Ways to clean leather gloves

Gloves protect our hands from the cold and dirt, and on top of that, they are an elegant addition to the wardrobe. How to wash leather gloves, if you have been wearing them for a long time, or suddenly touched a dirty object? To do it right, you need to remember how to clean any leather items.

Dark leather

Before cleaning leather items at home, you need to note their color and the type of leather. Light gloves require a special way of cleaning. As for the dark gloves, it is a little easier. You can clean black or brown leather gloves with the following solution:

• half a glass of warm water;
• 1 teaspoon of ammonia;
• 5 teaspoons of laundry detergent;
• 5 teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide.

Mix all of those, moisten a sponge, rag or cotton ball, and wipe the dirty areas on the gloves. The residual detergent is washed off with a sponge and clean water.

It is not recommended to completely immerse leather products in water since that can deform them, reduce their size and make them look completely unattractive. If you are still interested in the question of how to wash leather gloves, we advise the following.

• Soak a piece of soft cloth in water, and soap it up with baby soap.
• Wipe the gloves with soapy water from the outside, removing dirt from all creases.
• Wash off the soap solution with the same cloth. You can add a little table vinegar to the water, which will give the leather elasticity.
• Hang the gloves to dry away from heaters. Choose a cool, but well-ventilated place for drying.
• After the gloves have dried, they must be greased with castor oil, petroleum jelly or a special cream for leather.

Note that it is not possible to speed up the drying process with a hairdryer or heater, because it can deform your gloves. 

Kidskin gloves cannot be soaked even in this way. They should be wiped with glycerin; light kidskin gloves are wiped with warm milk. There are also special gentle leather care products that you can buy at a leather goods store.

Light leather

Everything is clear with dark items, but how do you clean white leather gloves? Can detergents be used for them? It is not recommended to wet light leather since it can develop yellowish stains after drying.

A good cleanser is a mixture of baking soda and milk. Make a paste out of these two ingredients and rub the light leather with it. A solution of ammonia helps to clean snow-white gloves from dirt. For 2 tablespoons of ammonia take 8 tablespoons of water, and apply the solution on greasy and darkened spots. If desired, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide can be added to the solution. You can try to get rid of persistent stains with the help of lemon juice.

Suede gloves

Suede items can actually be washed at home. For washing, use shampoo, liquid detergent, dish soap or baby soap.

First, a soap solution is prepared by whipping warm water with the addition of detergent into a foam. Wash the gloves in this soapy solution. You can put the gloves on your hands and dip them in water. That way it will be more convenient to clean the particularly dirty areas. During the washing process, you can use a soft brush or sponge.

After washing, suede leather is thoroughly rinsed and dried at room temperature. It’s best to dry them on the mannequin’s hand to keep their shape. If there is no mannequin, then you can make a frame in the shape of a hand from a solid wire or cut a stencil from thick cardboard. To prevent suede from becoming hard during the drying process, you can roll it with a rolling pin from time to time. When the gloves are dry, they are treated with a stiff brush for suede.

Cleaning the inside

Over time, it becomes necessary to wash the gloves on the inside. To do this, you can turn the gloves inside out and treat them with soapy water in the same way as on the outside. Instead of soap, you can use a solution of ammonia and water with the addition of peroxide to help eliminate dirt.

Heavily worn lined winter gloves can be washed entirely. Don’t soak them in water for a long time. Prepare a soap solution, dip gloves into it, wipe off the dirt.

Then rinse in clean water with the addition of table vinegar. Water needs to be changed several times. The gloves are dried by hanging them in front of the window or by putting them into a dried with cool air drying mode for 10 minutes. After drying, apply a softening cream.