Leathers and Suedes are “coats” worn first by others. For this article, leathers will refer to both leather and suede (and even fur). The most common leather comes from cowhide, sheepskin or pigskin. Of course there can be exotic ones that come from snake, etc.
To clean leather, a special process is used. It differs from regular drycleaning. For that reason, most drycleaners send out their leathers for cleaning to a leather specialist. However advances in chemistry have allowed those cleaners who desire to want to clean leathers themselves allow them to do many that in the past would have been sent out.
About a decade ago, advances in leather cleaning included wetcleaning them in special dye fixers, detergents, conditioners and softening agents. Sometimes this is called a “green” cleaning of them. But whether they are drycleaned or wetcleaned, special detergents, oils, conditioners and softening agents are used to protect the leather, and to keep it soft and supple.
In 2004, One Hour Cleaners started to clean leathers and suedes on site. From its beginning in 1958 until about 1979, we cleaned our own leathers and suedes, however the chemistry at the time did not have all the benefits that it has now. From 1979 until the middle of the 1990’s, we sent them to a high quality leather specialist who did a fabulous job on them. However that business closed and the whole leather market dropped substantially. So we quit taking them in. However in 2004 and beyond, lots of lower cost leathers have hit the consumer market again and we decided that we wanted to be different than the average cleaners.
A few years ago at Christmas, stores were filled with leather and suede garments under $100. I mean if you buy a $40 skirt, you sure don’t want a $40 bill for cleaning. The process we use, allows us to clean the leathers for about 50% of what other cleaners charge their customers (to have them sent out).
However no leather cleaner can predict and avoid problems such as:
- skins cut too thin, later causing them to tear or have holes
- glue stains due to the manufacturer using a glue soluble in the cleaning solution
- shrinkage because the tanner overstretched the skins
- mismatch of skins giving different appearance after cleaning
- vein marks
- fly bites, barb wire pricks and other “scabs/sores” initially masked over by the tanner
- belly wrinkles
- removal of all stains is not always possible
- loss of improperly dyed materials