Leather care instructions

Care for cowhides whether a sofa, jacket, purse, boots or luggage is the same. Proper care will keep your prized possessions looking and feeling great, supple and gives them many more years of enjoyment. Preferred Tanning Method: When using the natural process developed over centuries on leather hides is a process of using the bark of the hickory, oak and sumac trees and is considered a higher quality leather than leather tanned with chemicals. Cowhide leather being tanned using this natural method will be more supple yet more durable. Leather Care: Make sure you have soft, WHITE cloths handy before you begin. You will also need at least one of the items below, depending on what you are cleaning off of your leather item. 1.Soap with a moisturizer in it. This keeps the soap from drying out the leather pre-maturely. 2.Alcohol diluted by half with water. Alcohol will dry out leather too, so you want to not use it at full strength 3.Clear, clean Water. 4.Cornstarch. 5.Vinegar GENERAL CARE: Cleaning your leather possessions with clear, clean water on a regular basis is the best thing you can do. It gets the dust and grit out of the pores and keeps them from acting as sandpaper would against the leathers. Keep your smaller items such as jackets, purses, handbags and luggage out of direct sunlight when you are not using them. When you store them, do not use anything plastic. Use something cloth so that the leather can breath. This is similar to getting the dust and grit out of the pores, that also allows them to breath as well as eliminates the sand paper effect. If you spill something on a leather article, clean it immediately with a soft WHITE cloth and clear, clean water. Remember that in the winter you may get salt from the roads on your jackets, purses or luggage and need to clean that off as soon as you get out of the environment that generated it. (See instructions for salt below if necessary) SIMPLE FRESH STAINS: Clean it gently with the moisturizing soap. (Like Dove). Dampen your clean , white, soft cloth with water and clean small areas in a circular pattern. Buff the cleaned areas with a clean, dry, white soft cloth. Allow to air dry only, out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources. FOR MILDEW: Use the alcohol cut by half with clear clean water to clean mildew stains. (Anywhere from cold to lukewarm is fine, whatever is more comfortable for you-DO NOT use it hot to the touch) Always test in an inconspicuous area first to check the solution does not dis-color or otherwise affect the finish of the leather. Wipe with a soft damp cloth and allow to air dry. Apply leather conditioner when dry to maintain appearance and softness. Properts puts out a leather conditioner that you can purchase at any shoe or boot store. If you are not near one of those, be sure you get a CONDITIONER and not a cleaner/conditioner that contains alcohol as a cleaning agent as it dries out the skin. A cleaner/conditioner is kind of an oxymoron. OIL-BASED STAINS: Apply an even sprinkling of corn starch a little beyond all edges of the stain and let it sit for 24 hours. Anything more than that will not help. If that doesn't do the trick or still leaves a ghost of the stain, do the process again with fresh cornstarch.   Brush the cornstarch off and wipe with a soft damp cloth. Condition the entire area, not just the treated area. SALT AND SEAT STAINS: Make a solution that is 3 parts vinegar with 1 part water. Allow to thoroughly dry out between applications as it may take multiple times to get it all out. NEVER use a heat source such as a heater or even the sun to speed up the drying. A fan is OK. If a shoe or a boot and you do not have shoe trees, then stuff them with newspaper, paper towels or cloths to help them maintain their shape while drying. If a jacket, pants or other apparel lay it flat, also away from heat sources and allow to dry. Apply a conditioner designed for leather when thoroughly dry over the entire garment, shoes or boots.   If a purse or a handbag, stuff it like you would a pair of boots or shoes while it dries. If this homemade solution does not work, Scout has a boot care De-Salter you should be able to get from the boot or shoe store where you get your conditioner. It comes in a 4oz bottle(which is plenty) item # 03622.