RAVE FabriCARE'S True Quality Cleaning Blog

Do-it-yourself handbag cleaning: Exercise caution

If you’re going to clean your leather or leather trimmed handbag, purse, wallet or backpack at home with any type of “cleaning product”, we’d suggest that you proceed with caution.

Why?

Because there is an element of experimentation involved with using these cleaning products. The outcome is often a crap-shoot. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. You’ve got a 50:50 chance of getting it wrong and the consequent results can be disastrous.

In this blog post, we illustrate this point with a Tory Burch leather handbag that was cleaned at home with one such “cleaning product”. Then we show you the results that can be achieved with the application of the right skills, judgement, products and processes.

Don’t dry clean your handbag, purse, wallet or backpack. Ever.

High-end handbags, purses, wallets and backpacks should always be hand cleaned.

High-end handbags, purses, wallets and backpacks should never be dry cleaned in a dry cleaning machine, irrespective of the type of dry cleaning machine or the type of dry cleaning solvent used.

Now, there are some dry cleaners who will tell you that they have a “special” dry cleaning machine that uses a “special” dry cleaning solvent. And to reinforce their argument, they’ll tell you that they clean leather and suede garments in that machine and with that solvent all the time.

Don’t buy that line.

In this blog post, we provide you with an example of the disaster that awaits you.

Like new & gently used, high-end garments & accessories: Post-purchase cleaning

When you think of purchasing a fine garment or accessory, you might typically think of a traditional, high-end department store or boutique located in a particular geographic area, in a particular street or in a particular shopping mall. In addition to these brick and mortar locations, these stores or boutiques typical offer an online option as well.

With the normalization of the “sharing economy”, the number of non-traditional sources of high-end garments and accessories has mushroomed.

In this post, I highlight some of the non-traditional sources of like new and gently used garments and accessories, identify the more common issues you might encounter after you’ve purchased that garment or accessory, and suggest an approach to restoring that garment or accessory to as close to pristine condition as possible.