National Clothesline

respotters made specifically for safe spot removal on suede, leather and fur items in drycleaning will not cause color loss or hardening of the skins. However, some garments may have spots and stains that are not removable when spotted with the safe prespotters.

Although these spots and stains may not respond to normal, safe prespotting and leather drycleaning, they may be removed by using spot removers that are not safe and that then present the risk of causing color loss and damage to the skin.

Stains on suede and leather that may be unremovable by the use of normally safe spotters and spotting procedures include protein stains, tannin stains, ink stains and dye stains.

Protein type stains that may require risky spotting products and procedures in drycleaning suedes and leathers include blood, perspiration, albumin, food, eggs, starch, sweets, chocolate, ice cream, glue, gravy, jelly, ketchup, salad dressing, mercurochrome, urine, discharge and vomit.

Tannin type stains that may require risky spotting products and procedures in drycleaning suedes and leathers include: yellow-brown stains from soft drinks, fruit juice, beer, wine, liquor, mustard, coffee, tea and grass.

The staining substance usually soaks into the skin of suedes, naked leathers and cuir savage leathers unless they have been protected from spillage stains before the suede or leather garment was ever worn, by the application of a suede and leather repellent. If the repellent had been applied, there would be no need to use risky spotting products and procedures that cause color loss or skin damage in drycleaning because the staining substance would not have soaked into the skin.

Spotting techniques

The first technique to be used to remove these protein, tannin, ink and dye stains on suedes only is surface cleaning by abrasive spotting.

Abrasive spotting is safe and will remove the surface crust of the stain. This will greatly improve the way the item looks, but it will not reach the staining material that has soaked down into the skin.

The only way to get the deep stain out is to apply an unsafe drycleaning type stain remover and allow it to soak down into the skin. This procedure may remove the stain but will probably also remove the color because the same drycleaning spotter that removes the stain will also remove the dye.

Note: these procedures should never be started without first obtaining the customer’s release authorization to proceed at the customer’s risk only!

In addition, the customer should also agree to an extra charge to cover the added cost of the procedures required to remove the stain and restore the color. Furthermore, make no guarantee that the final result will restore the item to like-new or even wearable condition. But then, it probably wasn't wearable when the customer brought it in!

Finally, it is always wise in these cases to collect the charge for the stain removal procedure before the work begins or you may end up owning an item in which you have invested time, effort and materials when the customer won’t take it or won’t pay for it. Surely no customer would do that!

Blood or vomit stains

From time to time, suede and leather items with excessive amounts of blood or vomit soaked into them are brought in for cleaning. The blood may have come from an uncontrollable nose bleed or perhaps an automobile accident or some other kind of incident.

These suede and leather items are usually stiff with dried blood or vomit when received. The soaked-in dried blood or vomit is usually so extensive that the item is essentially ruined and not usable.

Before accepting or doing anything to such an item, get an authorization to proceed from the customer. The customer must assume full risk and also responsibility for the costs incurred for the procedures that must be followed to attempt to restore the suede or leather item.

It should be noted on the ticket and the customer advised that there are components of the blood or vomit that could have already affected the color and texture of the skin.

For example digestive juices in the vomit could have already caused color loss and stiffening. These problems would become evident after the blood or vomit is removed.

The first step in the procedure is to prespot with a specially formulated leather prespotter like Royaltone’s Spot Wiz Wet and then blot up the blood or vomit before using the leather drycleaning method. The stain may also be so extensive that using a spot remover is far too time consuming to be practical.

Prespotting blood or vomit

Soaking the suede or leather may be accomplished by immersing it in a container of cold water mixed with a special wetcleaning leather detergent plus conditioner like Royaltone’s Prosuede Wet Detergent Conditioner. Allow the item to soak in the mixture over night so the blood or vomit can dissolve and float out of the skin.

The suede or leather item can also be agitated manually several times during the soaking. It can also be gently wrung out by hand and the water and leather detergent plus conditioner mixture replaced several times during the soaking procedure.

If the blood or vomit has not been in the garment too long, this soaking procedure should be sufficient to remove all or most of it.

The suede or leather garment should then be rinsed in cool water mixed with a leather softener like Royaltone’s Leather Soft and then hung on a plastic hanger while wet and allowed to air dry at normal ambient air temperature.

Caution: Do not dry with heat! Heat will cause the skin to become stiff and hard.

After the suede or leather has thoroughly dried, it may be tumbled in a warm dryer or leather drycleaned in drycleaning fluid charged with a special leather cleaning detergent plus conditioner, like Royaltone’s Detergent Plus Conditioner, to restore the soft, supple feel of the item.

The clean, dry suede or leather can then be sprayed with a suede neutral product like Royaltone’s Suede Nu that is made specifically for naked leather and suede to impart a more supple feel and to bring out the color.

If the color is lighter because of the affect of the components in the blood or vomit, redying may be attempted by spraying the item with a special leather dye, like Royaltone’s Brit-N Dye mixed with the compatible suede neutral product.

Wetcleaning procedures

If soaking is not sufficient to remove the blood or vomit, then wetcleaning is the next procedure to follow. The best way to attempt to remove blood or vomit from a badly stained item is to wetclean it in cold water using specially formulated leather wetcleaning products.

Wetcleaning means that you wash the suedes or leathers in cool water at a temperature of 100°F or less as follows: First, load the washer at half the rated poundage capacity with dry suedes or leathers. Then add the dye fixer, four ounces per suede or leather garment, fill the tub with cool water at a temperature of 100°F or less and prewash for five minutes. Do not use hot water because it will damage the skins.

Next, add the specially formulated leather wetcleaning detergent plus conditioner, two ounces per suede or leather garment loaded into the washer. Use only a biodegradable detergent plus conditioner, an all in one product, for wetcleaning suedes and leathers without harmful effects of color loss and stiffening. Fill the tub with cool water at a temperature of 100°F or less and wash.

The main wash cycle for suedes and naked leathers may be anywhere from five minutes to 20 minutes. The wash cycle for painted leathers should be no more than five minutes.

Next, add the specially formulated leather softener conditioner, four ounces per garment in the final rinse cycle to condition and soften the suedes or leathers in a five-minute rinse cycle in cool water at a temperature of 100°F or less.

Then extract and hang the suedes and leathers on plastic hangers to air dry at room temperature or tumble them in a cool dryer at a temperature of 100°F or less. Do not use heat to dry the wet suedes or leathers as heat will damage the wet skins. When completely dry then tumble them in a warm tumbler to restore the lush soft feel.

Leather wetcleaning products and procedures other than those described above may not work the same way or give the same results. Products made for use on cloth should never to be used on suedes or leathers as they will result in color loss, color bleed and will stiffen or otherwise damage 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 June 10-11 and Sept. 9-10 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.