How to Love Your Leather:

Easy Care Guide

We want you to love your leather bag for a lifetime. While a full-grain leather bag becomes more beautiful with age and use, it still needs a bit of help to stay its most gorgeous self.

Follow these 3 easy-peasy steps and your bag will only get prettier the longer you carry it!

What You'll Need:

  • 1. Leather cleaner and conditioner

  • 2. Soft cloths (about 2-3)

  • 3. Clothes you can get messy*

*Oil-based products are great for leather but not so great for your clothes, so you’ll want to wear something you don't mind getting messy and be careful about accidental stains!

Leather Care Kit

IMPORTANT: Only use quality leather cleaners!

Using water, traditional soap, or cooking oils will dry out your leather so you should always use a leather specific cleaner from a brand you trust.

We also recommending testing any new products on a hidden spot before applying them to more visible sections of your bag.

Our all-natural, American-made leather care products are expertly formulated to care for your leather in the right way.

Buy a Leather Care Kit

Step 1:

Condition leather by rubbing in gentle circles over entire bag in a thin, even layer.

Whether you’re giving your bag a complete once over to remove several months worth of dirt or just spot-cleaning after an accidental spill, the process stays the same. 

  • Using a soft cloth (or your hands, if you prefer), apply very small amounts of leather conditioner evenly over your entire bag.
  • Rub in gentle circles, working the butter into the leather in a thin, even layer. 
  • Allow to set for at least 2 hours.

Remember that with conditioner, less is more! You can always repeat step #2 if your bag feels extra dry or brittle but that doesn’t mean you should slather your bag with butter right off the bat! Allow your bag to set and give it a good buff in between each light, even, coat of conditioner.

Leather can only absorb a certain amount of moisture at a time. If you flood it with more than it can handle, the excess moisture can and will cause problems. Just like with air drying your bag after cleaning it, the trick is to be patient.

Step 2:

Buff with a clean, soft cloth.

After the leather has had a chance to soak up the cleaning conditioner for at least two hours, then buff the leather with a clean soft cloth. 

Buffing is simply rubbing a clean, soft cloth in gentle circles all over the bag or wherever you conditioned.

After buffing, if you feel like your bag still needs a bit more conditioning, then repeat Steps 1 and 2 before proceeding to Step 3.

Step 3:

Air-dry naturally (and be patient!)

Once you've conditioned, waited two hours, and then buffed your bag, the next and final step is to let your bag air-dry, which typically takes 8-24 hours.

Attempting to speed up the drying process with heaters or blow dryers is damaging to your leather and can cause it to become overly dry.

The slower process of air drying protects the leather’s collagen structures, keeping it healthy and strong. So it's important to be patient!

 

Important Tips

How often do I follow these steps?

  • Clean and condition your leather once every 6 months.
  • Or every 4 months if you live somewhere with dry heat or you’re generally hard on your leather.
  • Make it a consistent routine!

We like to kick off the year with a good leather care sesh because it makes it easy to remember when our bags are due for the next one. If we always clean our leather bags at the start of the year then we know they’ll need a checkup about halfway through the summer.

It doesn’t have to be exact, as long as it’s somewhat consistent. This strategy works well for us but you may prefer another tracking method, like marking it in your planner or setting a reminder on your phone. Whatever works for you!

What if my bag gets wet?

While we advise against intentionally drenching your bag, don’t fret if it accidentally gets soaked.

If you get caught in a sudden downpour or your water bottle leaks in your bag just let it dry naturally (spot clean first if it’s wet from something other than water) and then follow the cleaning steps above.

The more you use your bag, the better it becomes!

The best thing you can do for your leather bag is use it.

Full-grain leather truly gets better the more you wear it, becoming softer and more supple and developing a natural sheen.

So don’t be afraid to put your bag to work!

How to store it properly

If for some reason you do decide to put your leather bag away for a little while, make sure you store it properly!

  1. Protect it with a dust bag made of cloth (not plastic since it won’t allow air to circulate).
  2. Choose a dry location away from direct sunlight or extreme heat or cold.
  3. Continue to condition it regularly.