Cleaning suede

Harrybelafonte

I found a nice long suede (I think)ncoat in charity shop today, but left it behind because of general light dirty patches (around the tops of the sleeves, elbows and over where the buttons sit when closed). How easy is suede to clean (in a dry cleaners)?

antoinolachtnai

Well, as I understand it, you don't dry clean it no matter what. The chemicals make the leather go hard. The way te specialists wash it seems to be water-based. There may be alternative treatments, I don't know.

There is some google about it.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cleaning+suede&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I guess it is all about the price of the item. Is it worth a try at home? Is it worth the cost of a professional job.

Harrybelafonte

I don't really know. Brand is Mandalay who aren't exactly top end and the current price on the coat is 12euro. I thought it looked quite well bar the dirt and it's beige so the dirt shows. How expensive would cleaning it be I wonder.

antoinolachtnai

The real problem isn't the cost of cleaning so. The question is whether it would work well enough. I would say it would cost at least twice the price of the coat and maybe more because it would require manual work.

You could buy it, get an opinion and price and if you didn't like the price you could take a chance on cleaning it yourself?

apsalar

I've always used a soft bristle tooth brush and methylated spirits to clean my suede products. Don't know if this is the right way but it works for me.

Michellenman

If you go in to Barratts they have a specific suede material cleaner which will remove any marks and help protect against any other marks being made. I suede brush may also help to brush the marks off when used in conjunction with the cleaner.

Harrybelafonte

Thanks everyone. I wont bein til next Saturday so it may be gone, but at least I'll know for next time.:)

DOC09UNAM

I always thought steam cleaning was good for suede? it's what i used to do with my suede shoes and they always came out perfect

Madame Razz

Afaik the cost of specialist cleaning for suede and leather is pretty high. If you're Dublin based you might get a better deal. I'm sure if you enquired at any dry cleaners you would get a good idea of the price.