How to dryclean leather gloves
Suede and leather gloves can be cleaned in
much the same way as suede and leather garments are cleaned.
They can be spotted, cleaned, pressed and recolored. However,
to do the job right, specialized equipment and tools are
necessary.
For example, for cleaning gloves, a
specially designed glove cleaning machine which cleans and
scrubs the dirty gloves is desirable but
not essential. In addition, special glove irons are necessary
for pressing gloves after cleaning. Other less expensive but
important tools are the glove finger stick, which is placed in
each finger when prespotting and the glove finger holder which
is placed in the finger when recoloring.
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The glove cleaning machine is small in
size compared to even a small drycleaning machine. The glove
irons are shiny metal hot head irons shaped like the human hand
without a thumb. The glove iron is heated internally either by
steam or electricity. The glove sticks are made of wood and are
round and tapered so that they can be inserted into the fingers
of the glove.
If the glove cleaning machine is not
available or is too costly for the number of gloves to be
cleaned, the regular cleaning machine that has been charged
with a leather cleaning detergent conditioner like Royaltone
Detergent Plus Conditioner that will stabilize the dyes and
prevent color loss in the gloves when used at the proper
concentration of 6 percent for dark colors and 2% percent for
light colors.
Prespotting gloves
When prespotting gloves, use the same
techniques previously described for spotting suede, leather and
fur items. Briefly recapping, first, use the abrasive strip or,
when appropriate, the abrasive block to surface clean and
scrape crusty spots and stains from the surface of suede
gloves.
Caution: Never use surface cleaning
abrasive techniques on smooth leather!
Then apply a leather prespotter, like
Royaltone Spot Wiz-Wet Prespotter, to remove wet side spots and
stains. Then apply the leather POG, like Royaltone Spot
Wiz-Dry, to remove dry side spots and stains. Use on both suede
and leather gloves.
Brush spotted, soiled and stained areas of
the gloves with the appropriate leather spotting brush —
A wire bristle for cowhide and pigskin gloves; a nylon bristle
for sheepskin and soft suede and leather gloves.
The glove stick should be placed in each
finger of the glove to hold it taut when brushing. Allow the
leather spotting agents to remain on the gloves for at least
one-half hour before cleaning. To facilitate soil and stain
removal, the prespotted gloves can be soaked in drycleaning
fluid containing the recommended concentration of the detergent
plus conditioner for at least one-half hour before cleaning.
Drycleaning gloves
To dryclean gloves, place the gloves in a
bag and dryclean at a very low level of drycleaning fluid
charged to the required concentration of the detergent plus
conditioner. Clean for 20 minutes and extract.
Winter gloves may be made of a shearling
fur with the fur on the inside to provide warmth. Some winter
gloves have a loose imitation shearling fur lining that will
come out of the leather shell fingers of the glove when
cleaned.
To prevent the lining from leaving the
outside finger shell during the cleaning process, pin each
finger tip of the lining of each finger to the finger tip of
the outer leather shell.
Dry on low heat at 120°F or less.
Remove from the machine and blow air inside the gloves to
restore the shape to the fingers and the rest of the glove.
Ironing gloves
Iron the gloves using the glove irons
heated to 200°F.
First, place the thumb on the forefinger
of the glove iron. Pull the glove down against the hot glove
iron to smooth out the thumb. The glove iron operator should be
wearing heat resistant gloves to protect his hands from the hot
glove iron.
Then the glove on the glove iron is rubbed
with both hands as it is pulled down until smooth. The thumb is
then removed and the other four fingers of the glove are placed
on the four corresponding fingers of the glove iron. The
rubbing procedure is repeated for each finger. Then the hand
and upper part of the glove are rubbed until smooth.
Spraying gloves
If smooth leather gloves contain
unremovable spots or stains, they can be covered using the same
spray materials and techniques used on coats with similar
conditions.
Briefly, place the glove finger holder
inside the fingers of the glove that is to be colored to cover
the unremovable spots and stains.
Lightly spray each finger on the finger
holder individually and then the hand and arm portions of the
glove with the matching color of a leather finish like
Royaltone Leather Pro. Use 80 psi air pressure with the spray
gun held at least eight inches away.
Spray until the spots and stains are
covered. Allow to dry and then re-iron on the glove iron.
Note: Use of equipment, materials or
techniques other than those specified in this article may not
produce the same results.
Frank Lucenta is president of Royaltone
Co., Inc., a firm that manufacturers the products he developed
to make it possible for any cleaner to safely and profitably
dryclean, wetclean and finish any suede, leather, fur and
trimmed cloth garment. He also wrote related instruction books
that document the process, entitled “Handling Leather and
Suede” and “Cleaning and Finishing Leather and
Suede.” He also teaches small groups of plant owners and
managers how to identify, accept, spot, dryclean and wetclean,
press and recolor suedes, leathers, and furs using his
Royaltone procedures and products. The next Royaltone Leather
training session is scheduled for June 10-11 and Sept. 9-10 at
the Royaltone Suedemate Leather Cleaning Center in Tulsa, OK.
For more information on training sessions or on spotting charts
in either English or Korean, call (800) 331-5506, (918)
622-6677, fax (918) 665-6017, or e-mail frank@royaltone.com. Information is also available on the Royaltone
web site, www.royaltone.com.
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