Basic prespotting of suede and leather
respotting suede and leather is different from
prespotting cloth in three important ways. First of all, live
steam is never used when spotting suede, leather or fur.
Second, crusty spots and stains are scraped from surface of
suede by abrasion. Third, spot removers and batch additives
that are made for use on cloth are not to be used on suede,
leather or fur as they usually cause color loss and skin
damage.
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Live steam is never used because steam
will cause the skins to draw up and shrivel up in almost every
case. This occurs whenever a skin wet with water has heat
applied to it. This is what occurs whenever plant steam is
applied to the skins that are used to make suedes, leathers,
furs and cloth combinations. Under certain conditions, steam
with a pressure of under 40 psi can safely be used on some
suedes and leathers.
Prespotting suede is accomplished by using
the following three methods: surface cleaning by scraping spots
with an abrasive strip or block; dissolving spots with
specially formulated Spot Wiz liquid spot removers; and
removing heavy ground in soil in the wheel with the Soil Go
release batch additive.
Prespotting smooth leather and fur is
accomplished only by dissolving spots with specially formulated
liquid spot removers. Heavy ground in soil is removed from
smooth leather with the soil release batch additive. Abrasives
are never used on smooth leathers or furs.
Surface cleaning to scrape spots off by
abrasion may be accomplished with a variety of spotting tools.
Removing spots by dissolving them is
accomplished by using color safe and skin safe Spot Wiz liquid
spot removers.
Removing heavy ground in soil and stains
by releasing them in the cleaning machine is accomplished by
using Soil Go Soil release batch additive.
Spot Wiz liquid spot removers and Soil Go
soil release batch additive are safe because they are
formulated for use on suede, leather, fur and cloth.
On combinations of cloth trimmed with
suede or leather, the safe spot removers and soil release batch
additive will not cause color loss or cause the skin to become
stiff, hard or brittle. Liquid spot removers and batch
additives made for use only on cloth items will usually cause
color loss and damage to the skin.
Any liquid spot removers and batch
additives that are formulated for use only on cloth items are
not safe for use on suede, leather or fur.
Surface cleaning
Abrasive spot removers can be used to
surface clean or scrape off crusty spots and surface stains
from suedes. The most common surface cleaners used to abrade
crusty spots and surface stains include the following: the
abrasive strip; the abrasive block; the steel wool pad and; the
sand blaster.
These materials are never to be used on
smooth leather. They are for use only on suedes and then only
with considerable care.
Liquid spot removers
Liquid spot and stain removers should be
specially formulated to safely dissolve and loosen spots,
stains and soil from suede, leather, fur and cloth
combinations.
Liquid spot removers fall into the
following two categories:
1. Those
for removing wet side spots, stains and soils like Royaltone
Spot Wiz-wet spot remover and Soil Go batch additive.
2. Those
for removing dry side spots, stains and soils like Royaltone
Spot Wiz-Dry and Spot Wiz-VDS spot removers.
Spot Wiz-wet spot remover is formulated
for use on suede, leather and cloth to remove water soluble
spots, stains and soil without removing color or hardening the
skin. It breaks up water soluble stains and loosens ground in
soil and is used as a spray prespotter and applied to suede,
leather and cloth combinations prior to cleaning. Items so
prespotted can be cleaned either wet or dry.
Batch additive
Soil Go soil release batch additive is a
soil remover that can either be poured into or injected into
the cleaning machine charged with a special leather cleaning
detergent like the Royaltone Detergent Plus Conditioner and
loaded with soiled suedes, leathers and cloth combinations.
Thiswill cause soil to be released from heavily soiled garments
in the cleaning machine.
The soil is released while the machine
does all the work without causing color loss, dye bleed on to
cloth portions or stiffening of the skins. The batch additive
works most effectively when the cleaning machine is run on
batch for at least the first five minutes of the cycle. This
lets it work in concentrated form with minimal dilution by the
cleaning fluid to maximize soil release during the cleaning
cycle. The result isthat all or most of the soil will be
removed during the first cycle.
This greatly reduces the amount of time
and effort that would be spent on the spotting board trying to
loosen ground in heavy soil. In fact, it’s like having an
extra worker in the cleaning room.
Dry spotters
Spot-Wiz dry oily type spot remover is
used to remove paint, oil, grease, ink, shoe polish, tar and
wax on suedes, leathers, furs and cloth combination items.
Spot Wiz VDS volatile type dry spot
remover is used to remove glue, glue bleed, latex paint,
oxidized oils and cosmetics from suedes, leathers, furs and
cloth combination items.
Spot Wiz dry spot removers are formulated
for use on suede, leather fur and cloth to remove solvent
soluble spots, stains and soil without removing color or
hardening the skin.
Two dry spot removers are made for use on
suede and leather. They are oily type and volatile. Both can be
applied to suedes, leathers and cloth before cleaning and they
can be cleaned anytime after the application. They can also be
used on cloth combined with suede, leather and fur.
The leather liquid spot remover’s
effectiveness will be enhanced by applying mechanical action on
the spotting board using a bone or metal scraper spatula and by
using special suede and leather brushes. Steam is never used
when spotting suede or leather.
Spotting agents and batch additives other
than those mentioned may cause color loss, color bleed and
damage to the skin.
Frank Lucenta is president of Royaltone
Co., Inc., a firm that manufacturers the products he developed
to make it possible for any cleaner to safely and profitably
dryclean, wetclean and finish any suede, leather, fur and
trimmed cloth garment. He also wrote related instruction books
that document the process, entitled “Handling Leather and
Suede” and “Cleaning and Finishing Leather and
Suede.” He also teaches small groups of plant owners and
managers how to identify, accept, spot, dryclean and wetclean,
press and recolor suedes, leathers, and furs using his
Royaltone procedures and products. The next Royaltone Leather
training session is scheduled for Feb. 5-6, April 1-2 and June
10-11 at the Royaltone Suedemate Leather Cleaning Center in
Tulsa, OK. For more information on training sessions or on
spotting charts in either English or Korean, call (800)
331-5506, (918) 622-6677, fax (918) 665-6017, or e-mail frank@royaltone.com. Information is also available on the Royaltone
web site, www.royaltone.com.
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