How to Clean a Leather Jacket

N ow that you’ve got yourself a snazzy leather jacket, you may or may not have wondered yet how to clean it. Hopefully you’re already well aware that you can’t just toss it in the wash with all your socks or pyjamas. Doing so can cause irreparable damage to the leather finish, and in some cases it can even crack it. Don’t feel discouraged though, you can clean it at home by hand. This process involves creating your mixture to clean with first. To do this, mix a smidge of dish soap in a small container filled with warm water. Be sure not to use any type of cleaning solution with bleach or ammonia, as they deteriorate the appearance of leather. Then you’ll want to take a nice cleaning cloth and dip it in the mixture. Wring it out, and lightly wipe down your leather jacket. You’ll also want to have a second cloth nearby to dry the cleaning mixture with after you wipe everything down. At the end, it’s nice to give the entire jacket a once over with some dry towels. Now remember, leather is a porous material. In other words, it absorbs liquid, so if you don’t wring out your cloth well, you may stain your jacket. The same thing may occur if you don’t dry the cleaning solution after wiping it. Just keep those things in mind, and you’ll be fine. Now, you may be thinking, ‘well what about going and dry cleaning it?’ This is always an acceptable option too, though some choose to forgo it due to the cost. That aside, dry cleaning is a fantastic way to remove blemishes and dirt build up that may have accrued on your jacket over time. One last tip to keep in mind is that the more often you clean your jacket, not only will it look better consistently, but it will also be easier to clean and take less time!