Dry Cleaning Genuine Leather

Genuine leather is one type of fabric that has been around and used in items such as clothing for thousands of years. Leather has been a staple of the fashion industry era after era. Made from dried animal hide (usually cattle), leather is comfortable, long-lasting, and provides good protection to the body or goods it covers. Genuine leather doesn’t come cheap, and furthermore is not cheap to clean. With proper cleaning, your leather garments can give you many years of practical wear, and compared to other fabrics, does not need to be cleaned very often. For leather garments, you absolutely do not want to run it through your washing machine. Dry cleaning is best.

Here’s what to keep in mind about dry cleaning leather, from  all-about-leather.co.uk:

Dry cleaning is a complicated process where important oils are removed from leather during dry cleaning. Normally, these oils will lubricate the leather fibers, keeping them soft, but their partial removal can leave garments feeling firmer and lighter in appearance after dry cleaning. The dry cleaner therefore needs to put oil back into the garment after dry cleaning to soften the garment and bring it back (as near as possible) to its original feel and color. 

As the owner of any leather items in need of dry cleaning, here are the do’s and don’ts to follow:

• Don't let a garment become heavily soiled before having it cleaned.
• Have any matching leather pieces cleaned at the same time.
• Give your cleaner any care information that came with your garment.
• Point out any stains and ingrained soiling.
• Be prepared for a change in colour depth after cleaning as some dyes used on leathers are soluble in dry cleaning fluids. The cleaner can correct some colour loss but can't always achieve the same depth of shade as the manufacturer.
• Some oils which are impregnated into the leather for suppleness during tanning are lost in dry cleaning, and although the cleaner will use special additives to replace the oils, there may be some change in the feel of the garment.

Central Discount Cleaners in Joliet provides a wide range of dry cleaning services to meet your needs, including leather. We work with leather items to condition them, including jackets, vests, pants, and more. We use a gentle brush to scrub away any dirt and follow with a moisturizing balm to smooth any cracks or wrinkles while adding shine back into the leather material. Do you have a treasured leather jacket or other genuine leather clothing item that needs some TLC? Bring it to Central Discount Cleaners!