Caring for Suede – Tips for Cleaning

If suede gets wet, it will leave a water mark. Suede is super sensitive stuff, but suede is so pretty a material for shoes, furniture, and even crafts and projects! Learn the best way to take care of stains on your blue suede shoes (couldn’t help it), so you can have your suede and enjoy it, too.

If you get suede wet, move the wet suede (shoe, couch cushion, etc) into a dry room (not a window) and allow the suede to air dry naturally. Don’t put in the sun or apply heat as this will cause a permanent stain. Sure, the water stain will still be there after the suede dries, but just gently brush the stain off with a soft-bristled brush for your suede to be good as new! Don’t mess with the suede while it is drying- just let it set then use a hair brush to brush the water stain out if there is one.

Keep a stain repellant on-hand for your furniture if you have suede furniture, and brush your suede shoes and furniture daily to pull up dust and keep the shape of the suede fine. Ever had somebody’s butt print left on your suede cushions? A soft-bristled hair brush will pull your suede in the right direction and pull any imprints out. Same for shoes. Super scuffed suede shoes can be filed with sandpaper (gently) to get the shape and style back in them.

If your suede is starting to fade, take a steamer (like one for curtains) and do a real quick once-over on your suede furniture or cushions to bring out their color again. Real quick, as in super fast- don’t linger or else you’ll have those water stains to pull out. My sister steams her brown suede sectional sofa about once a month as it also pulls off hair and mild stains. She also keeps a humidifier in her house for the dry Winter air, and advises to keep it away from suede furniture to avoid staining it.

Keep suede shoes soft and keep your furniture from losing its soft appeal by not covering them. Suede likes to breathe, and so long as you don’t keep your shoes where they can get rained on (use a soft-bristled brush to pull the water flecks out) and don’t keep a lot of throws on your couch, you can enjoy your suede for a long time! Covering up suede is worse than leaving it in the open!

Be careful using anything on suede to pull stains out, as this can cause the suede to discolor. Natural cleaning is best, like dabbing vinegar on a suede stain, or trying to gently steam the stain out. No matter what you choose to clean out your stains, make sure you use a gentle approach, and always either brush the area with a soft-bristled brush afterwards or use some gentle sandpaper (or a nail file) to bring the suede back to great shape.

Source:

my sister, who owns a suede couch


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *