Caring For Vintage Leather Products

People who own fine furniture, decent clothes, or well made carpet often wonder how to remove stains from these important surfaces. But when it's a matter of leather cleaning, this question becomes all the more important.

Leather is widely used--and widely appreciated--because of its durability. But that durability can be its own downfall. People tend to treat that battered old leather jacket, or the expensive leather-upholstered couch, as if they had never heard the words "leather cleaner," as if carefulness were unnecessary, precisely because leather furniture and clothing is thought to be so durable.

Why watch out for embedded crumbs or bother to clean up old spills, the reasoning goes, when the upholstery of the couch is made from materials that once served a tough old animal as a perfectly serviceable protection against inclement weather and persistent bugs? Leather cleaning seems less urgent than, say, keeping white T-shirts spotless or silk scarves unstained, because of leather's inherent toughness. But this careless attitude leads to a lack of watchfulness, in which it is easier for stains to set in unnoticed. And once a stain is set, the owner will be wondering how to remove stains--nasty, set in stains--that could have been removed earlier with much less effort.

All of these problems are sharpened even more for the owner of vintage leather furniture, clothes, or other goods. Leather, for all its resiliency, does age, like anything else. Among the indignities that all leather is heir to are cracking, which happens in low-moisture environments as leather dries out, and so-called red rot, which happens in high-humidity environments as leather reduces itself to a sort of powdery dust.

There are conditioners that supposedly help the material last longer, but they do so at the risk of long term chemical change, stickiness, and stains. (How to remove stains caused by leather conditioners? The answer is, you can't.) In the case of leather, an ounce of prevention generally trumps a pound of cure in the first place. So: Knowing a few stain prevention tips, and picking out a good, reliable leather cleaner (which won't hurt aged leather), are your best bets.

First of all, leather cleaning is important. If the piece of leather has not been cleaned in many years, or has been in contact with substances such as perspiration, blood, or other bodily fluids--always a danger for those leather jackets worn on long motorcycle trips, or even leather couches in parts of the country that get hot during the summer--commercial dry cleaning fluid, applied sparingly, may take care of the issues.

Dry cleaning fluid may possibly work as a leather cleaner, though not as a stain preventer. For lighter spills, such as food or drink, a little soap and water is usually all that's necessary in the way of leather cleaning. Before you ask how to remove stains, it's best to prevent them entirely, by cleaning your leather clothing or furniture as regularly as you would any other part of your house or wardrobe.

All the leather cleaning, and all the expensive leather cleaners in the world won't save your household leather if it's badly stored, however. It's important to keep leather in a cool, dry environment, but not so dry that the leather dries out: Anything under forty percent relative humidity will damage leather as surely as will the red-rot inducing high humidity conditions. Also, keep leather out of direct sunlight.

One of the drawbacks of leather, which also relates to leather cleaning, is leather's propensity for holding on to odors. Once an odor is allowed to set in to a piece of old leather, that odor can be immovable! And leather cleaners and conditioners won't necessarily solve this problem.

What may solve it - and of course, all the tips mentioned should be tested first, is the discreet application of two products found in nearly everybody's pantry or refrigerator, and usually forgotten there for months at a time: vinegar or baking soda. A vinegar-water mixture is already well known among savvy home care consultants as a cheap, effective, and environmentally friendly household cleaner that works for most anything that doesn't require antibacterial or bleach level cleaning.

For tougher stains, which don't respond to the leather cleaners mentioned above, a stain remover may be used. These are commercial products made by companies that have studied how to remove stains and have tested the best methods. Leather cleaning is made easier with these products (just as clothes cleaning is made easier with spray-and-wash or pre-wash treatments), but that doesn't mean you can be careless in selecting a stain remover. It's not just important that it removes stains, but how to remove them: the best stain removers for vintage leather will use all natural chemicals and avoid harsh additives.