Copyright 2006 Dagmar Anderson
You've bought some nice leather lingerie, so
now how do you care for it? Leather, being skin,
needs to have proper care just as your own skin
does. By taking some simple steps, your leather
lingerie should last for many years to come.
The first step in caring for your leather lingerie
is proper handling and storage. Always store
leather in a temperature stable environment,
neither too hot or cold, as this will affect
the life of the leather by drying out the oils
in the hide. Avoid exposing your leather garments
to high heat or direct sunlight for long periods
of time for the reasons just mentioned. Also,
do not store your leather lingerie in high humidity,
damp areas or plastic bags, as the build-up of
moisture can cause mildew (mold) to form, which
is difficult to clean. Either hang leather garments
on wooden or padded hangers or carefully fold
them to avoid creases and wrinkles. Perfumes
or deodorants should be applied and allowed to
dry before putting on your leather lingerie to
minimize alcohol and other chemicals contact
with the leather and to help avoid staining.
Perspiration or any perfume and/or deodorant
should be wiped off as soon as possible with
a damp sponge, then the leather should be allowed
to dry naturally.
Unless your leather lingerie acquires serious
stains, necessitating professional cleaning,
you can clean your leather garments yourself.
An excellent cleaner is "Murphy's Oil Soap",
which works wonderfully and is gentle on leather,
due to it being ph balanced. To clean, work up
a lather of the Murphy's with a damp sponge and
rub gently into the leather, paying more attention
to heavier soiled areas. Then rinse the sponge
well and wipe the leather clean with the damp
sponge. You may have to repeat the process in
areas that are more soiled. Try not to get the
leather too wet, as that may cause it to shrink
when it dries. One thing you may notice while
cleaning is some lifting of the dye - this is
normal and is simply excess dye. It should not
affect the color of the garment. Allow the leather
to air dry thoroughly, away from heat or sunlight
for about 24 hrs. After that time, the leather
may feel a bit stiff and will require a light
coating of leather conditioner. One of the best
leather conditioners is "Passier Lederbalsam".
It's easy to apply (a finger works best!) and
is specially formulated for fine leather goods
- it also won't rot the stitching. Never use
neatsfoot, mink or other like oils as they will
make the leather over-oily and weak, inviting
mildew to set in. Apply a thin coating of the
Lederbalsam to the leather and let it sit for
several hours to allow the absorption of the
conditioner. Wipe off any excess with a clean,
dry soft cloth and you're done. It would be best
to allow the leather to sit until the next day
before use to make sure all the conditioner has
soaked in and the leather is "dry".
For cleaning of leather lingerie that has fabric
incorporated into the design, you can clean the
garment by gently hand-washing it in cold water
using "Pepede". "Pepede"
is specially formulated for this purpose and
is designed to not only clean the fabric and
leather, but also not strip the leather of its
essential oils. After gently rinsing, lay the
wet garment on a clean, dry terrycloth towel,
roll it up, then press to squeeze the water out
of the garment. Never try to wring the water
out of the leather!! You'll probably need several
towels to press as much of the moisture out of
the leather as possible. Since you've gotten
the leather soaked, the leather will have a tendency
to shrink as it dries. The best way to avoid
this is to wear the garment as it dries (you
don't have to put it on while it's still quite
wet, just while it's still damp). After drying
if the leather feels stiff, follow the instructions
previously given to condition the leather. Never
use a washer and dryer to clean leather. Also,
leather shouldn't be dry-cleaned as the chemicals
used cause the leather to dry out and crack.
These care instructions apply to all top grain
(smooth surface) leather goods. Suede would be
handled and stored the same way, but not cleaned
and conditioned. Suede requires different cleaning
methods not covered in this article. Patent leather
is cared for the same way as top grain leather,
but doesn't require conditioning due to the lacquer
that is used to seal it and give it the glossy
look.
About the Author
Dagmar Anderson is an associate
of Lingerie Seductions and has much experience
in the area of caring for leather goods. Lingerie
Seductions is an online lingerie store and
carries many styles of leather lingerie, as
well as sexy lingerie, thongs, sexy costumes,
etc. The complete selection of leather and
other lingerie may be viewed at: http://www.lingerieseductions.com.
