How to Fix Cat Straches on a Leather Couch

Cut away fibers sticking up from the cat scratch with small cuticle scissors.

Dampen a clean cloth with leather cleaner. Rub the cat scratch and surrounding area to remove any dust, dirt or oil residue. Leather cleaner comes in many leather repair kits.

Apply leather prep solution from the repair kit to the cat scratch to lightly etch the surface.

Lift up the edges of the tear and dab tiny pencil-point amounts of leather glue from the repair kit behind the edges. Press the leather down with your fingers to hold the edges in position. Allow the glue to dry for one hour, or the amount of time in the repair kit directions.

Sand the cat scratch area with a piece of 320-grit sandpaper. The sandpaper will remove the dried leather glue and any loose leather damaged by the cat's claws.

Smooth the area with 1,200-grit sandpaper. Although many repair kits have this sandpaper, some do not.

Go over the area you have repaired with leather cleaner from the kit. This will remove all of the sanding dust. Allow the leather cleaner to dry for two to five minutes.

Spread leather filler from the leather repair kit over the scratched area with a palette knife. For a deep scratch, use your finger to work in the filler.

Wipe the excess leather filler off the couch with a clean cloth. Let the leather filler set for five minutes, and then use the 1,200-grit sandpaper to smooth the surface. Wait up to one hour for the leather filler to dry.

Squeeze a pea-sized amount of matching leather colorant from the leather kit onto a clean sponge. Apply the colorant to the leather filler in a thin, even layer. Allow it to dry for one to two hours.

Apply a second coat of leather colorant to the repaired scratch, and allow it to dry again. Repeat this process if necessary to achieve a shade that flawlessly matches the surrounding color of the couch.

Apply a leather protector/conditioner to the couch after the colorant has completely dried. Follow the directions carefully.