Did You Know You Can Dry Clean Your Leather Bags?

We frequently receive questions from customers with leather handbags about whether they can get those bags dry cleaned. The answer? You sure can! Here’s some general information from our expert leather cleaners in Dallas, TX about general cleaning tips for your leather handbag.

Dry cleaning

Dry cleaning for leather should only be used for more significant stains, such as oil spills, ink stains or dye transfer stains. For these types of severe stains, you’re going to want to avoid using home remedies.

In these situations, you should seek the assistance of a professional leather care expert. A strong, solvent-based chemical might remove the stain, but it can also destroy the leather and remove a lot of its characteristics and colors. Therefore, if you’re going to use any type of dry cleaning practice with chemicals, you must follow it up with a color restoration process.

The alternative here is to get your leather bag reconditioned if you are worried about what the chemicals associated with dry cleaning could do to your leather. But as long as you properly restore the leather when the dry cleaning process is complete, you shouldn’t have to worry about permanent damage.

Just make sure you don’t attempt to clean the stained area of your bag with a shoe polish—many people assume that since shoes are made with leather, you can find a matching color polish to use to block out the stain. However, this polish is only meant to be used on shoes, and could harm the bag’s leather.

Other cleaning tips

There are some other ways you can clean your leather bags without using the dry cleaning process. Of course, most of these types of cleaning strategies can only be used for minor spills and stains, and will not be as effective, but they at least do not have the same level of risk of damaging the leather that the chemical-based dry cleaning processes will.

First and foremost, you should wipe down the surface of your bag once a week with warm, soapy water using a damp cloth. This will help you clear away visible dirt and prevent more rapid weathering of your leather bag. Make sure to wipe with the grain of the handbag so you don’t accidentally damage the leather. Also avoid using baby wipes, vinegar or any other “home remedies” or chemicals—soap and water lightly run over the surface is about as far as you should go with your home cleanings.

Also, try to clean the spills and marks as soon as they happen. For example, ink marks should be treated almost immediately to achieve the best results. You can purchase special ink-removing products for leather, or ask a professional to take a look for you. If the stains are too old for you to remove them effectively, don’t press the issue—they’re going to need professional care.

For more information about dry cleaning leather and other leather care tips, contact the leather cleaners in Dallas, TX at J’s Tailor & Cleaners today.