Leather Garment Care

How you clean your leather garment is very important to keep it looking good and fitting perfectly. You should NEVER wash your leather garment in a washing machine and never submerge your garment in water. A little water on your garment is ok as long as you wipe it off with a dry cloth in a short amount of time, however leaving water sitting on your garment will result in noticeable stains.

The easiest method of cleaning your leather garment is to take it to a qualified cleaner. However if you want to clean it at home, we suggest dipping a cloth in warm water that has just a touch of dishwashing liquid in it. Wring the cloth out well until it is just damp and then wipe your garment. If you have a rather dirty area, go over it several times wiping it a little harder until the dirt comes off.

We always suggest that you occasionally treat your leather with a leather conditioning and polishing product. Make sure to use one that does not contain Petroleum by-products or Mineral Oils. Petroleum by-protects will not immediately stain, however over time, the stains will began to show and the leather will began to look distressed. Mineral Oils will immediately stain your leather garment and permanently damage it.

We suggest treating your garment at least semi-annually, but if you wear it often, you may want to treat it every month or two. Make sure you use a conditioner and polish that is designed for colored leather. Do not use conditioner and polish designed for motorcycle leather. Motorcycle leather conditioner and polish are designed to be used on black or very dark colored leather and using them on Maverick James products that are any color other than black may change the color.

You should never let your leather get wet. However sometime when wearing leather, it is difficult to avoid rain. If this happens, just wipe off your garment with a dry cloth to keep the water from sitting and setting into the leather.

You should never put your leather garment into a dryer. When damp, drying the leather with heat can cause it to shrink and/or distort. Hang drying your leather away from heat after wiping it off with a dry cloth is the best thing to do to try and preserve your leather garment.

Leather clothing should be stored on a hanger when possible. Never store you leather in plastic or any other sealed type of storage system. Leather is a natural product and to keep it looking good, it needs to be able to breathe.

Preventing wrinkles begins with storing your leather on a hanger. If your leather should be come wrinkled and hanging the item for a period of time to let the wrinkles naturally come out is not an option, being very cautious, you can remove the wrinkles with a cool iron (set on it's lowest setting) and a sheet of brown paper between the garment and the surface of the iron.

Excessive heat or frequent ironing will cause your leather to look glossy. The reason it will look glossy is because you will start to melt the leather. While this may look desirable at first, it will not be consistent over your entire garment. In addition, excessive heating will lead to deterioration of your leather garment because you will be sealing the natural pores of the leather and it will not be able to breathe any longer.

Do not ever put the surface of the iron directly onto the leather. Set the iron on the lowest setting.

Leather is most susceptible to staining from things that are either high in alcohol content, certain sugars and acids, such as wine or berries. If wine or berries get on your garment, wipe it immediately with a damp cloth. Other fresh stains from things such as blood and food can also be cleaned up quickly by wiping the area with a damp cloth. Stains that have set for a while from such things as oil or grease substances can be lifted by grinding ordinary blackboard chalk, sprinkling the area, and leaving the powder on for a twenty-four hour period. Resist the urge to rub the powder in. After the powder has had sufficient time to sit, the powder will absorb much of the oil and you can then use a leather care brush to remove the powder. While fresh stains can be treated and cleaned at home, ground-in stains and stains caused by solvent based product such as nail polish should be attended to by a professional cleaner who deals in leather. Never try to remove a nail polish stain with nail polish remover because you will most likely ruin the leather.