Leather is a natural material that can be damaged and deformed if proper care isn’t taken of the product. People often overlook the necessary jobs required to keep luxury goods and materials in good condition. Devaluing the products they’ve invested in. Specifically, leather can dry out and alter its colour if left in direct sunlight for long periods. It can also gather mould from being left in moist places for too long. Therefore it is essential to know how to store your leather goods and keep from any potential damage.

Taking care of your leather accessory makes it last longer and prevents it from getting wrinkles on the surface or even worse hide degradation. Keeping your leather clean and making sure it doesn’t degrade over time is one of the best things you need to do for your leather accessories.

Below, we listed out step-by-step guidelines that you can follow at your home to keep your leather fresh and luxurious over a long course of time.

How to Store Your Leather Accessories

Regularly wipe down to remove any surface dust and dirt. Use a damp cloth to remove any dry dust visible on the surface. Then, wipe it off with a dry cloth to remove the moisture from the surface. For the best results, use a Suede Brush for Suede and Nubuck.

Apply a thin layer of the recommend leather conditioner for your particular leather accessory and leave it for 30 minutes at room temperature. Gently, wipe off the surface of your leather product with a dry muslin cloth. This process of applying conditioner to your leather products is to rehydrate your leather. It helps to open up the pores of the leather and let it breathe. We recommend that you condition your leather at least once a year!

After conditioning the leather, it’s time for the actual storing of the leather. First, remember that every leather accessory needs to be stored differently.
- If you have a leather bag, fill the bag with crumpled paper, bubble wrap or any plastic airbags to help retain its shape. We don’t recommend using any paper with ink on it, especially newspaper, as it tends to rub off on the fabric inside of the bag.

- If you are storing a leather shoe, stuff the insides of the shoe with acid-free tissue paper to help retain their shape. For the best outcome, use a shoe-tree with the right size for your footwear.

Leather accessories need to be stored in a temperature-controlled area since excessively warm/cold temperature or moisture can quickly destroy the leather and leave cracks to the surface over a long period.

Leather products are susceptible to staining very quickly! Using denim to cover the leather can rub off colour from the surface and destroy the tone of the leather. Thus, store your leather products in a dust bag or pillow cover. We don’t recommend using plastic bags or sealed containers as leather products need room to breathe.

If possible, use the original packaging of when the leather product was bought. Additionally, add a pouch or two of silica gel to keep the moisture off your leather product.

Store your leather accessory in a cool & dark place. Do not under any circumstance leave the leather product on direct sunlight. Also, please do not hang your leather for an extended period as it can stretch out the leather.

Some leather accessory, especially handbags, may contain a metal chain or strap. In such a case, make sure to put the metal chain inside of the bag before storing it. Alternatively, you can cover up the chain with paper but don’t leave out the chain on the leather surface.

Leather products can be stored long term, but we recommend you take them out once in a while from the storage to air it out and let it breathe periodically.

Follow these steps and your leather accessory will be a long-lasting accessory over the generations to come. Storing leather indeed is a bit of a task, but you will want your expensive leather product looking fresh over the years.

Additionally, if all these seems too out of hand for you, you can always hire a professional cleaning service to do the storing for you. Find a local professional business who are well-experienced with working with leather products, and let them handle your precious piece of luxury.

For more information on leather, care to visit our blog post titled ‘How to care for your leather accessories’