How Does Leather Cleaner Work?

Leather and Fashion

Leather has been a part of fashion for hundreds of years. There are different types and qualities of leather and each has to be handled in certain ways to get the leather clean. Many people, rather than trying to clean leather garments themselves, choose to take them to a drycleaner that specializes in leather care.

Different Types of Leather

There are different types of leather that are made into clothing, termed finished leather, and unfinished leather. Finished leather is what you will find with skirts, jackets and even leather purses in most cases. An example of an unfinished leather item would be a pair of boots. Another type of leather is suede and it has its own cleaning routine. Suede is made from the underside of the skin of an animal and has a napped finish that requires unique care. Suede is made into every type of garment so it is important to know how to clean it and how that cleaner works.

Leather Cleaner for Unfinished Leather

When cleaning a garment or pair of boots made from unfinished leather, you need saddle soap and a clean damp cloth or sponge. To clean the unfinished leather, use the damp sponge or cloth and rub the saddle soap into the leather, then wipe the lather away and allow it to air dry. Using a good leather preservative, like mink oil, afterwards will help to preserve unfinished leather. A good saddle soap is glycerine based and has a neutral pH balance. This type of saddle soap will clean and condition the leather, but will not leave a residue, nor make the leather sticky to the touch. It will also prevent dust or other small particles from sticking to it.

Leather Cleaner for Finished Leather

When cleaning a jacket or skirt or purse made from finished leather, you need a gentle liquid detergent, preferably one like Dove, so it does not stain the leather, a damp cloth or sponge, and a dry cloth. To clean finished leather, work up a light lather with the damp cloth or sponge and then work it in gentle circles on the leather to lift dirt and stains. When done, wipe away the lather and do not rinse with water, which can damage leather. You would then polish the leather with the dry towel and treat it with a leather conditioner as with unfinished leather.

Leather Cleaner for Suede

Suede is a bit different to clean than unfinished and finished leather. For one thing it tends to be thinner than other leathers and it has a napped finish.To clean suede, rub it gently with a towel to help restore the nap, then instead of applying water, which can easily ruin suede, use a pencil eraser to erase away stains. Restoring the nap first will make this easier by loosening the stain. Once the stain is erased using a suede brush helps to restore suede to its original beauty. If the eraser did not take away the stain, you could take a damp cloth with a bit of white vinegar and rub it gently over the stain, then allow it to dry. In most cases, the white vinegar dissolves the stain like magic.

Resources

• What is the Best Way to Clean Suede?
• How to clean leather
• Oakwood liquid saddle soap