Suede products are in incredible demand among customers. It is an elegant, soft enough, beautiful and comfortable material. The only drawback is that suede requires special care. Such products do not tolerate moisture. If you approach the process without having the necessary knowledge and skills, you can irrevocably ruin a stylish and effective thing.
What is the best suede cleaner to use? How to care for this beautiful, but very moody material?
How to clean suede: tools
In order not to think about which suede cleaner to use later, it is better to take care of new shoes or a fashionable jacket right away. Together with a beautiful bag, jacket or shoes, it is better to immediately purchase a special water-repellent spray. Moreover, they need to process a thing before the first publication. A special film that will form on the product will protect your shoes from excess dust and dirt.
If you plan to wear suede things all the time, it is best to ensure that everything you need for cleaning is at hand. You will need:
- Rigid sponge - removes the top layer of dirt and dust.
- Student Eraser - penetrates deeply and literally erases stubborn stains.
- Rubber brush (teeth can be made of rubber) - performs the same functions as the eraser, but is much more convenient.
- A small hard brush with an eraser - performs two-in-one functions, convenient to carry with you in your bag.
- Crepe brush - gently cares for the surface, gives a neat appearance.
If your office has a special machine for cleaning shoes, you can use it. In this case, it is better to choose a regime with coarse brushes, small ones will only “lick” suede villi.
Chemical use
Specialists recommend using special cleaning products for suede shoes. They are guaranteed not to harm the capricious material and quickly cleanse various contaminants.
First of all, you will need a water repellent spray. It will protect things in rainy weather, protect it from dirty splashes flying out from under the wheels of cars.
For colored suede, a special spray paint is suitable. It is needed to restore color and impregnation of roughened areas. Such paint will revive the color of the product and protect it from further pollution. If you could not find a suitable color, you can use the universal colorless spray.
Such brands are very popular:
- "Twist";
- Tarrago;
- Silver
- Salamander;
- Vilo;
- "Dividik";
- Fuchs and others.
Suede is a fairly soft and porous material. Therefore, it needs to be treated with special deodorants. They process the product before storing it. The deodorant will eliminate unpleasant odors from the shoes and prevent the product from “suffocating”.
By the way, saving is not worth it. If you want a thing to have a presentable appearance for a long time, it is better to purchase a proven tool.
Effective folk recipes
If you don’t spend money on expensive cleaning agents, you can prepare a suede cleaner for yourself. Folk recipes, judging by the reviews of the hostesses, are quite effective. It all depends on what exactly the product is dirty. Most likely, everything you need can be found in any home:
- Starch or baby powder. This is a great proven suede cleaner. Hostess reviews about him are extremely positive. Use starch to clean greasy stains. Simply pour the powder into the contaminated area and leave it for a short while. After the set time, you can clean the stain with a hard dry brush.
- Vinegar. Use the 9% option, diluted in a ratio of 1: 5. The napkin is moistened in the resulting solution and gently wipe the contaminated area. You have to be very careful. Vinegar often “eats” the color of the product. If this happens, use a color recovery tool.
- Coffee grounds (asleep). Suitable for cleaning black or brown products. The gruel is applied to the pollution, rubbed a little and left for a while. Then remove the residues with a dry brush or gauze swab.
- Ammonia. It is also diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 5. After a wet sponge, wipe the contaminated area. If necessary, a color reducing agent is applied.
As you can see, suede cleaning products at home will not require any special expenses. They can afford any housewife. There are many different recipes for cleaning suede with improvised means. Let's consider some of them.
How to remove oily stains
You already know that starch is a great way to clean nubuck and suede. He can easily cope with fresh greasy spots. For the same purpose, you can use talcum powder or regular tooth powder. The tool must be poured in abundance. It should completely cover the stain and even protrude beyond its contours.
If you have just dripped fat on your favorite shoes, the first thing to do is to get the trouble out with an ordinary paper towel or napkin. Porous paper will remove excess grease, and it will be much easier to clean the stain.
To clean the product from stains, you can use a soap solution. Suitable shampoo for washing wool, grated laundry soap or detergent for dishes. The selected product must be dissolved in warm water, foam thoroughly. It is necessary to clean suede with foam, trying not to soak the product.
By the way, soap solution is an excellent tool for cleaning artificial suede. Such products can be washed carefully and only manually washed in warm water (not higher than 40 ° C). It is impossible to twist the canvas, creases may form. It is better to rinse thoroughly, let water drain, and then dry in the shade. To fluff a pile, you need to “cheer up” a dry thing with a stiff brush. But it’s better to clean artificial suede, like natural, in a dry way.
Rules for cleaning light suede
Very carefully you need to choose a tool for cleaning light suede. This is a very delicate material, which is also easy to paint.
Light suede can be cleaned both dry and wet. For the first option, a white student eraser is used. They can simply erase most of the dirt, and clean off the residue with a stiff brush.
The second way is milk cleaning. Pour 100 ml of milk into a small bowl. To it add a little liquid ammonia or a teaspoon of baking soda. Moisten a gauze swab in the mixture and treat the stain. Then take another swab, soak it in warm water and remove the remnants of the soda-milk mixture. Dry the product dry and leave to dry in the shade for 3-4 hours. Then fluff the pile with a stiff brush.
How to save shoes from salt stains
Oddly enough, the best way to clean suede spoiled by such stains is regular steam. Wet shoes must be dried with a dryer or a newspaper in it. Now treat the salt stains with a stiff brush. It will allow you to clean off large crystals. Do not press too hard so as not to damage the fabric.
Now boil the kettle. Bring the barrettes to the spout and hold them over the stream of steam. Beat soap foam and treat it with contaminated areas. Remove excess with a clean cloth. Dry your bots or boots again. Using a special brush, comb the creased pile, and if necessary, use a special spray that restores the paint.
Methods for cleaning colored suede
Multi-colored suede must be handled very carefully. After all, finding the right color for tinting can be incredibly difficult. An excellent option would be to use ammonia and a soap solution. They leave no residue and most likely will not damage the color.
There is another way. To treat greasy stains on a colored product, you can take clean river sand or coarse salt. Heat a dry pan and sprinkle sand on it. After a while, pour it into a clean cloth bag and put it on the contaminated area for 30-40 minutes, turning over all the time. Fat will melt and absorb. The procedure must be repeated until the stain disappears.
Care Rules
To ensure that your suede products always look decent, follow some simple rules:
- Try not to wear the product in rainy weather.
- Dry shoes and suede jackets only in a natural way; never hang them on a battery or in a sunny place.
- Never use detergents that are not intended for this purpose.
- When sending shoes from suede for storage, use special pads or fill in a crumpled newspaper inside (if this is not done, ugly creases will appear).
- When cleaning suede items, do not be too zealous. If you rub it very hard, you can damage the material, as a result of which scuffs form, which will be difficult to get rid of.
- Try to clean the stains as soon as they appear.
- Treat shoes and suede clothes with special water repellents.
- Use different brushes to clean light and dark items. To clean the dirt, move the brush in only one direction.
These simple rules will keep your things attractive for a long time.