Leather clothes and bags ooze class and sophistication. They can take an outfit from level zero to one hundred. But have you ever experienced your expensive leather items cracking and fraying? Few things are as disappointing as this, especially when it comes to fashion. You literally watch your favourite closet piece becoming unpresentable, and the worst part is that there is little or nothing that you can do about it.
If you have experienced it, then you probably understand the amount of pain that it causes. If you haven’t, then well and good. Whichever category you belong to, this blog post will probably be of help to you.
Here are 4 ways to prevent your leather items from fraying, cracking, or peeling.
1. Use baby oil
Yes, you read that right. Baby oil can help to preserve your leather items in good condition for a longer period of time. It does this by creating a protective coating that prevents the leather from peeling and flaking.
How do you do this? Apply a fairly light coat of baby oil to the leather products. In the tanning process, natural oils in the fibres of leather are lost and need to be replaced with tanning oils.
If the oil is not replaced, the leather will become brittle, crack, and eventually dry out. Remember to wipe off any excess oil that will remain on the leather when you’re done.
2. Try to keep your leather items away from direct heat and sunlight
When you come from a city that experiences sunlight almost throughout the year, it seems impossible to keep anything away from the sun. However, you have to find ways to work around it, if you are to preserve your leather.
Direct sunlight is a leather enemy and will cause it to dry and flake off. How? The heat causes the moisture in the leather’s natural oils to slowly evaporate, and eventually, it will dry, stiffen and crack. To avoid all this, keep your leather items away from direct heat or sunlight.
3. Raise the humidity in your home
Humidity is good for a number of reasons. It protects the body from viruses and reduces the likelihood to contract a respiratory infection. When it comes to your leather items, you probably want to raise the humidity of your home to lengthen their lifespan. Why? When humidity drops below 60%, leather can dry out and eventually crack. To prevent this, consider investing in a humidifier or finding DIY methods to improve the humidity at home.
6 Ways To Make A Natural Humidifier At Home
4. Read the care label and follow it to the letter
Many of us tend to ignore care labels on our clothes when they are indeed very important. Leather is more often than not, very expensive. It deserves to be treated with care so that it may last a long time. It is therefore important that you read the care label and understand it.
Since there are many different types of leather, the way that you care for one item is not always the way you do the other. Since the manufacturer usually makes the care labels, it’s a good idea to heed this advice. Following the instructions on the care label should help to prevent cracking and other forms of damage.
How to take care of your leather items
