With leather, you can pretty much recondition/clean/restore most any part of it as long as the hide is not cracked and peeling. Oils and dirt from your hands and head attack the tannins in the hide and if not cleaned periodically will cause the hide topcoat to fail. When that happens, it is not repairable and needs to be recovered. You do not need anything fancy to clean your leather. You can use Club Soda on a white washcloth, or for a a bar of plain Ivory soap lathered (but not sopping wet) on a white washcloth as well. That works! If you need to restore the color from sun fade, Mutlimaster makes a Color kit for about $ 90. You send them a sample of the hide, they custom blend you a dye kit. It works remarkably well. Follow up with their Leather Conditioning kit and the results are noticeable. I use these products myself on the pieces in my home. Don't ever buy that leather protection warranty from a retailer. That's a sham, and the coating that is put on top of your new sofa can do more harm than good. For certain once that is applied none of the upholstery makers will warranty the hide if it de-laminates, etc. All you need is a cleaning schedule and using simple soap and water and your leather will stay nice looking for years and years. Duane Here is a link that might be useful: Pro Leather Repair Products

It's great to know that others have had the same great experience! cleanteamofny, where do you get coupons? I did use BJ's coupons (which they send to members) on two huge ERA HE containers w/dispensers several months ago (and I'm just now finishing the first one!), which meant I got each huge container for $6! I got a fantastic deal on the Wisk HE at CVS (only bought one, to see how it would perform), of all places. But I don't recall seeing any manufacturers' coupons for either of these. That would be icing on the cake. :)

You do not have a marriage. Your "husband" is being dishonest with you. You could let him know he needs to get help with his problem(if it is a medical/psychological one). If he is gay then he really is dishonest and married you under false pretense. You need to leave this relationship if he does not change his sexless behavior. NancyLouise

Hi Dances: I sometimes wonder if the "female liberation" and the "equal opportunity" push in the sixties and seventies didn't do more harm than good to working women now. Of course I am for equal rights and equal pay for equal jobs - it just seems like NO ONE - especially the men - wanted to tackle that ever-present question of WHO'S GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THE HOUSE WHEN BOTH SPOUSES WORK?? Unfortunately, for the most part it still falls on the women to do most, if not all, of the domestic household chores. The result: Woman who now have less time than ever before; who are having to work outside the home full-time and still are expected to keep the house shining like a brand-new penny. I call it the "Ozzie and Harriet" syndrome ;)! Our house isn't as neat and spotless as I would like. Like most families (I think), both my husband and I work full-time jobs. We don't have any kids with us (his youngest daughter lived with us until she went off to college, but that was six years ago), but we (I) have four cats. To be honest, about the only thing he does is mow the lawn once a week. I edge, weedwhack and sweep the sidewalks. Even when it comes to yard work, I get more of the chores! I honestly don't think he would even remember trash day or recycle day, and he certainly wouldn't remember water bottle delivery day! He does like to cook big meals when time allows, but to be real honest with you I'd rather have soup, salad and sandwich for dinner after a long day at work than to eat a huge meal and than stay up until 10:30 that night cleaning all the pots and pans he uses! Yes - the bulk of the entire house workload does fall on me; and I am becoming increasingly more angry about that fact. Even though we both have full-time jobs, my husband earns about three times what I make, and I sometimes wonder if that's why he doesn't do more around the house. My opinion is: It shouldn't matter about the size of the income; we're both away from the house all day, and we both have the same amount of "free" time in the evenings and on weekends. I sometimes wonder how men can just sit there and watch the women they supposedly love and care about work their fingers to the bone doing all the housework? I know I couldn't do it. And when you ask them why they don't contribute more, most of the time the lame-ass answer is: "You didn't tell me it needed doing!". I find that hysterically funny, because you sure don't need to tell the WOMEN that the clothes need cleaning, the kids need feeding, the house needs vacuuming. I remember telling my DH that "this was his house too, and he should be able to see the things that needed doing just as well as I could!". It's amazing how they can turn a blind eye to the chores that need doing when they don't feel like doing them. A man can get away with a messy house and uncut lawn - but due to an awful double standard, women can't. Make no mistake - I love my husband, but this household workload inequity is really starting to bother me. And don't even get me started on the holidays - I'm beginning to dread holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas; simply because it means all that extra work on top of all the work that I'm already doing! DH and I have been together 15 years; and for those 15 years, he has NEVER once taken charge of the holidays, whether it be Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's ALWAYS been up to me to take care of the Christmas cards (and that includes keeping track of all HIS friends when they move!) and accompanying letter, decorating the house, getting the tree up and decorating it. It's kind of hard to enjoy the "season" when your bone-tired! I'm beginning to feel like the "perfect" holiday for me would be a holiday where I wasn't expected to do anything - no decorations, no presents, no extra work of any kind! It's not that I don't like the holidays - I do - but it's becoming just TOO much work that it's tough to take some time out from all the hustle and bustle and just enjoy the holidays! I know that doesn't sound very festive, and I wonder if anyone else out there feels the same way I do about this. Now, I know that there are men out there who do more domestically than their women; it's just that more often that not, it's the women to do all the domestic housework. It's almost like we were expected to go out there and have full-time jobs and careers and STILL act like Donna Reed and have a four-course dinner prepared with the house spotless and ready for "hubby" to come home! Thanks for letting me vent, everyone! Dances - I know this doesn't solve your problem, but hopefully it will make you feel better so know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE in this.