How to clean a leather wallet?

August 3, 2008 10:51 PM

Asking for friend: How do I clean a yellow Fossil leather wallet that is starting to turn brown from use?

I have a leather wallet I purchased from Fossil a few months ago. It is a women's wallet, made of a soft leather that I assume has been dyed yellow. When I bought it, the yellow was a bright yellow, but after a few months of use, it's beginning to turn brown/grey from what I guess is dirt. It also seems to be picking up a bit of the colour from my jeans. Here's a link to a similar wallet.

When I used a normal leather cleaner on it, the colour changed from yellow to an orange-ish yellow, as if the yellow pigment was being washed away and the natural brown of the leather was showing through. That kind of scared me away from trying other kinds of leather cleaners. There aren't really many inconspicuous spots on the wallet to test on either.

Any suggestions on how I can return my wallet to its original clean colour, and also any regular maintenance tips?

posted by destrius to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (2 answers total)

Sometimes light leather just darkens with use and there's nothing you can do about it. Contact with the oil on your skin is enough to do it with enough use. The jeans color on the leather can definitely become permanent, too, since leather is so porous.

You might try an "oil-free" type leather cleaner like glycerin soap, but even if you get the color back, the leather might be a little stiff.
posted by weezetr at 5:19 AM on August 4, 2008

Saddle soap
posted by IronLizard at 8:45 AM on August 4, 2008