Leathercare

Please note that the finish on leather can vary, depending on the nap of the leather, the following are just a few simple suggestions for the basic care and cleaning of your leather items.

1. Instructions - Follow carefully any care instructions that might come with your product.

2. Test - Always test your chosen form of cleaning on your product in a small-unseen area.

3. Unfinished Leather - Please note that unfinished leathers are more prone to staining and will darken with water, and are more difficult to clean and keep clean.

4. General Clean - A damp cloth with a little moisturising soap lathered up well, will shine and generally clean your product up nicely. However do not rinse with water, use a soft non-abrasive dry cloth to buff the leather.

5. Water - If leather becomes soaked with water never try to dry the item quickly. Let it dry slowly and naturally. Water stains will generally need professional treatment.

6. Grease - If leather has a grease stain, try sprinkling the stain with cornstarch or talcum powder and leave for a few hours and this will absorb the grease. Finally just gently wipe or brush off the residue.

7. Salt - Salt stains on leather can usually be treated with a vinegar and water solution, which should be applied by dabbing on gently with a damp cloth.

8. Ink - Ink stains which are very tricky to remove, should be treated as soon as possible. One suggestion is to use a white eraser and if this does not work then professional cleaning is recommended.

9. Gum - To remove chewing gum from your product, you would first need to insert ice cubes into a plastic bag and rub the bag of cubes over the area containing the gum. When the gum has hardened then peel off the gum.

10. Bad Odours - To remove bad odours, or stale smells, try making a little cotton bag or pouch and fill it with 2 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda, and tie the ends with a piece of string or an elastic band, and leave it inside your bag for a couple of days, and this should leave your bag smelling much cleaner.
    
    
11. Consult - Finally, if you have any doubts on how to clean or maintain your leather product always consult a professional.
    
    

General Handbag Care

Regularly clean out your Bag, (we suggest at least once a month) and shred and bin old receipts, Avoid overstuffing your Handbag and remove unwanted items, as this should also help to keeps its shape and last longer. Also regularly streamlining and weeding out non-essentials will make your bag lighter, and easier to carry around and might be of help to avoid back or shoulder strain.

Types of Leather

Leather has been used for centuries and the first recorded use of leather was for clothes and shelter. There are many types of leathers which are used today for a variety of different purposes such as clothes, furniture, handbags, jewellery, musical instruments such as drums, glue, shoes, luggage, leather to bind books, belts, horse saddles and stirrup leathers, seats in cars, tents, gloves, leather motorcycle equipment and at one time wine was also stored and carried in new leather bottles.

The most commonly used leather today is of course cowhide, and the finish on leather can vary, based on the quality and process used to treat it. Generally speaking leather can be categorized into three main types; Full Grain Leather, Corrected Leather and Split Leather.

Full Grain Leather - This type of leather is of the best quality and the most durable and strongest. This leather is comprised of the top layer of the hide and has had just the hair removed and all marks such as insect bites and scars are not removed by buffing or sanding, making the leather heavier, and longer lasting.

This type of leather can be treated in two different ways, known as aniline and semi-aniline:

Aniline leather is treated with a transparent dye so all the texture of the skin, along with any marks such as bites and scars are visible, but this leather is also very delicate, soft, breathable and porous, the most expensive, and over time, use and handling a natural patina will develop, along with possible cracking or splitting on the hide, which all adds to the natural beauty of the product. Only the best quality hides are used for this process, and because the chemical treatment given to the leather is kept to the minimum this means the leather is prone to fading in direct sunlight, and more likely to stain, as it is porous. Aniline leather is often used to make shoes, so sometimes the tendency is to use a wax spray to make the leather more water repellent, and provide a measure of protection from the elements.

Semi-aniline is when the leather is dyed to give it more protection and is the more popular option as they are easier to clean, maintain and protect from the elements, and makes for a good quality harder wearing leather.

Corrected Leather

This type of leather has had all marks such as scratches, scars and bites, buffed and sanded to be removed. This leather can also be treated in two different ways, again semi-aniline and the other is pigmented.

Semi-aniline treatment of a protective coat of dye is applied in the same way as it is to full grain leather which makes it that little bit more waterproof, and less prone to fading from the sun, and to make it easier to keep clean, but this only takes place after the leather has been buffed and sanded to remove all the marks such as scratches, bites and scars.

Pigmented is the second method and the most popular and common as it offers the greatest protection from the elements and is the most practical and easiest to maintain. The finish on pigmented leather has a shine similar to a lacquered finish on furniture. The more protective layers that are added to the leather the sturdier in texture the leather becomes and of course harder wearing, and less light and shade is detected in the colour of the leather.

Split Leather

This type of leather is commonly known as suede and comes from the underneath part of the hide. This is what is left over after the top part of the leather (or top grainleather) is removed. It can be trimmed to whatever thickness is required based on what is left over, after the top piece is removed. It is not as strong or as long lasting as the leathers mentioned above, and can stain easily. It usually feels soft and velvety to the touch depending again on the quality of the suede, and is often used to make jackets, or ladies suits, as well as handbags.