cleaning leather gloves

[randy]

I have a pair of HELD gloves, i forget which model. Love the gloves, but welllllllllllllll, lets say I do sweat, and it was a long summer, and my wife says clean them or ditch them.

 

so how do you clean leather gloves? take then to a specialized cleaner (that was my first idea) wash them in something (yea I know water is not it) some sort of dry cleaning.

 

Never thought about it, but how do you clean leather's. i.e after an all day track day or school, I am sure my leathers would need cleaning.

 

I just printed off the thread on cleaning a helmet, but so far a search on leathers + cleaning did not get me what I wanted.

[CURT HENRY]

Ride in the rain for several hours.

[randy]

not sure, but riding in rain only makes my gloves worse. so it maybe me, or my type of gloves, but that has not worked.

 

So is there a better answer than just water. I do not see water as a good cleaning agent for leather?

[Steve_Witmer]

Leathers mostly need just to be aired out. I only clean them a couple times a year.

 

I clean my leathers using saddle soap. Hang them in the tub, use only a little soap with a lot of water, then rinse followed by a wipe down with a clean rag.

 

I finish using Vanson leather balm, which they recommend, but Lexol is also a fine product.

 

I don't really bother cleaning my gloves.

[Sea Marshal]

I think Nik Wax makes a leather cleaning product.

[Bernie]

Randy, there are special leather dry cleaners out there. I believe Ram Leather is located in Atlanta somewhere. There are several solvents out there to clean leather, but it has to be done in special equipment, also after the cleaning process the oils in the leather have to be reapplied. This should all be done by an expert. Your local dry cleaner may acept leather to be cleaned, but most send it out to a specialist. Leather cleaning can be done in water also, depending on what type of leather.

I washed my Lee Parks deerskin gloves in a bucket with luke warm water and some woollite. Then rinse them, wring out the water and lay them flat to let them air dry. Do not use heat. When almost dry, put them on your hands to stretch and shape them back into form.

The best thing, is to check with the manufacturer.

Leather suits, like multi colored race suits are especially difficult to clean. The problem is that the colors can "run" or bleed from one area to another. For those items I would highly recommend dealing only with companies that do the cleaning them selfs and not some subcontractor who has no clue. If it is made by a US company, you maybe able to return it to them for cleaning. Be forwarned leather cleaning is not cheap, but neither is a good leather race suit. They may also want a release signed. You should also remove all armor. Plastic can not be dry cleaned, the solvent will make it brittle or melt it.

If your lining is not to dirty, you could get a cleaner and a conditioner from a company named Lexol. With there products you can manually clean the outside of your leather garment one section at a time. Should be avalible at your locale leather or shoe store, maybe at REI?

Hope this helps.

[Bill in Vermont]

I asked Lee Parks at Americade what to do with a pair of his deerskin gloves and he recommended washing them in Woolite, and drying them carefully as said above. Bill in Vermont