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You’re rocking your leather look and notice something has spilled or smeared on your beautiful leather. Don’t freak out! It’s not ruined for life!

When the mess is fresh, gently wipe it off with a clean cloth, but if you notice a smear well after the fact it can still be salvaged.

Step one: assess the mess, if the cloth hasn’t taken the offensive stain off, move on to

Step two: moisten a clean cloth (this is not the time for a rip off the paper towel roll) with warm water and bring a small amount of mild soap (like dove) to lather. Gently rub (in circles, gently please) the stain out.

Step three: Wipe off the soap with another clean cloth. Let the leather air dry

Step four: Give it a quick rub with oil (mink oil is good).

BIG DON”T: Running it under the tap is a ridiculously bad idea, a little rain is one thing but leather is not meant for submersion.

Also, No chemicals! Alcohol and turpentine will permanently stain, waxes and anything with silicone is also in the keep away zone, they will Another no-no are baby wipes, they are mild for bare baby bottoms but will stain your leather.

If after you’ve tried the gentle soap method you’re still staring at a stain, it’s time for a trip to the professionals. Call your local dry cleaner and ask if they clean leather, most do.

What about mold or mildew? It happens. Leather is porous and is susceptible to growing these nasty little spores when exposed to warm moist places. You can save it though! Simple, get out your clean cloth, mild soap follow steps one through four above. That and your couple minutes of patience get you back into some beautiful leather.

Give your leather a little TLC once a year. Give it a gentle rub with leather conditioner (again with a soft cloth), let it air dry and you’ll keep your leather soft and supple forever.

Cleaning and Caring for Leather