How to clean a leather jacket at home?

With the onset of cold weather everyone cooks warm clothes. Leather jackets, raincoats, sheepskin coats are very popular in our country among outerwear. Such things keep warm, comfortable in them, and they look beautiful, stylish and durable.

But there is a downside: various spots are clearly visible on leather clothes. So that services in specialized dry cleaners do not ruin your budget, it is worth trying to restore the appearance of your favorite product on your own. Folk remedies and funds from the supermarket will help you with this.

A leather jacket will look fresh and tidy if you periodically carry out simple care for it. This applies to both genuine leather and leatherette products.

Depending on weather conditions and other factors, Jacket surface cleaning should be done approximately once a month. To do this, it is enough to dilute a soap solution with the addition of a few drops of ammonia and wipe the entire surface with gentle movements. It is better to wipe with a soft cloth (for example, a flannel) or a non-abrasive sponge, while squeezing well before wiping.

Do not rub strongly and stretch the skin, otherwise the product may become deformed after drying. After a soapy solution, gently wipe everything with clean water. The final stage in the planned care after drying the jacket is rubbing the surface to give shine and softness. For this procedure, you can use a special tool for leather and leather products or improvised materials: castor oil or glycerin.

When the jacket is very dirty, there is a desire to wash it in the washing machine. There are cases when such washing in an automatic machine did not ruin a leather product, but often manufacturers do not recommend doing this. Such experiments can irreparably ruin your favorite and expensive thing. There are things from leatherette and eco-leather that can be washed in a machine in a certain mode, but this must be indicated on the label in the "Care" section.

Washing leather outerwear at home permissible only for lining and then - with great care. It is necessary to turn the jacket inside out, while trying to protect the skin as much as possible from moisture. Then you need to moisten the lining fabric well, rub it with a soapy solution or a powder / liquid detergent solution, and then rinse thoroughly with clean water. Leave to dry the jacket in the same state turned out on the shoulders at room temperature, avoiding direct sunlight and heating appliances.

Another option to remove contaminated light or color lining is to rip it off and put it in an automatic machine. But this option is suitable for those who can then sew it on their own back. Dark-colored linings can be wiped with a clean cloth dipped in water and vinegar.

If things from leatherette are allowed to be washed in the machine by the manufacturer, then consider the following recommendations:

• It is better to erase things from the inside, to fasten pockets and fasteners, to pull out a belt from loops.
• Use liquid detergent, it rinses better.
• Choose a delicate or hand wash mode.
• Do not use spin.
• Water temperature should not be higher than 30 degrees.
• After washing, wrap the item in a towel, let the water soak into the fabric, and only then hang it on your shoulders to dry completely.

The hand wash of a faux leather jacket is almost no different from the machine, the requirements for temperature and detergent are the same. For greater effect, you can add vinegar to the basin. And do not rub the thing, but rather use a washcloth. The drying process is the same as machine wash.

There are a large number of ways to clean leather products from hard to remove stains that you can choose, depending on your capabilities. But regardless of the nature of the stain, first you need to clean the product from dirt and dust, properly wash with soap and water.

A universal cleaner for all types of stains does not exist, for each pollution there is a counteraction. But immediately make a reservation that it’s better to check any cleaner you have chosen on the skin that is inside out, this especially applies to things painted in bright colors - red, yellow, green, pink. There is a possibility that the skin from which your jacket is sewn may not tolerate contact with the drug.

So:

• Solvent, turpentine, acetone will help wipe off the paint. Carefully treat the area of ​​contamination with a soft cloth moistened with the chosen product, and then wipe the area with a softening product such as glycerin, castor oil or a special cream for leather items. The unpleasant chemical smell will go away faster if you leave the cleaned clothes to air out for a while in the open air. Gas will help get rid of mold traces, but it is better to take clean or aviation.
• The chemical solvents listed above are suitable for thick and rough skin. If your jacket is made of thin and soft leather, then it is better to try more natural products.Take chalk (you need to crumble to a powdery state), potato starch or talcum powder, add a little water to get a thick, porridge-like solution. Put the resulting composition on the stain and leave for several hours.

• Another unpleasant kind of stains that cannot be removed with soapy water is ink from a pen. Most noticeable are such marks on fair skin. It is easy to remove traces from a felt-tip pen or pen using a cotton pad dipped in medical alcohol. It will also help remove greasy stains from food.
• Traces of salt and stains that form after precipitation can be removed with the help of a very budget product that every housewife has. It is necessary to wipe the surface with a cloth soaked in table vinegar.

• Blood is another difficult source of pollution. It must be washed immediately with cold soapy water. An important point: when removing such spots, it is necessary to move from the edge to the center, otherwise the area of ​​contamination will increase. Blood can still be cleaned with hydrogen peroxide, but before that, test its effect on the inside of the jacket. In addition to the above, traces of blood can be removed using an aspirin tablet dissolved in water.
• When removing stains on things of white color, you should be especially careful, there is a danger of a color change to yellowish shades. Ordinary milk can come to the rescue: it will not leave smudges and stains on the jacket, moreover, it has a softening effect. Here is another recipe for removing stains on light-skinned clothes: mix 0.2 liters of water with 2 tablespoons of ammonia and 2 teaspoons of baking soda, and for a greater effect, add a few drops of dishwashing detergent to the resulting mixture. Grate the stain with the resulting solution and leave for at least 30 minutes, then rinse with clean water.

• To remove stained stains on leather things of black and brown color, there is another popular recipe for a cleaner: you need to mix denatured alcohol and turpentine in equal parts, add a few drops of glycerin. Apply the resulting composition with a brush to dirt and rub a little, then rinse with water. Be sure to use a brush with soft bristles, an old toothbrush will work well.
• For colored leather products, it is better to use more natural ingredients. An ordinary bulb can do just fine with this. It is necessary to clean the contamination with an onion cut, the procedure should be carried out in several steps and at the same time the incision should be constantly updated. Wipe the jacket with a soft cloth.

If it was not possible to clean the stains at home, then it is better to resort to the services of a professional dry cleaning service. But it is better to choose specialists according to the recommendations of friends and acquaintances; there are cases of damage to products.

It is worth talking separately about such contaminants that occur at the points of contact of a leather product with the skin of the owner. Most often suffer from fat and sweat collar, cuffs, pockets, fastener. Such stains are easy to remove manually, there are several ways to do this:

• The iron copes well with the removal of sebum. Put a paper towel on the stain and gently iron it on top with a heated iron. From high temperature, the fat will begin to evaporate from the jacket and soak into the napkin. But this method is not suitable for cleaning a faux leather jacket, it is better to use the second method for it.

• Alcohol copes with cleaning greasy grease stains. You need to decompose the contaminated area on a flat surface, gently wipe it with a cloth soaked with alcohol, then grease with lemon juice (it will help dissolve greasy marks) and complete the procedure for cleaning the jacket with rubbing emollient. In the absence of lemon juice, you can rub the jacket with an orange peel, it will add freshness and hide scuffs.Remember: the use of orange zest is only permissible when cleaning a dark leather jacket.

Let's name some more home remedies that will be useful as home stain removers:

• Cleaning solution for LCD monitors. Such a solution may well cope with fresh spots, since surfactants and alcohol are present in the composition of such products. Moisten a cotton pad in the solution and wipe the stain.
• Coffee grounds. Such a gastronomic cleaner is often used for shoes, but you can also try it with things. Pour the rest of the coffee onto the stain and let it rest for a while. Then wipe the residue with a dry cloth.

• Plate cleaner. Sometimes, in the struggle for the cleanliness of outerwear, a gel or spray for stoves is also used. Suitable for removing greasy stains, but do not keep on the product for more than 1 minute, and then you need to thoroughly wipe the place of application. Since such products can be very aggressive, carefully read the composition on the bottle and be sure to try the wrong side of the leather product. If the color has not changed, you can start removing the stain.
• Egg white + lemon juice. This mixture is good to use for light leather items, it adds shine and can cope with some dirt.

• Vaseline. A simple petroleum jelly can preserve the lacquer surfaces of a leather jacket. Put it on a cotton swab and wipe it with dark traces.
• Ammonia + salt. Sometimes spots are well removed with an aqueous solution in which ammonia and fine salt are added (about 1 tablespoon each). It is better to remove contaminants with a sponge, and then rinse with water.
• Special cleaners. On sale there are various products in the form of pencils, sprays, creams, napkins for removing stains at home. As a rule, they cope well with pollution of plant and animal origin.

And so that you rarely have to resort to cleansing procedures, Here is a list of helpful recommendations:

• Try to remove impurities immediately after they appear, preventing them from deeply absorbing into the skin.
• After cleaning, treat leather clothes with special water repellents.
• If the jacket is designed for winter and spring, then it is useful to polish it with wax. It will protect things from burnout in the sun and stains that can leave rain and snow.
• Small physical damage to leather products (scratches, cracks) is eliminated by “liquid skin”. Carefully select a color and follow the instructions.
• You can remove an unpleasant odor by creating a “bath” for your jacket. Put hot water into the bathroom, add one or two glasses of vinegar and leave the jacket hanging over the bath for about 3-4 hours.
• A weak soda solution will rid the jacket of tobacco and sweat odors. It is better to apply it from the spray gun.

Here is a list of what you should not do with a leather jacket:

• Never dry leather clothes near radiators, do not use a hairdryer and iron.
• Do not wear a damp leather item, otherwise moisture-saturated skin may stretch out.
• Do not abuse cleaning products, do not rub your favorite jacket every day and “just in case”. Excessive cleaning may cause discoloration.
• Do not spin the item by hand while spinning it.
• Do not touch clothing immediately after using hand cream; unwanted greasy spots may remain.
• Do not carry bags of dark or colored leather with light-colored leather clothing unless you are sure that they will leave no residue.
• Do not try to get rid of unpleasant odors (sweat, smoke, mold) with perfumes. The smell will not only not go away, but will become even stronger.

We pay special attention to the storage of things. To avoid bruising and warping, always hang on the shoulders of jackets and raincoats. When your jacket’s sock season ends, clean it and put it in the closet until the next season. Use fabric covers for storage, but never PVC. And to protect against moths, put a handkerchief, a piece of cloth or a cotton pad in your pocket into which you need to drip lavender oil.

See how to clean a leather jacket at home in the next video.