By Bianca Pasqualini
Building a greener wardrobe is not just about purchasing sustainable garments and accessories, but also about taking proper care of them. When you look after your fashion goods, you are ensuring them a long-lasting, sustainable lifecycle.
The slow fashion movement emphasizes taking care of your clothes and accessories as the fundamental action to have a sustainable life: if your clothing and accessories are kept in great shape, then you won’t need to buy new ones.
Each fashion item has a specific set of rules to care for it, which you can usually find in the label tag attached to the product. And leather bags also have theirs. Taking care of your leather handbags might seem tricky or complicated, but this is our ultimate guide to make it a simple and easy journey.
Leather Care
Because it’s a skin, leather can stretch. Therefore, we recommend not overfilling your handbag, so it can maintain its original shape for longer.
For sure, some leather bags are provided with water-repellent treatments. Nonetheless, this material can be quite delicate, so we recommend keeping your bag under the umbrella, as rain could cause unwanted damage to the surface. If the rain comes and your leather handbag gets wet, don’t use a hairdryer: instead, let it air dry and apply leather conditioner afterwards.
Similarly, you might want to avoid wearing any sharp jewelry or heavily embellished clothes when showing off your leather bag. Although it’s a very strong fabric, leather can get scratched, too.
Leather handbags are an amazing accessory to wear everyday because they are very durable. To take proper care of your favorite go-to bag, we recommend that by the end of the week you wipe away the dust and any possible stains with a dry, soft cloth. You can also use a gentle brush if necessary.
You can apply leather conditioner once a year, too, in order to rehydrate the leather. Make sure to carefully read the instructions before applying it. If you don’t feel confident enough to do it yourself, you can always take it to a professional.
Extra tip: do not use products that contain alcohol because this could dry out the leather and cause color fading.
Storage
We’ve mentioned before that leather can stretch, so when it comes to storing your bags, we advise you to not hang them by the handle, but rather store them on a shelf. In order to prevent them from dusting, you can store them inside a breathable dust bag (Zendira bags come with a dust bag) or a pillow case instead.
Avoid plastic bags or sealed containers because leather needs to breath, otherwise moisture can quickly cause mold.
In addition, when storing your handbag in your wardrobe, make sure to fill it with butter paper, bubble wrap or plastic cushion airbags, so it keeps its shape. An old sweater will also do the trick! Avoid using newspapers because the ink easily comes off and it can stain the inside of the handbag.
Don’t forget to remove the crossbody strap and store it either inside or separately from the bag. You can overlap the handles on top, but under no circumstances leave them hanging on the sides when storing the handbag because in the long term they can cause tearing, and therefore the bag can lose its shape.
One more thing, keep your leather handbags away from direct sunlight, heaters, or radiators because this could cause dryness, fading and finally cracking.
Implement these tricks to extend the lifetime of your leather handbags for years and make the most out of them!
