Cleaning leather and wool equipment
Every so often we get questions about how to maintain Canem Studio leather and wool products. And it just so happened my dog Billie decided to help us write an in-depth journal post about it.
My partner and I own a beautiful, big, kind, and quirky mix breed. Billie, having just reached a year now, with her big slinky athletic anatomy can get far, fast. And something she just can’t help herself from doing is rolling in stinky stuff. A weekend in December my partner and I went on a cabin trip up to the beautiful mountains of Norway, and that’s where Billie hit the jackpot.
Running free of the lead and enjoying life, Billie disappeared for a second. We called her back, and she came running towards us with the enthusiasm that only a dog expecting a treat can master. I’m honestly not exaggerating when I say that we could smell her before we she was within sight.
Billie had rolled in something dead… and it had been dead for a long time.
After Billie had a long shower it was clear that her collar had suffered the same treatment as her fur and was in imminent need of a deep clean. Our product tester had truly put her collar to the test.
Our wool is washable on a 30-degree machine wool cycle, but as leather is not too happy about being put in a washing machine, I decided to give it a different treatment.
- Remove name tags and other accessories.
- Soak the collar in lukewarm water. Use a neutral, chemical-free saddle or leather soap. You can find leather soap at your local leather shop or in our webshop. We recommend using a leather-specific soap as leather soaps are made with a high content of fat. This makes it great for washing natural materials like wool and leather goods as it will not dry it out like regular soap.
- Let the collar soak in the soapy water while scrubbing the wool and leather gently with a soft sponge or a cloth.
- Rinse the collar thoroughly with lukewarm water.
- Let the collar dry at room temperature. If the leather is dried in high temperatures, for example on a warm bathroom floor or radiator, it might retract and get dry and stiff.
- When dry, apply leather fat to the leather pieces of the collar with a soft cloth or directly with your hands. We recommend using neutral-colored, natural leather fat without silicones.
- If you feel very inspired, you can also polish the brass hardware with a brass polish to make it all nice and shiny.
Presto! Billie’s collar is as good as new and ready for new adventures! (though I might be traumatised for life.)