How to Clean and Care for a Leather wallet

As a natural material leather can slowly begin to wear down and there’s nothing worse than rips, tears, and stains taking away from the aesthetics of your wallet. Having reviewed thousands of wallets over the years this is no rarity and I constantly get messages asking me how I deal with dirty or stains wallets. 

If this sounds like you then this article is for you. I’m going to go through the various ways to remove stains from wallets and also briefly talk about how to better care for your leather wallet.

Wallet Care Steps

 Step 1: The first thing you should do is create a highly diluted solution of mild soap and water. We recommend a facial soap or mild detergent one used primarily for cleaning clothes. With his in hand mix in a hefty amount of water. There’s no rule of thumb as long as the constantly remains like water and the smell isn’t too overpowering. 

Step 2: Grab yourself a soft cloth or sponge and lightly dip it in the solution. You don’t want to drown the leather in the solution so make sure the cloth is only damp or slightly moist. 

Stet 3: Gently wipe the areas of the wallet with any stains being careful not to rub too hard. If your wall is full-grain or one of very high quality makes sure to go with the grain of the leather. 

Step 4: Leave the wallet to dry naturally preferably in natural sunlight. If the stain still pertains trying again with a slightly stronger solution (but not too strong)! After the wallet has dried the final step is to moisturize your wallet. This requires a proper leather moisturizer which can be bought online (read below for more details).

How to Care for Leather Wallets

Many products exist for helping maintain the leather and keep it looking fresh. Unfortunately, the only way to achieve this is to purchase specialized products used in the care of leather.

What you will need:

• 1x Leather conditioner (Example: Beeswax)
• 1x 100% Horsehair brush
• Multiple soft cotton clothes

(Examples of leather care products can be found here)

Step 1: Clean the leather with a damp cotton cloth. If possible use distilled water.

Step 2: Apply a small amount of natural leather conditioner onto a clean cloth and work it into the leather. Repeat the process until the leather feels and looks hydrated. 

Step 3: Using a brush - or cotton cloth - remove the extra wax/cream and buff until the original wallets luster is restored. We recommend doing this every 6 months or when the wallet is clearly starting to deteriorate.