Natural beauty
Leather is a natural product and its beauty is only skin deep Every hide is unique, a detail often forgotten by consumers – especially when a leather garment costs several times that of one made from textiles The qualities of each hide reflect the life of its original owner. The hide’s softness and suppleness and also its water repellency rely very much on the natural oil content. This is usually lost in tanning and in drycleaning and has to be replaced. The oil replacement must be done correctly to maintain the water repellency and avoid unsightly rainspotting A garment which has been poorly re-oiled will display unsightly droplet markings in the first shower. If the rain is dirty (as in a city centre) the dirt will be absorbed into the surface, making the marking more difficult to remove.
Soft and loose The belly part of a hide is always softer and looser when compared with the firm shoulder and back parts which have to resist weather and abrasion as part of normal life. So it is not unusual to find panels cut from the belly area pulling apart to reveal holes with a loose fibrous edge after cleaning. There is little or nothing a cleaner can do. This part of the hide should not have been used for critical panels.
Thick heavy cow hides make stiff and unwieldy garment leather unless they are split laterally. This is an inexpensive technique for increasing the area of garment leather in each hide by two or threefold, but it does have one big drawback. The veins in the hide have to be stripped out by the tanner, usually by nicking the surface. These slits and cavities have to be closed up to create usable garment leather and the tanner usually uses simple adhesive for this. But as seen in part 1 (LCN June), if the adhesive is not designed to resist drycleaning solvent then the veins will open up in cleaning to give rise to unsightly cuts and lines which can be recognised by their natural pattern.
All these problems need careful explanation to the consumer and that is all part of the cleaner’s art. Good luck!
Caught in the rain
Problem: After a brown suede jacket had been cleaned, water-droplet markings showed when the garment was exposed to rain.
Cause: Drycleaning will remove many finishes from leather, including those which confer water repellency (either natural or applied in tanning).
This problem occurs when the finish has not been correctly designed to withstand cleaning.
Responsibility: This is a feature of the skin so it is the garment maker who should be taking the blame.
Rectification: Most leather cleaners have a suitable repellent finish which can be applied to overcome this problem totally. Even re-oiling will sometimes do the trick.
Cleaning shows up stains
Problem: The stains on a suede jacket looked even more obvious after it had been cleaned.
Cause: Stains will penetrate deeply into a porous skin surface so they cannot be effectively pre-treated. Frequently the solvent wash fails to remove stains completely, especially if they contain water-based contaminants such as proteins or sugars.
The warm air in the tumble dry stage then darkens the marks so they actually appear more obvious after cleaning than before.
Responsibility: The responsibility here should really remain with the wearer, because it is often not possible to produce a better result than that seen here. Leather cannot withstand aggressive stain pre-treatment of the type one might select for textiles, because the dyes used are not generally chemically bonded to the hide.
Rectification: Not recommended.
Blue suede too loose
Problem: A ragged edged hole appeared in a blue suede skirt which had gone through a normal two bath cycle in perc.
Cause: This panel of the garment has been cut from the belly part of the hide in which the skin is far looser and more fibrous. The skin pulls apart very easily, especially when tumbled in drycleaning fluid.
Responsibility: The blame here lies with the garment maker. It is not good practice to cut any major component from material as weak as this.
Rectification: None.
Tanner’s disguise unmasked
Problem: Although there were few obvious marks on this beige jacket, unsightly random pale marks could be seen after it had been cleaned.
Cause: The type of marks seen here are blemishes on the original hide that occurred when the animal was alive. Most tanners are expert at disguising these blemishes, but unfortunately the disguises do not always withstand drycleaning.
Responsibility: It seems a little unreasonable to blame the original animal. The fault really lies with the tanner’s disguise.
Rectification: On this skin, it is not possible to apply a uniform finish to darken the garment and reduce the marking.
