Men are almost universally drawn to goods made with leather. Wallets, boots, bags, jackets, gloves — all are lent a certain extra attraction when they’re crafted from an animal’s sturdy hide.
The reasons for leather’s appeal aren’t hard to understand. It’s a material our ancestors used for clothes, pouches, and a variety of other useful wares. And leather is so durable that many of those heirloom items are still around today (in fact, a pair of shockingly well-preserved 5,500-year-old leather shoes were discovered a few years back). Adding to this literal toughness is an aura of it, borne from the material’s ancient connection to hunting and killing. Plus, leather just looks dang good.
While it’s tough as nails, we must also remember that leather is in fact skin. It can dry, crack, stain, warp, etc. So today I’ll walk you through the various options for treating and taking care of leather so that whatever form it takes can be passed down your family line.
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Note that much of the below applies mostly to everyday use items that are regularly exposed to the elements — shoes, jackets, bags. Wallets, accessories, etc. can still be cared for with these tips, they generally just don’t need as much attention.
What Do You Want Your Leather to Look Like?
The first task in deciding how to treat and care for your leather is simply asking what you want it to look like, and the role it plays in your life. A pair of rugged work boots don’t need as much attention as a pair of classy dress shoes. A moto jacket will likely be naturally more beaten up than a bomber jacket you wear around town — is the nature of riding a motorcycle down the freeway with leather over your shoulders.
It also comes down to taste. Some men want a clean, polished look for their bag, while others are okay with scratches, blemishes, and natural wear and tear. Dave Munson, the founder of Saddleback Leather Co., prefers to minimally treat his own personal bags and allows them to have the beaten-to-hell look that tells tales of adventures (and sometimes misadventures) without ever uttering a word.
So think about what you want your leather to look like, and next, we’ll go through some various treatment options.
The Differences Between Various Leather Treatments
If you’re like me, you may have thought that giving your shoes a good polish every now and then was all that leather needed to stand the test of time. When perusing the shoe care section of a department store, all the creams, polishes, waxes and conditioners blended together into a single product in my mind. They’re not, in fact, totally interchangeable, though. Let’s take a look at what these different treatments do to leather. Keep in mind there aren’t general pros and cons here; as stated above, it comes down to what you want, and what the function of the leather item is.
Polish. Polish is largely actually for aesthetics. On its own, it’s mostly about the actual shine of the product (usually shoes and bags) rather than protecting it from the elements. Having said that, many polishes have a moisturizing element, so you really have to look at the product description and user reviews to know what you’re getting and what it does.
Since cleaning is part of a good polishing routine, it’s certainly not a bad thing to do. The frequency of polishing simply depends on your own preferences for how you want your leather goods to look, but most casual items won’t need it. If you have a nice briefcase or fancy dress shoes, that’s where polish really comes in.
Conditioner/Cream. Leather conditioner or cream moisturizes the material so that it doesn’t dry out and crack. This won’t make your shoes “shine,” but it will protect them. Note that in most cases conditioners don’t waterproof your leather (though some do include a water-repelling component). Leather conditioners are lotion-like and are to be gently rubbed into the leather. The hide will soak up the conditioner, just like your skin would soak up a moisturizer.
How often you use conditioner, as with the other treatments, really depends on what you want. Dave Munson mentioned above, conditions every 6-12 months, preferring to let his bags completely dry out before re-applying. That keeps the leather looking rugged and tough, and allows it to accrue some scuffs, scratches, etc.
Most folks out there — everyday folks who haven’t founded leather goods companies — like to condition their goods (largely everyday use items like shoes and bags) every 3 months or so, sometimes more if they live in a dry climate.
