How to wash a leather jacket at home? Can I use a washing machine for this? These are the questions asked by fans of outerwear made from natural materials. In our article we will tell you whether it is possible to wash a leather jacket and how to do it correctly.
Dry cleaning for leather clothing is preferable to wet cleaning (washing). Leather jackets protect well from bad weather and serve their owners for a long time. Find out how to care for your skin in this article.
Machine washing rules
To minimize possible harm to the product, follow the instructions below. But first, remove all items from your pockets and remove fur and other decorative elements if they can be removed.
Selecting a remedy
It is better to wash a leather jacket in a washing machine with special gels or similar products. Do not use washing powders: they may leave stains on the product, which you will have to get rid of later.
It is better to choose a liquid detergent that is suitable for gentle washing of items of the corresponding color. Do not use bleaches or stain removers as they will ruin the fabric.
Setting the mode
For such items, only a delicate washing cycle or a special program for wool is suitable. If your machine allows you to select the desired temperature, set it at 30 degrees, and set the spin to 400 revolutions or turn it off altogether, if possible.
Proper drying
After washing, leave the leather jacket in the washing machine for 10-15 minutes until the excess water drains out on its own. It is better to open the door. Then take out the jacket, place it on a hanger with wide hangers and leave it to dry.
Do not place it near open fire or heating devices, and do not use a hair dryer or leave it in the open sun. Strong thermal exposure can cause the skin to become deformed.
The jacket should dry on its own at room temperature. It is best if it is in a bright, well-ventilated area.
Careful ironing
As a rule, leather products practically do not wrinkle and do not require smoothing. When hanging, the material will straighten itself and take the desired shape.
In addition, the leather does not tolerate high temperatures well, so it can only be ironed through gauze on the lining side.
Periodically cleaning leather jackets from small stains and dust
- You can get rid of dirt and dust by regularly wiping the product with a soft sponge moistened with soapy water or warm water. For a good effect, it is recommended to add 20-25 drops of ammonia (per half a liter of liquid). Next, the remaining soap solution is washed off with water, the surface of the wardrobe item is wiped dry and lubricated with cream;
- Thin and soft leather is cleaned with a dry rag or wiped with milk, then blotted with a napkin and lubricated with warm glycerin.
When to use other methods
There are several situations when it would be unwise to use a washing machine and it is better to use local remedies and tricks.
Minor abrasions and cracks have appeared
Typically such problems occur in the area of the sleeves and collar. To get rid of them, use glycerin. Soak a cotton pad with the product and wipe the problem areas. Instead of glycerin, you can use citrus peels: they are treated with a similar substance before sale.
Drops of dirt, dust, whitewash
If you splash the surface of the jacket, simply wipe it with a damp cloth or the soft side of a sponge. As a rule, this is enough to remove contaminants. Wring out the rag well so that it is not too wet.
Oily stains
If you get oily, a clear dishwashing detergent will help. Soak a piece of cloth in it and wipe the problem areas.
Dye
To remove it, use nail polish remover without acetone and a cotton pad.
Be careful not to damage or stain the leather. Especially if the product itself is painted in a bright or dark color.
The smell of sweat
Usually the lining of the product suffers from this problem. If possible, peel it off and wash it by hand or with a machine. If sewing back the lining is not possible, simply turn the jacket inside out and fold it so that no skin is visible. Then, using a sponge and soap solution, go over the lining, carefully rinse it and dry it naturally.
After some thought, Victoria, our proofreader, decided to use local cleaning methods. But I was happy to experiment on my son’s old leather jacket. I managed to wash it carefully on the wool cycle using gel for delicate fabrics. Overall, Victoria was pleased with the result. But, by her own admission, she would not risk repeating the experiment on a new jacket.
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Cleaning the lining
If you have a favorite leather item in your wardrobe, you will have to keep it in order regularly. A special dry cleaning product will be a good helper . For example, Hagerty. Dry Cleaner Kit, DRYEL, etc.
When choosing a product, pay attention to several characteristics:
- Compliance of the preparation with the fabric from which the lining is made.
- Method of use . Please note whether the product can be machine washed. If you often have to remove stains, for example, from children's clothing, it will be more profitable to buy such a product.
- Does it contain aggressive substances ? You need to be careful with these products, otherwise your lining may change under their influence.
- Are there aromatic additives that are transferred to fabrics? Perhaps you have individual preferences for scents.
When using dry cleaning products, you should strictly follow the manufacturer's recommendations for its use . This will help maintain the quality of your clothes.
Advice. You can refresh the lining using environmentally friendly natural substances: soda, talc, starch. They are applied to the fabric, left for a while, and then thoroughly cleaned.
Recovery after the procedure
Most often, after washing, the previous shine that gave the leather product newness disappears. To solve this problem, there are simple but effective recipes:
- Candle wax. If your jacket needs to add a touch of shine or shimmer, wax is ideal. It is enough to melt a candle and apply a little to the desired areas of leather or substitute clothing.
- Glycerol. You need to rub it into areas of a more faded shade. It is absorbed quickly, about an hour or a little more. Glycerin will also add a little softness to the product.
How to remove an unpleasant smell from a jacket
Here's what you can do to clean your leather jacket to remove various unpleasant odors:
- To rid a piece of clothing of sweat that has been absorbed into the skin, fill the bathtub with hot water and pour in a glass of vinegar. We hang the item upside down on hangers over the water and leave it in the bathroom, the door of which is tightly closed. There will be no smell of sweat after hanging the item over steam for two hours;
- If the jacket is thin, excess moisture will not do it any good. Sprinkle bad-smelling areas with baking soda moistened with water. For an item soaked in tobacco smoke, the entire lining is sprinkled with wet soda, and after drying it is shaken off;
- Freshly ground coffee, which is sprinkled on the entire leather product, helps perfectly against the smell, and after a day the powder is shaken off;
- Orange zest also helps eliminate the unpleasant aroma of sweat, smoking or other stench. The outer part of the crusts is used to rub the skin;
- Oranges and coffee are not suitable for light-colored products; they can color the material.
Leather care
If the surface of the product has lost its softness, has become rough and dry, and has also become dull and acquired microcracks, you can give it elasticity and color using aerosol paint for leather or using homemade methods.
To restore shine and softness, use:
- Beaten egg white;
- Warmed glycerin;
- Sliced onion;
- Fresh lemon cut;
- Coffee grounds wrapped in soft cloth;
- Orange peel.
After treatment, rub the surface of the product until it shines with a soft cloth, lubricate it with glycerin, colorless cream (for skin) or castor oil.
Taking good care of the jacket will yield results - it will warm and delight its owner for many years.
Cleaning light and white leather products
You can clean a light leather jacket with a product that does not leave yellow spots or streaks. These include: lemon juice, cow's milk, talcum powder, egg white, dish detergent (without color).
- To make a white jacket look like new, it is treated with a napkin dipped in milk. This will give the skin shine and softness, brighten it;
- A yellowed white leather jacket is bleached with lemon juice, wiped and hung on hangers until dry;
- Lemon is not suitable for clothes of other colors, and it should not be used often either - the sour juice can harm the skin;
- Simple stains are removed from a light-colored item using egg white, which at the same time gives it shine. The protein is whipped, applied to the material until it dries, then washed off with warm water;
- To clean a white jacket from small grease stains, take soapy water with ammonia or a solution of dishwashing detergent;
- A mixture of talc with gasoline or turpentine will remove complex stains. The problem area is treated with a thick solution, glass is placed on it, and pressed with a press. After the mixture has dried, the material is cleaned with a soft brush, wiped with a damp sponge, and lubricated with glycerin.
Drying rules
There are several rules:
Do not expose your skin to strong heat, that is, leave it near fireplaces or stoves.- When using a hair dryer, the air blown out should be cold.
- Do not leave in direct sunlight.
- You can dry a leather jacket only in a vertical position.
- It is best to dry in a well-ventilated place.
Professional products
Leather care products can be purchased in stores. Depending on the intended purpose, professional products can be used to perform different procedures. Basically, the end result should be:
- return of natural shine;
- creation of a protective, waterproof layer;
- increasing the service life of the product;
- surface cleaning;
- revitalization of color and others.
For maximum results, any product must first be tested on an inconspicuous area.
Depending on the tasks, a list of necessary products for the care of leather clothing is determined. We invite you to familiarize yourself with professional leather care products.
Water repellent spray
We will not consider ratings of the best sprays, but we will touch on the general principle of operation and rules of use. The purpose of the spray is to penetrate the fabric and form a layer impenetrable to water. It is needed in order to:
- resist the negative effects of direct rays of the sun;
- protection of fabric from fading and loss of color;
- Serves as a barrier to prevent dirt and water from penetrating the skin.
It is recommended to use water-repellent sprays and caring creams more often.
Impregnation provides reliable protection of the material from drying out and weathering. Improves color saturation. Water-repellent sprays can be classified as cosmetics. Their use is relevant for regular surface treatment.
Note! In addition to universal sprays, it is not difficult to find narrowly targeted sprays in stores for a specific type of skin and the characteristics of its surface.
Special sponge
This refers to a sponge impregnated with a special substance based on wax, fat, or other materials. Their structure may be different, depending on the intended purpose. But basically, it is foam rubber of round, oval or square shape, of small thickness. For ease of use, the sponge can be placed on top of the container in which the silicone or wax mixture is located in order to constantly feed it during use.
Special sponges contain components that allow you to properly care for your skin.
Wax
This material is known for its characteristics. In particular, wax can provide a high level of water resistance. It works the same way, regardless of the form in which it is produced (be it a spray or a rub). Thanks to wax you can:
- provide a water barrier and protection from pollution;
- simplify the care of the item;
- make the surface shiny, saturate the shade.
You can soften a leather jacket with wax.
Requires regular use, if not daily, then at least once a week. Wax melts when exposed to elevated temperatures. The film that it forms on the surface of the jacket is quite dense, although unnoticeable.
Foam cleaner
This foam has proven to be quite effective in practice; it has been used (and actively) for more than 10 years. During this time, manufacturers have significantly improved the composition and made it more effective. The whole process comes down to minor manipulations:
- foam is applied to the surface of the jacket in places of contamination;
- Different formulations will require different times to achieve maximum effect;
- The remaining foam is wiped off with a damp cloth or sponge.
Manufacturers recommend foam shampoo for dry cleaning for all skin types.
If the contamination is not completely eliminated, then you will need to repeat the procedure. Since the product is professional, its use does not harm the surface.
Recommendation! Such products need to be selected based on skin type, surface structure and complexity of contamination. The instructions on the product label will help with this.
