Best way to wash leather gloves

As above...mine are looking a little dirty recently.

[mr.anderson]

Originally Posted by andyb

As above...mine are looking a little dirty recently.

In the washing machine at 90 degrees and then tumble dry them.







Dunno actually, can you wash leather gloves?

Leather Soap.

Leather gloves are ok to be washed in a machine at 40 deg, but use non-bio powder and don't use fabric conditioner. Tumble dry and then when they've fully dried out use Rennapur or some other beeswax treatment to put the suppleness back in. I regularly do my race gloves and Goretex winter gloves like this, and they last me ages.

[jambo]

I'd probably have been more cautious than Lozzo and recommended a hand wash using soap, then wringing out and putting somewhere warm (such as just above a radiator or in an airing cupboard), then re-treating with Nikwax or similar....

But he's tried it and it worked, and his way's quicker than mine

Do what Moggsy says - use saddlesoap! It's good for shoes, gloves and leather clothes

I just pull the linings inside out and wash by hand, then clean the leather with something designed for the purpose. Bugger sometimes getting the lining fingers back into the leather fingers, needs a pencil.

Originally Posted by jambo

I'd probably have been more cautious than Lozzo and recommended a hand wash using soap, then wringing out and putting somewhere warm (such as just above a radiator or in an airing cupboard), then re-treating with Nikwax or similar....

But he's tried it and it worked, and his way's quicker than mine

ARRRRRRRGH!

Bad Jambo. BAD boy!

Ooooh it makes me cringe when I see/hear of people putting leather on or near a radiator - that poor cow/goat/kangaroo would be spinning in its grave...

... if it had one.

If you dry leather too fast or too close to a direct heat source it becomes brittle, the fibres unmesh and it can crack.

Leather is a natural product and needs feeding - drying it too fast evaporates many of the oils that are brought to the surface when it gets soaked with water (oil floats yeah).
The oils contains many of the original tannins that preserve the leather (if you want me to get even more nerdy - they do it by coating various bits and protecting them from microbial degeneragtion ) so with that reduced/gone it lays the fibres open to attack = prone to mildew or other forms of rot.

Best way is to put the glove on one hand and gently clean with saddlesoap or other similar leather cleaner (though saddlesoap is probably the best for it low cost).
Remember, if you're using saddlesoap and you are getting 'foam' then you are using too much water.

Then dry in a warm room - stick each glove on the ends of a coathanger and hang either from a curtain rail or lamp shade. As the room's heat rises it circulates around the leather - but is still far enough away from the radiator to cause any damage.

The tumble dryer method does work well if you've got the insides wet too - but keep it on a low/medium setting.






Jeez, how sad am I?

It's the insides of my gloves that get minging, hence the washing machine method. Tbh, I couldn't give a rat's poop-chute what the outsides look like, as long as my hands don't niff like Gandhi's flip flops.

[jambo]

Originally Posted by K

ARRRRRRRGH!

Bad Jambo. BAD boy!


If you dry leather too fast or too close to a direct heat source it becomes brittle, the fibres unmesh and it can crack.

Having spent many years using bikes and being told that gloves must be at least a mile away from direct heat when drying I worked out that leaving them in the middle of the room left them damp for too long, I have a nice shelf about 6 inches above the Rad at home, it lets them get a nice flow of warm air, then the suppleness is worked back in using nikwax.

You probably shouldn't put your nice gloves directly on top of the radiator, but somewhere near means the things can be used before next
week

Besides which, how hot do your heated grips get?