National Clothesline

Hems and cuffs may come unglued, but putting them back is easy.

Most hems and cuffs on suede and leather garments are not sewn up. They are glued up by the garment manufacturer with a solvent soluble (or water soluble) glue. This type of hemming is used because it is cheap and easy compared to sewing the hems and cuffs.

The unfortunate thing is that the solvent soluble glue dissolves in drycleaning and the water soluble glue dissolves in wetcleaning, thereby causing the hems and cuffs to come loose. It is the responsibility of the leather cleaner to reglue those hems and cuffs.

If you cleaned the leather garment, you will have to reglue the loose hems and cuffs. They can easily be reglued at your shop using simple, time-saving, labor-saving techniques, tools and materials like the solvent- and water-resistant Perma Hold glue which will permanently hold the hems and cuffs in place through all future leather drycleaning or wetcleaning.

This will eliminate the need to stupidly reglue hems and cuffs after each cleaning with the option to take down the hems or cuffs at your discretion should there ever be a need to do so.

The glued hems that come loose during leather cleaning fall into the following categories: 1) open hems that are not sewn to the coat lining; and 2) closed hems that are sewn to the coat lining.

The open hems are the easier of the two types to reglue because they are not sewn to the coat lining and the glue can readily be applied with a variety of applicators. These include a squeeze bottle with a nozzle spout, a swab, a brush or a spatula.

The fastest and easiest applicator is the Perma Hold glue squeeze bottle with a nozzle spout. The glue can be applied by placing the nozzle spout against the inside of the seam and squeezing out the glue as the bottle is moved from one end of the hemline to the other.

The amount of glue applied should be limited to a continuous line (or bead) of glue no more than 1é16-inch wide. The size of this bead of glue can be controlled by limiting the diameter of the opening in the nozzle spout and by controlling the amount of pressure exerted by the hand on the squeeze bottle and by controlling how fast the bottle spout is drawn along the hemline.

After the glue is applied, the hem flap is folded up at the hemline crease and put in contact with the glue bead that was applied approximately 3é8-inch above the hemline crease. The two parts of the hem are then squeezed together by hand and allowed to dry thoroughly before pressing.

Closed hems and cuffs that are sewn to the lining of the coat are more difficult to glue than open hems. One way to reglue closed hems is to open the seam of the sewn-in lining so that the squeeze bottle may be used. This approach requires that the lining be resewn after the hem is reglued.

A more practical and ingenious approach is to use a syringe and hypodermic needle to apply the bead of glue without taking the sewn-in lining loose. With this method, the glue is placed in the syringe and the hypodermic needle is inserted through the cloth lining where it is sewn to the leather or suede hem flap.

The glue can then be pushed from the syringe through the needle and deposited under the flap on the hem in a 1é16-inch wide bead all along the hem flap approximately 3é8-of an inch above the hem crease. The needle is then removed and the hem flap is squeezed back in to place by hand and allowed to dry. This technique eliminates the need to loosen the lining and then resew it.

The syringe should have a capacity of several ounces of glue. The needle should be large enough to permit a Number 2 safety pin or a paper clip wire to fit into the bore of the needle. This will keep the glue from solidifying in the needle between uses.

It is wise to glue the needle to the syringe to insure that it will not slip off. The needle should be 1 to 1 1é2 inches long. The point should be dulled by rubbing it with the abrasive strip so that the needle will not hang up when it is moved inside the hem line.

Before loading the syringe with glue, it is wise to smear a film of Vaseline on the rubber-like plunger. This will prevent the glue from gluing the plunger to the wall of the syringe housing when the glue is left in the syringe overnight.

Fill the syringe housing with the glue up to one-half inch of its capacity. Then insert the Vaseline-coated plunger into the housing and turn the syringe up so the needle is on top. Let the air bubble in the syringe rise to the top and push the plunger in until the air is gone from the syringe. Now you are ready to glue those sewn in hems. Happy trails.