wetcleaning leather and furs

I get a lot of questions regarding wetcleaning leather, fur and Ugg boots. Most of them simply sent the out. Sometimes even that is not easy with so many leather cleaners out of business. Some complain about low quality and strong solvent odor and feel guilty for charging so much for them.
Some simply don’t take leather goods to preempt any problems. This is like throwing away money in my opinion. We charge hansom fees for doing leather goods. Leather jumper or trouser is $40~$80. Furs are $100~$200, or even higher. Would you give up on these high-ticket items if cleaning was easy?
I have always said leather cleaning is very easy when you wetclean. Wetcleaning will give you result that no solvent cleaning can match. Let me explain.

Chemicals you need
The key to successful wetcleaning is chemicals. I wouldn’t attempt wetcleaning leather goods without them.

1. Acidic soap: Animal products like leather and furs are protein. Alkali will damage protein. An acidic soap will protect protein and keep the surface from damage.
2. Conditioner: If a leather good became stiff after cleaning, it’s because leather’s natural oil is lost during cleaning. In case of fur, it is lanolin that keeps them nice and shiny. Lanolin is an oil from hair follicles. It helps keep animal hair from rain and heat loss. It is really a gift from God. The conditioner is needed to replenish oil lost during cleaning.
3. Spotting chemicals: Alkaline spotting chemicals can induce color loss. That’s why you need neutral chemicals. With any leather goods, it’s best to stay away from alkaline chemicals.
   If you have these chemicals, you can wetclean leather goods. Specialty chemicals like sheen restorer is not necessary. I personally have never used one. I use Aqua Master chemicals for all my work.

Spotting
Usually, leather goods come in very dirty. Some jumper’s collar and cuff area is especially worse. It’s better to spray and wet the area first. When you spot, the fringe is susceptible to color loss and wetting the area first helps prevent that.
My spotting formula is as follows:

1. Stain Out and water, 1 to 1. Spray on the stain and use a soft brush.
2. Stain Out 12 oz., Grease Out 12 oz., and Water 1 gallon.
   The second formula works well for shirt collars.
   Stains on furs are easily removed just by wetcleaning so spotting is usually not necessary. If there are cosmetic stain or something like that, use the first formula.

Wetcleaning
Leather and furs do not require special cycle. You can use your regular wetcleaning cycle. If color loss is likely, wetclean separately.
In the final rinse, put in twice as much conditioner. Suede and Ugg boots can loose soft feel with too much conditioner so use your normal amount.
Extract at low or medium setting.

Drying
Leather goods should be air dried. Wet leather is very heavy and will drip a lot so use thick hangers. Once they are dry, leather will be stiff and furs will look flat and horrible. It’s to be expected so don’t be alarmed. Tumble dry at 45~50℃ with other clothes. Fabric clothes will provide gentle friction to make leather soft and shiny.
Tumble dry when there is some moisture left in them and dry all the way.
For even better quality, spray leather goods with conditioner solution (conditioner 1, water 2) and rub with your hand. It’s not for suede and Uggs.
Conditioners do their work during tumble drying. Oil and lanolin lost during washing is replenished and redistributed to make them soft and add sheen. If you dry like that, you will have soft and shiny leather and full furs.
As you can see, leather and furs does not need a special process as long as you use right chemicals. Leather item is a good money maker. Do it yourself and keep the money. One cleaner I know is now doing leather goods for other cleaners using this method.