How to Clean a Sheepskin

Sheepskins, whether used to prevent bedsores or for baby's sleeping comfort get dirty. Here's how to clean them for a longer life.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Dry Messes: When used in car seats and strollers, easy chairs or wheel-chairs, sheepskins accumulate cookie crumbs and other dry messes. You should periodically shake out, vacuum and comb out your dry sheepskin.

2. For major wet accidents, you can either take it to the dry cleaner, or machine wash with Sheepskin Cleaner. If you machine wash, you should use gentle cycle and then air dry. If you don't want to purchase a special Sheepskin Shampoo, use any good quality perfume & dye free detergent, or whatever you normally use for baby's clothes.

3. For spot stains, a little shampoo in warm water will do the trick, just make sure you rinse out what you put in, and like any other animal hair, a hair dryer set on low heat will speed up the process of drying.

4. Remember, sheepskins are leather on one side and hair on the other, you are actually caring for 2 different natural materials.

Tips & Warnings

• When you wash leather it may stiffen up when dry. You will need to hand work the leather; a rolling pin on the ironing board also works well.
• In extreme cases a little baseball glove oil works as well. (Only apply to the leather side obviously, don't pour it in the hair!)
• Specially formulated lanolin sheepskin shampoos are available for either spot cleaning or for the washer
• Sheepskin combs have wide spaced wire bristles to gently lift and separate the natural fibers of your sheepskin
• Natural sheepskins will shrink after washing. This is natural.
• If you decide to wash a sheepskin with the rest of your laundry, it will usually survive for a couple of years before it starts to break down.

Resources

• you can get sheepskins, sheepskin shampoo or combs here