Taking Care of Leather

By Peter Ottowitz

To maintain its beauty and other desirable qualities, leather requires frequent conditioning to replace the natural lubricants lost during normal use. With the proper care, leather can be protected from excessive dryness that can cause it to crack, and from moisture that may cause it to swell or mildew.

Because unprotected leather is susceptible to spotting from water and other liquids, a newly purchased leather item should be treated immediately to help prevent permanent stains from occurring.

Of the numerous Hardwick & Stone formulas, none is more popular or better suited for the care of leather than our leather conditioner formula. Packaged under the Apple Leather Care label this formula is truly unique. It outperforms all other leather conditioner on the market today.

What makes our leather conditioner so special? The following are the features and benefits of this unique formula:

Wax free.
Since there is no wax in the formula, there is no buildup on the surface of the leather. This is especially important as leather must breathe.

No caustic chemical ingredients.
Unlike other products, our leather conditioner will not deteriorate leather or stitching nor pull color from the leather.

No animal fats.
Our leather conditioner can be used on the most sensitive leathers without darkening the leather or pulling color. Thus, it can be used on deerskin, exotic leathers such as ostrich, as well as cowhide. Most competitive products will darken leather. 

No oily residue.
Since it does not leave a surface residue, our leather conditioner will not stain clothing or any other items that come in contact with treated surfaces.

Thorough conditioner.
Our leather conditioner prolongs the life of the leather by lubricating the fibers of the leather.

If you have not tried our leather conditioner, please do. You can safely use it on baseball gloves, footwear, leather furniture, handbags, leather jackets - in fact, all smooth leather items. Do not use it on suede or nubuck. 

The best time to treat a leather item is at the time of purchase. Since most leather is very dry when purchased, pretreatment is essential if you want to protect leather from staining, drying and cracking. After that, the leather should be periodically conditioned to keep the leather from drying and the fibers from cracking.