How to Care for Your Leather Bag: Product Care Tips

If you're here, you might have just purchased a new leather handbag. Or maybe you're still considering adding one to your cart and debating how to best care for leather bags.

If you've just unboxed your new Latico Leathers package and pulled out your buttery-soft leather tote, congrats and welcome to the Latico family! If not, we get it. There's a lot of factors that come into play when purchasing a high-quality leather bag. When taken care of correctly, Latico bags can last a lifetime- which is a big commitment! With all of the options available like leather totes, crossbodies, shoulder bags, backpacks and more, deciding on forever isn't the easiest choice.

Latico Leathers is family-owned and operated since 1984 and a proud recipient of the 2020 Handbag Design Award. We use only the highest quality full grain leathers to guarantee you'll use our bags for years to come, with timeless style that will evolve as gracefully as you do.

With leather handbags that last as long as ours, they're built purposefully to handle everyday wear and tear to take along on your grocery run, shopping trip, dinners out and even withstand getting caught in the rain on your commute home. But to keep your bag looking as new as the moment you pulled it out of the box, there are some leather care tips to follow on how to take care of your new accessory for the long haul.

Read on for our top leather care tips for bags, to keep your handbag in top shape for years to come.

After three decades of working with leather, we've created heirloom-quality pieces that ripen with age. We hand-select each hide and use a unique blend of natural dyes so the natural character of each leather shines through. Because of our custom process, each leather bag can vary in shade and texture. Part of the process of owning a leather bag is watching it age and change and break in over time! With that, comes the nicks and scrapes that show up with normal wear and tear of your leather bag, especially when the leather is the freshest the first few weeks of use.

But don't worry, our bags are made with full grain leather, which has self-healing properties- magical right?! These little bumps will make your bag uniquely yours and will fade over time. If you're still stressing or have a major scrape, we do not recommend using any cleaner or conditioner on our bags. Instead, try using your fingertips! The natural oil on your hands doubles as a natural conditioner.

Our bags are made with oils and waxes in the leather material that can move and change when exposed to even the slightest heat, similar to a candle wax melting. Simply rub into the scrape with your fingertips and the warmth of your hands combined with the oils will slowly activate the natural leathers in the bag to melt the imperfection away.

If you choose to use a leather conditioner, we recommend first testing in an inconspicuous spot to see if it will change the color of the bag.

Fun fact: every Latico leather bag comes with a dust cloth bag to store your new leather bag in when you aren't using it. Even though we think you'll find it hard to not carry it with you every day! Our team carries our bags to work, on the train, in the car, to dinner and everywhere in between. There's really no where a leather bag can't go.  

For those seldom days when you won't have your bag with you, we recommend storing your leather bag in a dust cloth bag and keeping it in a safe place that's out of the way from accidently getting stepped on or crushed. A dust bag keeps your bag protected from high heat, humidity and direct sunlight, all natural elements that can warp the look and feel of your leather bag. Storing in a dust cloth bag gives your bag an extra layer of protection, even when it's built to withstand just about anything. Think of it as a rain coat or jacket for your handbag!

When your leather bag goes everywhere you go, there's bound to be some mishaps along the way. From coffee splashes to rain water to color stains from a new shirt, there will be times when you find yourself with some dirt and grime on your leather bag. (Trust us, we get it- we live in New York after all!). When this happens, our next leather care tip is to immediately (or as soon as possible) wipe off any excess spill or dirt that is on your bag.

Once you have most of the excess off your bag, simply wipe down with a barely damp cloth to remove any surface dirt. Make sure to use a gentle, soft cloth to wipe down with to avoid any more scratching when rubbing on the surface of your leather bag.

You can also use a gentle cleansing wipe without any hard chemicals to clean the exterior of your leather bag while out and about.

While a leather bag may seem intimidating at first, Latico is confident you'll be happy with your leather bag for years to come with these simple tips on leather product care for your totes, crossbodies and more. We know you're always on the go, so we also feel confident to assure you our leather is largely worry-free! The high quality leathers that make up our leather bags are designed to only improve with age, while maintaining the super-soft feel we're known for.

Go ahead and take your leather bag with you on every adventure, late night out and trip to new cities. Every bump, wear and crease can be taken care of and make your bag that much more unique to you!

If you still have questions about how to care for your leather bag, our team would be happy to help out! Check out our FAQ page to answer even more of your questions or reach out to us directly via email at info@laticoleathers.com!