Suede is called genuine leather special dressing, covered with soft nap. This material is used for sewing clothes, shoes and creating accessories. Such products look luxurious, but in order to keep them in their original form for a long time, you need to know how to clean the suede correctly and not spoil the thing.

The nuances of cleaning natural and artificial suede

Suede is natural and artificial. In the first case, the material is created by special processing of animal skins, and in the second, the fabric is formed from synthetic and semi-synthetic materials.

If an artificial analogue is made in compliance with all standards, it is almost impossible to distinguish it from natural suede at first glance, and its performance will be similar. For this reason, there are no differences in the rules for the care of both types of materials.

When buying suede products, at the same outlet you can usually get all the necessary care products.

These include:

  • a special double-sided brush, covered on one side with hard fibers of synthetic material, and on the other with rubber “tentacles”.
  • shampoo for suede;
  • stain remover;
  • water repellent spray;
  • paint (liquid or in the form of an aerosol).

Attention! When caring for suede products, do not use products designed for genuine leather or other materials.

When buying shampoo, spray or paint, you need to carefully study the packaging. It should have a special mark "for suede and nubuck."

In order for products to maintain a decent appearance and performance for a longer time, the following rules must be followed in the care of them:

  1. Regularly dry the surface of dust and dirt with a brush.
  2. If the suede is wet, you can start work only after it is completely dry.
  3. When wet cleaning the product, use only sponges or soft cloths.
  4. When removing dirt from the surface, move only in the direction of "growth" of the pile.
  5. Dry cleaned products away from sunlight and heaters. If we are talking about shoes or a handbag, it will need to be pre-filled with crumpled paper so that the surface does not deform during the evaporation of moisture.
  6. Use a water-repellent spray after cleaning to prevent getting wet during wear.
  7. Periodically refresh the color of the product with a special paint.

Important! Before staining, suede fabric must first be cleaned, then dried and only then applied to the selected product.

Cleaning suede with a brush

Suede does not like water, and too often resorting to wet cleaning is not recommended. And in order to maintain the product in good condition, it is necessary to regularly remove dirt from the surface with a brush. In this case, street dust and dirt will not eat into the material.

The procedure should be carried out in the following order:

  1. Dry the product away from heaters.
  2. The hard side of the brush remove dust and dirt, moving in the direction of the pile.
  3. To process overgrown areas with pressed villi on the rubberized side of the brush (you can replace it with a regular school eraser).

You should act carefully and without pressure, the delicate material does not tolerate rough mechanical impact.

Chemical cleaning of suede

Even with regular dry cleaning, there comes a time when spots appear on the product that cannot be removed with a brush. In this case, you will have to resort to the use of special chemicals.

If you need to clean suede from dirt and stains, carry out this procedure in the following order:

  1. Remove dust with a brush.
  2. Apply a special shampoo dissolved in warm water to the product.
  3. Using a sponge, gently wipe away any stubborn dirt.
  4. If stubborn stains are present on the surface, use a stain remover.
  5. Remove the chemical from the surface with a soft cloth moistened with warm water.
  6. Send the product to dry away from sunlight or radiators.

Tip. If the stains with natural or artificial suede have not disappeared even after wet cleaning, you should use a paint, it will “mask” all the dirt.

Effective folk remedies

To clean suede shoes or other products from this material, you can carefully use the tools at hand, for example:

  • Eraser. This stationery will cope with stubborn dirt and darkening on suede.
  • Bread crust. It is enough to walk it several times on the surface of the material, and then brush away the crumbs with a brush.
  • Laundry soap. You will need to dilute a small amount in warm water and process the tissue with the resulting solution. This tool will help get rid of dust and stains.
  • Citric acid A few tablespoons of the powder dissolved in a glass of water will help get rid of the "colored" spots of various origins.
  • Kerosene (or gasoline) and potato starch. This is the best remedy for stains of fat. First of all, you need to wipe the problem area with a cotton swab dipped in a combustible liquid, then sprinkle it with starch, and after 15-20 minutes use a brush to shake off the powder.
  • Liquid ammonia and liquid soap. You will need to pour the detergent into a glass of water, add a few drops of ammonia, mix the solution thoroughly and apply it to the product with a sponge. Then it remains only to wash off the composition with a cloth dipped in warm water.Such a tool is almost universal and copes with pollution of various origins.

On a note. If your bag, raincoat or sneaker is brown in suede, you can remove dirt by applying coffee grounds to it and then rinsing it with warm water. This will not only allow you to clean the fabric, but also refresh its shade.

How to clean light suede from dirt?

Light suede requires a more delicate approach, since this material literally attracts pollution.

The best means for cleaning such products are:

  • a solution of 5 ml of vinegar essence and 100 ml of water;
  • warm milk;
  • toothpaste or paste (you need to take the most common, without dyes and colored granules);
  • pounded clerical chalk;
  • a mixture of 10 drops of ammonia and 150 ml of water;
  • talcum powder or baby powder;
  • baking soda or potato starch;
  • hydrogen peroxide 3%;
  • soap solution.

When cleaning light suede products with liquid formulations, use a soft sponge or cloth. If contaminants are removed by means of powders, a special brush will be needed.

On a note. If after cleaning with liquid products, stains appear on the fabric, this indicates that there are residues of the composition on its surface.

In this case, simply reprocess the product, then rinse the product thoroughly with warm water.

Eliminate scuffs and overgrown spots

During operation on suede, inevitably, scuffs and patchy areas appear. Some mistakenly believe that the pile in this place came out and the product was irreparably damaged, but in fact it just got stuck, and it will not be difficult to restore the original structure of the material.

You can return the product to its original appearance in the following ways:

  1. Carefully treat the pile with a special brush, paying special attention to problem areas.
  2. Wipe the areas that have fallen in place with a stationery eraser, then comb.
  3. Hold the product over a pot of boiling water. At the same time, the distance between the thing and the container should be at least 15 cm. Under the influence of steam, the fibers will rise, and when the boots or handbag dry out, all that remains is to walk through them with a brush.
  4. Another way of household magic is to treat the fabric with fine-grained salt. This powdery product not only helps to raise the villi, but also removes the stubborn dust and freshens the color of suede. A certain difficulty is the removal of small particles from the material, but by carefully working with a brush, they can also be removed.

After processing the pile, it is recommended to paint the product. To do this, it is better to use not a liquid composition, but an aerosol.

How to remove salt from suede shoes

During heavy snowfalls, sidewalks and yards are sprinkled not only with sand, but also with salt, which leaves stains on the surface of the shoe. How to clean suede from such traces?

You can do this using the following tools:

  • Special shampoo. This composition is easy to purchase at any hardware store, and you need to use it in accordance with the instructions.
  • Liquid soap. It is necessary to choose a neutral product without dyes and flavors, and in the process of cleaning use a cloth or soft sponge. When the stains disappear, it remains only to wash off the foaming compound with warm water.
  • Vinegar 9%. You will need to add acid to a glass of warm water, stir and treat the traces with a cotton swab dipped in the resulting solution. After that, the product is removed from the surface with a soft damp cloth.
  • Ammonia. To prepare the cleaning solution, odorous liquid is added to the water and the material is cleaned. After that, wipe it with a damp sponge.

If we are talking about a light product, it is permissible to use hydrogen peroxide. The main thing is to carry out cleaning quickly, not allowing the composition to remain on the surface for a long time. Otherwise, caustic liquid will damage the villi.

 

Knowing how to properly care for suede and deal with various contaminants, you can maintain an attractive appearance for a long time and significantly extend their life.

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