What to Expect
When you have your leather jacket cleaned for the first time there are some thing that you should expect. Our company has cleaned leather goods for more than 30 years. Here are a few things that we find is common.
#1 Shrinking
There is likely to be slight shrinkage of the leather or suede jacket. This is common. Leather is a natural product and is capable of stretching and shrinking. Just like a great pair of jeans, a little wear and it will go back to normal. We use pressing and blocking equipment to minimize this and in most cases a customer will never know.
#2 Lightening/Darkening of Leather
Suede garments are likely to lighten or darken in cleaning. In most cases, this is slight. We oil suede after cleaning as part of the refinishing process. This will return the color to normal or restore dullness.
#3 Protein Stains
Protein stains (a substance from a body, blood, vomit, urine) will not always come out of leather and in some cases can harden the leather. Please advise us if you have a protein stain on a leather jacket. We are good at detective work, but some stains come into us invisible. We can clean these items, but it requires extra attention and doesn't always work.
#4 Accessories & Footwear
When cleaning accessory items, like boots, shoes and handbags a customer should expect some distortion in the shape. Since we use a full immersion method of cleaning there can be some dimension changes. UGG boots may feel snug at first wear after cleaning, but they will stretch out.
#5 Too Dirty to Clean?
Some items are to dirty to clean safely. If a leather jacket collar is saturated with years of neck sweat and oil, then it is possible that the collar could come apart during cleaning(the soiling was holding it together). That is whywe highly suggest that you send us a picture of the garment so we can promptly let you know what we can do for you.
You can reach out to us by using the widget in the bottom right corner of your screen, or texting us at 859.739.0483 or email us at info@leathercareusa.com.
We can make new collars, but if this is something you are having your jacket cleaned for-then please use our text service for an evaluation.
#6 Refinishing / Repainting
Refinishing - Repainting leather jackets is part of the leather cleaning service. There are limitations to what we can refinish. For example, a two-tone leather jacket finish is very hard to replicate. We can do some amazing things, and results are amazing. (Visit the Before & After Gallery to see some of the amazing before and after pictures). However, if you have questions about this, please send us a picture.
These are some common questions and some information from our years of experience cleaning leather jackets. We clean approximately 40k leather jackets a year. We have experienced just about everything.