Faux Leather Care Guide You Will Need This Winter Season

Faux leather screams boujee. Effortlessly chic and trendy, faux leather care is minimalistic making it the ideal winter staple. 

From your favourite celebrity singers to runaway hipsters to fashion models, faux leather has been versatile than ever. Also dubbed as pleather, faux leather can give you both badass girl vibes and the perfect style diva. It is a fashion staple that is not just limited to women alone. Men have been donning pleather since quite a while now. Whether its bikers or rockstars, wrestlers or gangsters you’d find faux leather everywhere. 

Vegans wear it because its cruelty free, stylists love it because of its versatility and dappers love it because of its affordability. Whatever your reasons may be, learning how to care for faux leather is important. 

In this guide we cover everything from learning how to protect faux leather to cleaning it and storing it properly. A faux leather jacket will make you fall in love with fashion, so it’s imperative that you give pleather its due care and love. 

Why You Should Know What Faux Leather Is? 

Knowing what faux leather is, is the first step in your faux leather care journey. It gives direct headway to understanding protective methods that one should be adopting with pleather. 

Faux leather is synthetic plastic or vinyl supported by fabric and embossed with a grain like finish. The process gives it a look akin to real leather. A faux leather garment is highly likely to be cut to perfection so do not be conned. In terms of finish, style and outer appearance; distinguishing between leather and pleather is a feat hard to achieve. 

Faux leather is generally PVC (poly vinyl chloride) or Polyurethane( PU). Most faux leather comes as PU and directly impacts how to care for faux leather. PU and PV leather are non-porous that is they don’t allow stain marks to seep through the leather. Furthermore, faux leather comes with a slightly glossy finish and letting the surface dry out can lead to cracks. At times over exposure to direct sunlight can also cause cracks to form in your leather apparel. Thus, it is no secret that faux leather care requires a fair degree of precautionary measures. 

However, if you are still yearning for your faux leather to look good as new keep reading our guide below on faux leather care. 

The cure 

You may find your faux leather jacket stained with ink or makeup or oil. Alternatively, the inner lining of your jacket may have an unpleasant sweat odour and would require cleaning. Be sure to check the label to ensure if your leather is machine washable.  

STEP 1: Soap And Water To The Rescue 

Most stains are fairly non-lethal. They won’t be tough and could fairly easily be removed by just using a towel and soap water. The soap and water mixture is ideal to remove dust, debris and minor stains. If soap does not work then using alcohol swabs on faux leather can do wonders in removing any mild stain without harming its original color. 

For effective faux leather care try using gentle circular motions across the leather surface so as not to strain the finish of your faux leather garment. 

STEP 2: Machine Wash For Tougher Stains 

There is a common misconception pertaining to washing leather jackets in a machine. While washing real leather in a machine is definitely not recommended, faux leather is different. The fabric is enriched with plasticizers that are used to retain the softness of the fabric. A lot of machine washes can minimize the amount of plasticizers leading to a damaged leather jacket. 

But with a little effort one can effectively clean faux leather in a washing machine without damaging the fabric. They key to achieve this is by replacing hot water with cold water. The heat in the water can cause the faux leather to melt or wither away. Another tip to remember is to use gentle spins of the machine. One can alternatively use a mesh laundry bag to avoid the impact of the spins on the leather. 

If a laundry bad is unavailable we suggest turning the jacket inside out. This exposes the inner viscose lining of your leather jacket for women or men to the spin agitation.  

Step 3: Drying, Impregnating And Storing 

Just with real leather, ensuring that your faux leather jacket is free of excess soap or detergent is key to maintaining its longevity. This is because the chemicals in your detergent can react with the vinyl surface and harm the faux leather. 

An easy way to ensure that no material remains in excess on the surface of faux leather, rinse your jacket in cold water. Once this has been done, your leather jacket for men or women is good for air –dry. 

Machine drying faux leather is always not recommended. Place your jacket on a sturdy hanger in a well ventilated room and let it dry. Avoid exposure to direct sunlight as it can cause cracks to appear. 

Once your leather jacket has been dried, we suggest impregnating and conditioning it with a faux leather cleaner. Use a non-greasy conditioner to spray across your leather jacket. this ensures that the faux leather surface remains dry. 

Some Final Golden Tips 

Generally, a faux leather jacket would require less fretting and care as opposed to original leather. Nevertheless, a little care goes a long way. Some final tips in this faux leather care involve avoiding light and bleach. Both methods lead to your leather drying out, this can either cause your jacket to fade, to crack or to be susceptible to breakage. 

As with all care methods, doing a patch test first would serve in your best interest. A faux leather jacket can be a timeless staple if kept properly and with care. To remove tough smells, baking powder can also do wonders for your jacket.