01
Weekly, thirty seconds
Wipe with a dry, soft cloth to lift dust out of the grain. Dust is abrasive; leaving it in the grain is what dulls a surface over a year.
Leather care
Leather does not need much. It needs the right little, at the right interval. Everything below applies to both the vegetable-tanned and the chrome-tanned bags in this range.
A vegetable-tanned bag will darken over its first year in the light and keep darkening slowly after that. That is the material working as intended, not a fault.
The routine
02
Two to four times a year
Work a colourless leather balm in with a cloth, thinly, in circles. Leave it 20 minutes, then buff. Too much balm darkens leather unevenly — less than you think is right.
03
When it gets wet
Blot, do not rub. Stuff the bag loosely with paper to hold its shape and let it dry at room temperature, away from radiators, hairdryers and direct sun. Heat is what cracks leather, not water.
04
When you store it
Loosely filled, upright, in the cotton dust bag, somewhere with air. Not in a sealed plastic box — leather needs to breathe or it will mildew.
What comes out, and what does not
| Mark | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Light scratch | Usually disappears — warm it with a fingertip and work it in. |
| Water spot | Fades as the whole panel darkens with age. Wetting the entire panel evenly speeds it up. |
| Ink | Permanent. Do not use solvent; it will strip the finish and leave a worse mark. |
| Grease | Often fades into the surrounding leather over weeks. Blot immediately, never rub. |
| Deep cut | Permanent. A saddler can close it; we can put you in touch with one. |
Do not
- Do not machine wash, and do not immerse. The leather will stiffen and the lining will shrink against it.
- Do not dry with heat. A radiator or a hairdryer is what causes cracking.
- Do not use saddle soap, solvents, alcohol wipes or household cleaners on the outer leather.
- Do not store in plastic. Trapped moisture becomes mildew, and mildew is not reversible.
- Do not overload past the suggested normal-use figure. Leather stretches and stitching does not recover.
Hardware
Zips last longer if you keep grit out of the teeth: brush along the row occasionally with a dry toothbrush. A stiff zip wants graphite from a pencil, not oil — oil attracts exactly the grit you just removed.
Something has gone wrong
If a seam has opened, a fitting has failed or the bag is not as described, that is a matter for the statutory liability for defects, which runs two years from delivery. Write to support@duxlederwaren.shop with a photograph and we will repair, replace or refund in accordance with the law — see faulty goods.