Suede
Not finished leather with a texture — a different cut of the hide, porous and undyed at the surface, where even clean water leaves a ring if it is hard.
What not to do
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Suede is uncoated and porous: an agent does not sit on it, and the guide says cleaning agents immediately darken nude leather.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Strongly supported
Named explicitly by the trade body responsible for the material.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That caustic household cleaners such as soap or dish detergent and any high-pH cleaner must never be used on leather, and that cleaning agents will immediately darken nude leather. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Isopropyl alcohol is unsafe on Suede
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
The guide permits odourless mineral spirits as a LAST step on suede and prohibits alcohol outright; the two are not interchangeable.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Ventilate the area
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Strongly supported
The guide prohibits alcohol while naming a different solvent for a specific late step, which is a distinction worth preserving rather than flattening.
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That cleaners containing alcohol and any strong solvent must never be used on leather, while odourless mineral spirits are named only as the final step for oil on suede after cornstarch. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
In detail
Suede is the lower split of the hide, distinguished by a nap on both sides, and the trade body treats it as aniline rather than as finished leather: porous, dyed through rather than coated, and described as the most difficult of the leather group to clean. Two properties drive everything. Cleaning agents will immediately darken nude leather, so there is no test-and-see — the first application is the result. And because the material is porous and uncoated, the water itself matters: the guidance specifies DEIONISED water, because hard water containing minerals may cause rings. That is the rare case where the mineral content of an ordinary tap is the failure mode rather than the dirt. The methods are correspondingly restrained. Water-based soil is treated by dampening a cloth, explicitly not soaking, and rubbing gently while feathering the edges outward so no boundary forms. Oil and grease take a different route entirely: cornstarch is placed over the mark and rubbed gently with a finger until it coagulates with the oil, repeated as needed, and only if the mark survives that is a cloth dampened with odourless mineral spirits used. Absorption before solvent, and solvent last.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Recorded
- Chlorine bleach
- Not known
- Heat
- Recorded
- Abrasion
- Recorded
- Porous
- Recorded
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
Why
- Suede is explained by Dye migration and colour bleeding
- Suede is explained by Capillary absorption
The lower split of the hide, with nap on both sides. It absorbs from both faces and has no finish on either.
Related
- Suede is commonly affected by Oil and grease on textile
Hacks and claims involving this
- Saddle soap and mink oil for leather Does not work
- Washing-up liquid on leather Does not work
- Cornstarch or talc to draw out a grease mark Supported
When the obvious answer is wrong
How do I get a grease mark off suede without ruining the nap?
Suede is the porous lower split of the hide with nap on both sides, dyed like aniline and uncoated. The trade guide states that cleaning agents will immediately darken nude leather — there is no cautious first application, because the first application is the result. Water is not a safe alternative either: the guide specifies deionised water because hard water containing minerals may cause rings. And the guide separately prohibits alcohol, strong solvents, high-pH cleaners and dish detergent on leather generally, as incompatible with modern finishes.
A different kind of treatment works: Change the mechanism from dissolving to absorbing. The trade guide's instruction is to place cornstarch directly over the affected area and rub gently with a finger until it coagulates with the oil, repeating as necessary. The powder offers a finer, drier pore network than the suede, so the oil moves upward into it and leaves with it — nothing is dissolved and nothing is carried deeper. Only if the mark is still evident after that is a cloth dampened with odourless mineral spirits used, and it is the last step rather than the first. Where water is unavoidable for a water-based soil, the guide specifies dampening rather than soaking a cloth and feathering the edges outward so no boundary forms, using deionised water so no mineral ring is left behind.
Sources for this page
Sources
Leather Care and Cleaning Guide
The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That suede is the lower split of the hide, porous, dyed like aniline and the most difficult of the group to clean, that cleaning agents immediately darken nude leather, that deionised water is specified because hard water may cause rings, and that oil is treated first with cornstarch as an absorbent and only then with odourless mineral spirits. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .