Wetcleaning suede and leather
A growing concern for the environment has
spurred the search for more environmentally friendly methods of
cleaning suedes and leathers. The result was the development of
the wetcleaning process which has been called the ultimate
processing method for cleaning suedes and leathers.
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Washing suedes and leathers can be found
in the processes performed in tanneries where the skins of
animals are made into leather.
Washing the skins in water is used
extensively throughout the tanning process, which starts with
washing the salt-cured, blood-soaked skins after they arrive at
the tannery from the slaughter houses, continues throughout the
tanning process with treatments that use water as the liquid
carrying agent for the tanning chemicals and dyes as well as
for rinsing them out and ends with a fine spray of water on the
leather to establish the final desired moisture level in the
skins.
In more developed countries like the
United States, wetcleaning of suedes and leathers was not used
to process all items because drying was time-consuming compared
to modern high production oriented leather drycleaning
operations.
In less developed countries, wetcleaning
of suedes and leathers was quite common because these nations
did not possess the capital, technology, machinery, solvents or
chemicals for modern, efficient, high-quality leather
drycleaning.
However the advent of modern wetcleaning
products and equipment enables leather cleaners to meet
environmental concerns and wetclean suedes and leathers safely
and efficiently.
Wetcleaning can be especially
advantageous for items with water soluble stains like blood or
milk soaked into the suedes or leathers as well as for
wetcleaning distressed leathers or items trimmed with vinyl.
Wetcleaning these items could be the only way to safely clean
and restore them to a usable condition.
Wetcleaning equipment and machines
Suede and leather wetcleaning equipment
can be as simple as a bucket, a sink, a tub or some other type
of of container. It can be done in a simple washing machine
like a small home washer if volume is not too great. A home
washer can wetclean four to 12 suedes or leathers an hour!
It can also be done in larger, standard
commercial laundry washers for greater output.
Or it can be done in modern wetcleaning
machines equipped with washing cycle programs that control drum
rotation, mechanical agitation, timing of multiple cycles,
water temperature, water level injection of additives,
extraction speeds and duration etc.
In most cases, the cycles of these
machines can be custom programmed in accordance with
information from the detergent and additive manufacturers.
Wetcleaned items can be dried by hanging
to dry in the air, by tumbling in a cool tumbler, or in a
special dryer that can be programmed to sense and control
moisture level and temperature.
An existing washer can be used to start
wetcleaning suede and leather. Drying can be accomplished by
hanging or tumbling in a cool tumbler. The home washer will do
if no other wetcleaning equipment is available. Or the shirt
laundry washer can be used if it is available. One or two
pieces of old suede or leather can be wetcleaned to build
confidence. From there it is off to the races!
Wetcleaning additives and supplies
The additives used to wetclean suedes and
leathers must be biodegradable, non-hazardous, non-flammable
and non-solvent in order to meet government regulations when
the used wash water is dumped into existing sewer systems.
In addition, they must be able to restore
suede and leather to its original softness, without glue bleed
problems, without shrinkage, without color loss, without color
bleed on multicolored items or cloth, suede, leather or vinyl
combinations.
The most important additives required to
wetclean suedes and leathers are the prewash dye fixer, the
main wash detergent conditioner and the final rinse
conditioner.
The purpose of the detergent is to remove
and suspend water soluble soils to prevent them from
redepositing on the items being wetcleaned in warm or cold
water.
The purpose of the conditioner is to
protect the softness and to prevent color loss and bleeding of
the dyes during the main wash cycle. Ideally these two
additives should be combined into a single product such as in
Royaltone’s Prosuede Wet.
The next most important additive required
to wetclean suedes and leathers is a prefinish softener
conditioner, like Royaltone’s Leather Soft conditioner
rinse. The purpose of this additive is to provide added
softness and to aid in finishing.
The next important additive is a prewash
dye fixer, like Royaltone’s Leather Fix. The purpose of
this prewash additive is to set dyes that testing indicates are
water soluble.
Other additives that are useful include a
sizing, like Royaltone’s Leather Size, to restore body
and firmness to items that contain water soluble sizing.
While most water soluble stains can be
removed from suedes and leathers in wetcleaning, some
prespotting may be necessary with a biodegradable color safe
wetcleaning prespotter like Royaltone’s Leather Magic.
Oily solvent soluble stains like paint,
oil, grease, etc. must be removed by using a non-oily water
soluble POG spot remover, like Royaltone’s Spot Magic,
prior to wetcleaning any suede or leather. The non-oily POG
will flush out in the wetcleaning without leaving an oily ring
like with oily type POGs.
Likewise ink stains must be removed prior
to wetcleaning with a non-oily water soluble ink remover, like
Royaltone’s Ink Magic.
To start wetcleaning suedes and leathers,
the key additives to use in an existing washer are a prewash
dye fixer, a main wash detergent conditioner, like
Royaltone’s Prosuede Wet detergent plus conditioner, the
final rinse softener, like Royaltone’s Leather Soft
Softener conditioner, and a leather prespotter.
Note: Products other than those described
in this article for wetcleaning suede, leather and cloth
trimmed with suede or leather, may not give the same results if
used as described in this article.
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