Skilled handling needed

LEATHER

4 January 2010



Richard Neale advises on the problems of cleaning suede and other leathers


Suede leather with the original fleece is back in fashion. The fur that was on the outside of the animal becomes the garment’s lining while the “flesh” side is skived and abraded to produce an outer with the suede finish.

Cleaning these suedes takes a great deal of skill – much more than was needed to clean the sheepskins that were fashionable thirty years ago. Now both the direct dyed suede and the moisture-sensitive fur need extra care.

The outer loses colour easily as there is little or no chemical bond between the leather and the dyes. The fur lining is prone to matting and felting.

The drycleaner must discuss the potential risks with the owner before accepting the garment and seek some authorisation for the inevitable fading and shrinkage. However, the cleaner is responsible if the fleece becomes matted either because the garment was not aired properly before it was processed or as a result of free moisture in the cleaning system. Disclaimers will not provide a legal defence against either error.

The colour needs to be enhanced as far as possible and this requires skilful use of oil in the cleaning bath. After cleaning the suede should be sprayed carefully with an oil-water emulsion and then tumbled with controlled abrasion to even out the result and raise the nap. This is not a job for inadequately trained and inexperienced staff because it requires a ventilated spray booth, a well-sized tumbler and the correct type of abrasive sponges. It is possible to handle this type of garment in a high street unit but the business must have the complete range of finishing equipment and staff with the right skills.

Some cleaners believe that if they have a hydrocarbon or cyclosiloxane machine, they can clean suede successfully without extensive re-oiling skills. This may sometimes produce an acceptable result but frequently the result is disappointing with loss of colour and handle and complaints are inevitable.

It is almost impossible to identify those garments that will not need specialist treatment after machine cleaning. Units that are not equipped to provide such treatment should sub-contract leather cleaning to a specialist.

Leather trim poses problems

Fault: A wool garment with leather trim was drycleaned in perc in accordance with care label. The wool areas were fine but the suede trim suffered unsightly fading.

Cause: The suede trim has been direct dyed and the solvent action has flushed out the surface colour. This was unavoidable once the cleaner decided to follow the care label.

Responsibility: The manufacturer might not have appreciated how difficult it would be to dryclean the garment and oil the trim sufficiently to enhance the remaining colour while avoiding making the wool parts greasy. This is still a manufacturing problem that should have been solved by sourcing a better quality trim. It is certainly possible to dye suede so that it has better colourfastness to drycleaning than this. It is also possible for the tanner to use leather oils which do not leach out but these oils are much more expensive and hard to source. Neither the cleaner nor the wearer should be sharing the blame.

Rectification: It may be possible to enhance the areas of poorest colour by padding lightly with a cloth moistened with suede oil but the chances of a marked improvement are not good.

Uneven colour loss leads to white patches

Fault: A suede garment was labelled “dryclean by leather specialist only.” After it had been cleaned in perc it had white patches where the colour had been lost.

Cause: In the worst cases of leather dyeing, the distribution of colour across the surface is so poor that colour loss is patchy and uneven. Some parts of the garment will lose colour completely, producing white patches.

Responsibility: Given the label, was the cleaner entitled to clean the garment in perc? The answer is yes. British Standards’ specialist reference process for cleaning leather uses perc on a two-bath system. The garment maker should take responsibility for the white patches found on this garment.

Rectification: It is virtually impossible to re-colour a suede surface, because there is so much variation in dye absorption. A patchy result is almost inevitable. This garment is best left alone.

Grain leather fades overall

Fault: This white grain leather was cleaned in hydrocarbon but faded so the whole garment needed its colour enhancing.

Cause: White grain leather suffers mechanical degradation in normal wear and any loose fragments on the surface will be lost in drycleaning.

Responsibility: Any grain leather will suffer this fault to some extent. It is generally held to be part of the cleaner’s craft to restore the colour and finish to a grain surface by spray re-colouring then applying a final sealing coat. This coat could be matt, semi-matt or gloss according to the owner’s requirement or the garment’s original finish.

Rectification: This colour can be enhanced by using standard leather re-finishing dyes and agents in a standard spray booth with good extract ventilation.


leather trim leather trim
Leather fades Leather fades


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