How to take care of your new
Luyana bag
The leather bag is a great Italian classic, synonymous with elegance and resistance over time. However, since it is a natural material, it is a good idea to clean it regularly to keep it beautiful and to prevent the formation of any type of stain that is more difficult to remove.
To clean a leather bag at home you don't need special and expensive kits or products, just a little ingenuity and knowledge of the techniques and methods that our grandparents taught us.
Maybe until today you didn't know that a leather bag should be cleaned at least a couple of times a year, passing over a simple rag with a small dose of neutral hand cream, and for this reason you find yourself today dealing with a bag slightly dirtier or with stains.
But don't worry, there are natural methods to make it shine again. However, we recommend that you try any type of cleaning starting from an inconspicuous and large point on the bag, to make sure that it does not get ruined using any type of product. In fact, each skin reacts in its own way, especially if colored by hand with natural products.
Methods for cleaning a leather bag
Our experience over the years has taught us many methods for cleaning leather, among our easiest tips for cleaning a leather bag:
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Wipe the surface with a damp cloth. This helps keep your skin clean and glowing.
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Pass a wad of cotton wool previously dipped in a small amount of cleansing milk. The skin thus softens again, rejecting the accumulated dirt.
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Massage the skin with a cloth freshly dipped in vaseline. This technique also helps clean the skin and keep it soft.Each of these methods involves a slow final drying phase outdoors, during which you absolutely must not use heat sources that would speed up the process. The cloth (preferably wool) or cotton wool must be slightly dampened, but not soaked so as not to damage the leather.
Other natural methods for cleaning a leather bag
There are also other more specific methods for cleaning a genuine leather bag. In fact, depending on the type of leather, the following can be used:
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Steam for dark leather bags with a light stain. Just heat some water and when it starts to boil, place the bag over the pot. After a few minutes you can lightly dab the stained area with a cloth or absorbent white paper, so as to gradually remove the stain.
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Egg white to make a light and soft leather bag shine again, as long as it is not a type of leather that is too absorbent or suede. To make sure that the leather is suitable for this process, our advice is to do a test starting from a small, inconspicuous part of the bag.
How to clean a suede bag
If you own a suede bag, the methods listed above are not suitable, because in addition to not working, the products used would ruin such delicate leather. Suede is in fact obtained by smoothing the animal skin on the internal layer, generating such a velvety effect to the touch.
Since it is such a delicate material, it is good practice to clean it by brushing it weekly, using a brush with soft bristles or alternatively a simple toothbrush dedicated exclusively for this process (in this case, a toothbrush with soft bristles is preferable).
The leather should be brushed with linear movements in a single direction, so as to relax the surface fibers and remove dirt. Circular movements or back and forth movements should be avoided, so as not to weaken the leather.
Other small notions to keep in mind
To close this guide on how to clean a leather bag at home without ruining it, we would like to underline that it is highly not recommended:
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let the bag dry by exposing it directly to the sun's rays, as you would risk making it change its color and use humidified tissues and chemical products, especially if they have been designed for another type of use (e.g. acetone or alcohol).