consult a specialist:

Leather is one of the most beautiful products nature has to offer. If cared for and trea-ted correctly, good leather quality will last for long years of use and to your highest satisfaction.

All leather products manufactured in the European market are subject to strict regulations with regard to harmful substances (PCP and the like). With regular inspections during processing and tests performed by inde-pendent institutes, it is assured that these regulations are adhered to.

POS POLSTERSERVICE GmbH[ T h e V a l u e K e e p e r s ]

Mhlenpfad 2 53547 Hausen GermanyTelephone 0049 (0) 26 38-921 700 Telefax 0049 (0) 26 38-921 600 www.polsterservice.deinfo@polsterservice.de

P O S

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COMPLAINTS

Should you, despite everything else, still have any complaints which we would very much regret we ask you to make note of the following:

Please fill out the customer service postcard attached completely and send it to us. Please do your best to describe the damage as precisely as possible.

A customer service employee will contact you as soon as possible and, if necessary, will coordinate an appointment to visit you.

Should you loose the post card, please contact your furniture store or:

POS POLSTERSERVICE GmbH [ T h e Va l u e K e e p e r s ]

Mhlenpfad 2 53547 Hausen Germany Telephone 0049 (0) 26 38-921 700 Telefax 0049 (0) 26 38-921 600 www.polsterservice.de info@polsterservice.de

All rights reserved. Any duplication or the reproduction of the text at hand, even only in excerpts, and their circulation are subject to the express approval of POS POLSTERSER-VICE GmbH located in 53547 Hausen-Solscheid, Germany.

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Quality assured furniture POS Polsterservice GmbH as a ser-vice company of the furniture branch and a supporting member of the com-munity of value Deutsche Mbel is geared in its work on reclamations and the used materials to the quality and testing assessments RAL-GZ 430.

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Order form for care and cleaning productsPlease use this postcard to place your order or go to www.polsterservice.de and click Shop to order your goods on-line. All the listed articles are subject to additional charges for packing, carriage and COD.Date: June 2007 We reserve the right to make changes.

POS Care Set for nappa leather (slightly and heavily pigmented) For new or little-used leather pcs. Softclean cleaner in foam-dispenser bottle (125 ml) Leather Sealer (150 ml) Cleaning Cloth & Cleaning Sponge for 24,90

POS Care Set for nappa leather (slightly and heavily pigmented) For older or used leather pcs. Softclean cleaner in foam-dispenser bottle (125 ml) Leather Protector (150 ml) Cleaning Cloth & Cleaning Sponge for 24,90

POS Soft-Clean for nappa leather (slightly and heavily pigmented) pcs. Cleaner in foam-dispenser bottle for (200 ml) for 17,50 stubborn dirt

POS Care Set for nappa leather (natural leather) pcs. Aniline Cleaner (50 ml) Aniline Cream (for everyday protection) (250 ml) Cleaning Cloth for 24,90

POS Care Set for rough, velour and nubuck leather pcs. Rough Leather Care Aerosol (400 ml) Impregnation Agent Aerosol (200 ml) Nubuck Eraser & Sanding Pad for 27,90

POS Care Set for artifi cial leather pcs. Artifi cial Leather Cleaner (150 ml) Artifi cial Leather Care Milk (150 ml) Cleaning Cloth & Cleaning Sponge for 18,50

POS Bleach Pen for nappa leather (coated and heavily pigmented) pcs. Bleach Pen for removal (40 ml) for 15,00 of textile soiling and ball-point pen marks Not to be used with natural leather and nubuck leather

In the unlikely circumstances that you are unable to solve a problem using our high-quality specialist products, please contact us on our free Hotline Tel. +49 (0) 26 38 921-700 where we will gladly provide you with practical advice and support.

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