Q I got a
leather jacket out of storage and had it cleaned by my drycleaner. When I picked
it up the back of the jacket was hard, brittle and torn. What happened?
A Sometimes dark marks
appear for no apparent reason on the surface of leather or suede. These spots
usually have a splatter-like appearance where the leather has become hard,
shrunken, and puckered.
Testing the area indicates a staining substance containing a salt residue is present. This damage is caused by accidental contact with moisture containing salt that has remained on the leather for a period of time. Salt substances are not used in leather cleaning but are found in many everyday solutions that the garment owner may have come into contact with accidentally. For example, salt compounds are found in many foods, beverages, blood, urine, deodorants, gutter splash, ice melt, plain table salt, salt water, and various other matter containing mineral salts. Contact with any of these substances can eventually cause leather skin staining and damage.
Salt will continually absorb moisture from the atmosphere, thus keeping the stained area of the leather damp. Salt staining may be invisible prior to cleaning and generally is not removed by regular leather cleaning procedures. When the jacket undergoes normal drying and finishing after cleaning, the salt-stained areas can shrink, stiffen, and sometimes even crack the leather.
Usually this damage cannot be prevented unless the garment owner knows when the contact occurs and immediately rinses the substance off the leather with some cold water and lets it air dry. If the stain is still fresh and is visible, the leather cleaner can attempt to remove the remaining residue prior to cleaning in order to minimize the damage.