Wipe the bag with a soft dry cloth when it needs it, keep it away from prolonged moisture, oils and direct heat, store it in a dust bag somewhere cool and dry, and treat it with a neutral leather conditioner once or twice a year. That is the whole routine. Most leather that gets ruined is over-treated, not neglected.
How often should you condition leather?
Once or twice a year is enough for a bag in regular use. Conditioner replaces oils the leather loses over time; applying it monthly does not replace them faster, it saturates the fibres and leaves the leather limp and darker than it should be.
Use a neutral conditioner rather than a coloured one, test it on a hidden section first, and apply it thinly with a cloth rather than generously with a sponge.
What do you do if a leather bag gets wet?
Blot it with a dry cloth — do not rub — and let it dry at room temperature, away from radiators, hairdryers and direct sun. Heat is what causes the permanent damage, not the water. It drives the moisture out too fast, and the leather shrinks and stiffens as it goes.
Stuff the bag loosely with paper while it dries so it keeps its shape, and condition it lightly once it is fully dry.
How do you get a stain out of leather?
For most marks, a dry cloth and patience. For oil, blot immediately and leave it — many oil marks fade into the surrounding leather over weeks as the oils spread. Water-based cleaners often make an oil stain worse by spreading it faster and further.
Ink and dye transfer from denim are the two that usually do not come out of full-grain leather, because there is no sealed surface layer to lift them off. Dark bags are the practical answer if you wear a lot of raw denim.
How should you store a leather bag?
In a breathable dust bag, upright, somewhere cool and dry, loosely stuffed so the base does not collapse. Not in plastic, which traps moisture against the leather, and not hanging by its strap for months, which stretches the strap and marks the shoulders of the bag.
How to care for suede
Suede is the underside of the hide, so it has no surface coat at all and behaves differently. Brush it with a suede brush in one direction to lift the nap, use a suede eraser on scuffs, and keep it further from water than you would smooth leather.
Do not use leather conditioner on suede. It mats the nap flat and the effect is not reversible.
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