The fashionable look and sensational feel of patent leather goods are a few of the reasons why it’s a leather material of choice for most of us. But this exceptional look and feel can be ruined by the patent leather item developing ugly creases, cracks, and peels.
So in this article, I’m going to show you 5 simple but effective ways you can use to prevent your patent leather items from creasing, cracking, or peeling.
So, how do you keep patent leather from cracking? While oiling is one of the best ways to prevent any type of leather from cracking, methods like using a crease shield, stuffing the patent leather, hanging it, proper storage are a combination of activities you can use to prevent your patent leather items from cracking.
To find out more about how to prevent your patent leather from cracking, keep reading this article!
Details On How To Prevent Patent Leather From Cracking
Let’s jump into the details of the above-mentioned techniques!
1. Get An Original Patent Leather Item
First of all, you would want to get an original patent leather item if possible.
Regardless of the fact that almost all patent leather materials will have almost the same level of shine, gloss in their overall appearance there is different qualities both on the “inside” and on the “outside”.
The “inside” of an original patent leather will be made from natural leather but more recently the use of synthetic leather or faux leather has become the norm.
The common use of synthetic leather or faux leather for patent leather made it inexpensive as against the ones made from natural leather. This then contributed to the upsurge of this material.
On the “outside”, some high-end patent leather will be coated with linseed oils or mineral oils.
In more recent times, most common patent leather are finished differently. Today, patent leather will be coated with a layer of polyurethane or acrylic.
These two patent leather finishes are both plastics that allow the natural leather or faux leather material underneath to very very flexible maintaining a nice glassy finish.
Chances are that when choosing patent leather goods the ones made from synthetic leather on the inside and finished with a plastic coating are what you would commonly see and be sold on.
Unless you get your patent leather item from a well-respected brand. Some of the high-end patent leather goods brands use the original methods which include using natural leather and linseed oil based coating.
So choosing a good quality patent leather item is the first step towards ensuring your patent leather remains crease or crack resistant than the more common patent leather materials.
Also, you would want to stay away from patent leather that has super soft leather on the inside – these tend to crease more easily especially for patent leather shoes.
2. Oiling The Patent Leather
Oiling your patent leather is one of the best ways to prevent your patent leather items from cracking.
Leather is generally obtained from the natural skins of animals like a cow as a by-product of the meat industry.
Before the animal’s skin is removed for tanning, the animal’s hide or skin remains lubricated when it’s on the skin of the animal.
This process of constant lubrication among other things is what gives leather its tensile strength, luxurious look and feel.
So to help maintain the durability and structural integrity of the leather it has to be oiled. The oiling also nourishes the fibers of the leather and will prevent the leather from drying up and cracking.
Even if the leather is finished into patent leather, it’s still important to oil it. There are different kinds of oils you can use on your patent leather items so that it maintains a new look and also prevent it from cracking.
Using Castor Oil To Prevent Permanent Creases
Castor oil is a type of vegetable oil you can use to reduce the amount of crease that appears on your patent leather after the leather item has been use.
This can be used especially on patent leather shoes due to how susceptible they are when it comes to creases and cracks.
You can also use castor oil on your bags, jackets, and any type of patent leather. It’s going to help you to substantially reduce the creases formed from walking or other forms of patent leather use.
Applying castor oil to your patent leather goods is a great way to prevent patent leather creases that can lead to cracks.
It’s application isn’t very difficult to accomplish as you simply apply a fairly light coat of your castor oil on the patent leather item after it’s used to unsettle the creases formed as early as possible.
Using castor oil is one of the best ways to prevent permanent creases and cracks from your patent leather items.
3. Using Meltonian Cream To Prevent Cracks On Patent Leather
The Meltonian cream is a great way to ensure your patent leather is new-looking and has a long-lasting shine.
It’s formulated to safely clean and also shine your general leather and patent leather surfaces. The Meltonian cream is also good for preventing cracks from exotic-patent leather items.
The best way to use this is alternative is to use a leather cleaner to thoroughly clean the patent leather item first by removing all forms of debris, dirt, dust, or stains.
An with the help of a soft clean rag, dab it on the cream and apply it all over the patent leather item.
After this, you can use another soft clean rag to buff off the surface and allow it to dry.
Doing this to your patent leather goods will help the leather on the inside to be well lubricated and as a result, it will not dry up and crack.
4. Using Crease Shield During Wear
Patent leather is commonly used for a variety of items such as boots, shoes, handbags purses, pants, skirts, belts, hats, cases, wallets, and a host of other items.
But patent leather shoes and boots out of all the host of patent leather goods will be the ones that will be more susceptible to cracks, peels, and creases. And I bet you’re most likely reading this article to help salvage your precious patent leather shoes.
So, what can you do to help prevent or at the very least, minimize the creases or cracks of your patent leather especially when in use since these types of goods are pretty much hard-wearing.
One specific item you can use to help minimize or prevent crease from your patent leather shoes or boots is the crease shield.
Using a crease shield to many may be considered an extreme approach to preventing creases from leather shoes in general, but it’s definitely an alternative you can go for.
While choosing the wrong crease shield can cause you a lot of discomforts, the best ones like this one on Amazon are often made from plastic materials that are strong with auxiliary cutting lines that you can tailor or adjust to suit your comfort needs.
These crease shields are very breathable and helps to keep your shoe dry.
5. Stuffing Or Hanging The Patent Leather Item When Not In-Use
Another important way to help prevent your patent leather from creasing, cracking, or peeling is by ensuring you keep something in the patent leather item when the item is not in use.
This is a very simple yet many people disregard this method.
For shoes and boots, the best option is to use a nice shoe tree to help keep them in shape avoiding those ugly creases that may often lead to the patent leather cracking and peeling.
There are so many different alternatives when it comes to shoe trees you can use. Some are made from plastics, cheap wood, boards, etc.
But the one I find to be very useful and will not only help to prevent your patent leather shoes or boots from creasing but at the same time remove any bad odor your feet might have left behind are the shoe trees like this one that’s made from cedarwood.
For patent leather bags, you can stuff it with a purse or bag pillow shaper. For patent leather jackets, you can simply hang them. Never leave them crumpled up or on the floor.
If you do not want to spend any money stuffing your patent leather shoes, bags, or boots, you can simply use brown paper or newspapers. It will also do a good job of keeping your patent leather items in very good shape.
Stuffing or hanging your patent leather items will ultimately help your patent leather shoes, boots, jackets, or bags to remain in good shape for a longer time.