Leather or vinyl insert on desk

[David N]

Iv'e just purchased a table that has either a leather or vinyl insert on the top and it needs replacing. How involved is the replacement process? What glue do I use? Is vinyl a better option than leather? I would like to do this replacement myself therefore any advice would be appreciated.

[China]

If the desk/table is a good quality example it would be leather and should be replaced with leather, a quality contact adhesive will do the job. However if the desk/table has antique value make sure you know what you are doing or you could destroy it's value

[Woodwould]

If the table is an antique of any value, then I would advise you let a professional lay a new hide or skiver on it.

Contact glues don't allow repositioning of the hide, so if you decide to try it yourself, you'd need to be pretty sure of getting it right the first time.

Flour paste was the traditional adhesive used for laying hides and is reversible. It's slow drying and so allows plenty of time to reposition the hide which is a great advantage if you buy one pre-tooled. Wallpaper paste is a good substitute for flour paste, but flour paste only takes a few minutes to make and everyone has flour in their kitchen.