Brittle Leather

Q I got a leather jacket out of storage and had it cleaned by my drycleaner. When I picked it up the back of the jacket was hard, brittle and torn. What happened?

A Sometimes dark marks appear for no apparent reason on the surface of leather or suede. These spots usually have a splatter-like appearance where the leather has become hard, shrunken, and puckered.

Testing the area indicates a staining substance containing a salt residue is present. This damage is caused by accidental contact with moisture containing salt that has remained on the leather for a period of time. Salt substances are not used in leather cleaning but are found in many everyday solutions that the garment owner may have come into contact with accidentally. For example, salt compounds are found in many foods, beverages, blood, urine, deodorants, gutter splash, ice melt, plain table salt, salt water, and various other matter containing mineral salts. Contact with any of these substances can eventually cause leather skin staining and damage.

Salt will continually absorb moisture from the atmosphere, thus keeping the stained area of the leather damp. Salt staining may be invisible prior to cleaning and generally is not removed by regular leather cleaning procedures. When the jacket undergoes normal drying and finishing after cleaning, the salt-stained areas can shrink, stiffen, and sometimes even crack the leather.

Usually this damage cannot be prevented unless the garment owner knows when the contact occurs and immediately rinses the substance off the leather with some cold water and lets it air dry. If the stain is still fresh and is visible, the leather cleaner can attempt to remove the remaining residue prior to cleaning in order to minimize the damage.

Crayon Stains

Q: How can I remove stains caused by crayons left in pockets?

A: Crayon stains appear as built up, shiny and stiff stains in a variety of colors. Normally, drying--not washing--will cause these kinds of stains.

Your first discovery of the stains will occur when you open the dryer door to find otherwise clean clothes covered with a myriad of colored stains. The stains appear after drying becasue the heat from drying melts the crayon material.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to take the garments to your drycleaner, who usually can remove them by running the garments through a dry cleaning machine. If any of the stains remain after cleaning, they can generally be removed by your drycleaner through traditional stain remoal procedures.

Chloride Salts

Q: I just took a blue silk blouse out of the cleaning machine and where the perspiration has discolored the underarms, holes have appeared. This has happened before and the customers always think it is my fault. Can you explain this type of damage?

A: Yes, chemical testing over the years of many, many similar situations almost always reveals the presence of chloride salts in the damaged areas. Textile research has shown that chloride salts of any type will weaken silk yarns over a period of time. Chloride salts are present in many foods, beverages, medicines, table salt, and salt water, as well as perspiration and some deodorants. The location of your damaged area definitely indicates that perspiration and/or deodorant have deteriorated the silk yarns to the point that the agitation of cleaning caused the weakened yarns to tear. Unfortunately, there is no practical way to predict or prevent this type of damage from occurring during acceptable cleaning.


Blotting Ink

Reprinted by permission of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (formerly IFI).