How to care for a leather apron?
Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of a leather apron. With it you can show off your cooking skills and look cool at the same time. Whether you’re a professional chef, a great home-cook or the local barbecue-king, a leather bbq apron makes you look the part. And did you know, that leather aprons are the perfect aprons for restaurants? They are sturdy, look tough and give your restaurant a professional appearance. Unfortunately when cooking, aprons get dirty. That’s kind of the point of using the apron. So to keep your leather barbecue apron in the best condition you need to clean it in the right way and take good care of it. But don’t worry, we will tell you how to do this.
Please note that all the below information concerns all leather aprons, except the ones in our premium collection. These professional aprons are almost maintenance free and will be mentioned at the end of this article.
Why you should clean your leather aprons
Some stains give the leather chef apron character. A few wrinkles or spatters will make the apron look tough and unique. This shows that the apron is used by a passionate chef. When you buy your leather cooking apron it has been impregnated with a special developed coating. This makes the leather water- and stain repellant so that the leather doesn’t absorb the red wine, fat, tomato sauce or anything else you spill. Furthermore, everything you spill can easily be removed. But when you use your apron daily, and why wouldn’t you, sometimes things get a bit out of hand and some cleaning might be needed. After all, you still want to be able to see that your apron is made of leather. Luckily, it is not difficult to clean your leather aprons and keep the leather in good condition. Just follow our guide lines and you and your apron will be ready for cooking adventures for many years to come.
How to wash a leather apron?
To keep your leather cooking apron clean, you need to clean it from time to time, but cleaning is not the same as washing. Can you wash a leather apron in the washing machine? No! Well, actually you can, but not if you want to keep using it afterwards. Leather is not suitable for the washing machine. We understand that it might be appealing to just throw the aprons in the washing machine, especially when you have a stack of aprons for your restaurant, but it will cause significant damage to the apron. The protective coating will be gone and the leather will crack and tear. So never use your washing machine when cleaning your apron. Handwash is also not a good idea. Leather will soak up the water, which will remove the coating and dry out the leather. So how to wash your apron the correct way? Well, we would advise you not to wash your leather bbq apron at all. However, you can clean it in a different way.
How do you clean a leather apron?
When cleaning your leather aprons, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first one is that water is not a friend of leather. When you use too much water, you will make the stains on the apron worse and remove the protective coating. Secondly it is important to use the correct cleaner to keep the leather in good condition. To make sure that you can keep using your leather cooking apron for years, you can clean it properly with the following six steps.
Step 1: Use a damp cloth
After cooking, you can simply remove the stains with a damp cloth. Please notice the word damp, so not wet. Water stains the leather. With too much water the stains that you are trying to remove will actually be absorbed into the leather, so you will never be able to get them out. So take a damp, soft cloth and simply wipe the stains away. Don’t use hot or cold water, Luke warm gives the best result. This works best if you remove the stains immediately after cooking.
Step 2: Use a special leather cleaner
If just a damp cloth is not enough to remove the stains that you’ve made, you can use a special leather cleaner. Usually, these are sold in spray bottles. You simply spray the leather and take a clean cloth to wipe the dirt off the apron. Never use soap or other cleaners, that aren’t designed to be used on natural leather. Also don’t use furniture cleaner. These cleaners will remove the natural grease in the leather and will cause it to dry out, resulting in tears and cracks.
Step 3: Clean the entire apron
No matter how careful you are when cleaning your apron, you can change the color of the leather. To keep a natural, even color you must always clean the complete apron. Don’t just clean the spots and stains, but treat the entire apron at once. This will prevent color differences and will prevent that the protective coating is uneven across the apron.
Step 4: Cleaning the back of the leather bbq apron
The back of your leather barbecue apron is usually not as smooth as the front, it is suede. Therefore the back of the apron needs to be cleaned in a different way than the front. For the back you can also use a leather cleaner. You spray it on, but than you take a soft brush to carefully brush the stains out. A circular motion generally works best. After brushing you take a clean cloth and wipe off the dirt.
Step 5: Airdry your leather chef apron
After you have cleaned your apron, you must let it air dry. It is best to hang the apron, because then it will keep its natural shape. Avoid hanging the apron in direct sunlight. It will dry faster, but when leather dries to fast it will tear. So keep your hairdryer, heater and the sun away from your wet leather chef apron. You will only cause damage.
Step 6: Treat the leather
A very important step in the maintenance of your apron. After a thorough cleaning of the apron, you might have removed some of the protective layer on the leather. To keep the leather from absorbing stains and keep the leather nicely moisturized, you have to replace this protective layer with a special leather wax which you can find in our webshop over here. This all natural wax is specially designed specifically to treat your leather chef apron and keeps it in the best possible condition. It contains amongst others linseed oil en Carnuba bees wax.
How to care for a leather apron
Besides cleaning, you also need to keep the leather in good condition. This makes cleaning easier and it will make sure that your leather barbecue apron always looks its best. Because leather is a natural product, it needs to be treated with care. Luckily, we have experience with producing sturdy leather aprons and we can give you tips on how to care for a leather apron.
Tip 1: Use our special leather maintenance wax
As mentioned above, leather wax or leather conditioner makes the leather water-repellant, dirt-resistant and supple. It helps to keep the leather looking good and prevents tearing and cracking. It is therefor important to treat your leather cooking apron with leather wax on a regular basis. You apply the grease to the apron and leave it on for about fifteen minutes so the leather can absorb it. After fifteen minutes you wipe of the excess grease. You can get a big 150ml jar in our webshop over here. This Maintenance wax is also great to spoil your leather jacket or leather chair.
Tip 2: Keep the air flowing
The best way to store your apron is to hang it. This way it can simply air dry after use or after cleaning. When you have several leather aprons, leave some space between them, so that the air can easily reach the apron. Leather needs oxygen to stay in good condition. So don’t store your apron in a sealed bag and don’t put the leather aprons closely on top of each other. You can store it in a closet, as long as the closet is not airtight.
Tip 3: Store at room temperature
Your leather bbq apron is your best friend in the kitchen and has no problem with the heat of the stove or the barbecue. It can even protect you against the heat. It can’t stand the heat for long periods of time. In the heat the leather will dry out. Dry leather will get stiff and will crack easily. Your leather apron is best stored at room temperature.
Tip 3: Never fold it
We can’t say it clearly enough: never fold your apron. It will cause creases that can’t be removed anymore and eventually the leather will crack. The longer it is folded, the deeper and uglier the creases and cracks will become Even if you have greased your apron and the leather feels perfectly flexible, it will crack when you fold it. If you want to take your apron with you and want to make a small package out of it, you roll your apron.
Tip 4: Don’t stretch it
Leather is a natural product and can stretch. It will go back easily in its natural shape after is has been stretched. That makes it very comfortable to wear. The more you use your leather apron, the more flexible and comfortable it will become. However, when you heavily stretch only a small part of the leather or keep it stretched for longer periods of time, it will not go back in its original shape anymore. So don’t put any heavy things on the apron, because it will cause a stretch that will not disappear.
Tip 6: Don’t use chemicals
No matter how bad the stains are, never use chemicals on your leather aprons, even if they are meant for use on leather furniture. Chemicals will remove the protective coating from your apron. Without the protective coating stains will be absorbed in the leather much easier. Chemicals also dry out the leather.
Conclusion
A leather barbecue apron is quite an investment, but with the right care you can use your apron for many years. Most important is to keep your apron dry or let it dry slowly, when it’s wet. We have already applied a protective coating, but you can keep your apron in the best condition by regularly applying our natural leather wax to prevent stains and keep the leather in optimal condition. The older your apron gets, the more character is has.
Are you looking for a truly hassle free leather apron? Check out all aprons in our premium collection. We have specially developed this apron leather for maintenance free, professional and daily use and is unique in the world. This apron leather is made from buffalo leather and is super soft soft to wear, right from the start. It will feel like clothes to wear and it wont damage if you fold it. Also it has a 100% stain-proof and splash-proof coating on the front, fully closing all the pores of the leather. So no matter what you throw at it, it will not stain at all. Only a simple whipe-off will do to keep this professional apron looking crisp at all times.
