You could easily take offense to this but no, we’re not saying your hands are dirty! When dealing with a leather handbag, anything on your hands could classify them as not being clean. If you’re going to handle your bag in any capacity, soap and water will do. Don’t even think about putting lotion on your hands! While you might want your hands to be soft and supple, you’re going to have to leave them alone if you plan on holding your leather bag. Grease and oil from our hands are easily rubbed off onto the leather and that’s going to diminish the look and quality of your bag faster than you’d think.

We all know that dark jeans have a lot more ink in them. It seems like nothing when you see the color rub off on a shirt or maybe even your hands. Just imagine this happening to your leather bag! Talk about a nightmare! While you might love your dark colored jeans, you’re going to have to hang them up in your closet if you plan on using a leather handbag. Dark ink from jeans can easily rub off onto your bag and some stains aren’t always easy to clean.

While you might try to keep your bag in its best state, there’s bound to be times where something happens. Because of this, you should make it a habit to clean your bag often. Every time you use your bag, you should gently wipe it down with a dry hand towel. Even though you keep your bag away from dark jeans, you might find that life is going to get stains on it. Tackle those stains right away! Don’t wait until the next time you plan to wear it because by then you’ll be crying over a ruined bag.

There’s nothing worse than a leather bag with tons of unpleasant looking creases in it. It’s pretty easy for a leather bag to lose its shape which is just another step you have to take to keeping it in it’s best shape. For some reason, people are often ready to stuff their bags with newspaper. Don’t do that. Depending on where you store you bag, it can easily collect moisture which can cause the newsletter ink to smear on the inside. You might even be tempted to stuff your bag with bubble wrap, but you’ll also want to stay away from plastic! Moisture can easily cause it to collect mold. Your best course of action would be to keep the stuffing that already came in the bag. If it’s too late for that, stuff your leather handbag with cotton towels. It will help maintain the shape while preventing it from collecting moisture.

You’ve heard the saying “oil and vinegar don’t mix,” haven’t you? That is how you should treat your bag and water! While no one purposely spills water onto their valuables, keep your bag as far away from water as you can. If there’s even a chance of rain, you better hang that bag right back in your closet! If there’s one thing that’s going to ruin your leather handbag faster than anything else, it’s the stuff we can’t survive without - water.

Keeping your handbag away from rain isn’t the only element you should be worried about. While it seems like there’s nothing wrong with a beautiful sunny day, you might not think that after too many of them. You won’t see the effects immediately, but keeping your leather handbag in direct sunlight will actually cause the color to fade. It will be hard to tell when you’re directly looking at it, but a before-and-after picture will lead you to believe that the sun is another culprit you have to watch out for.

Sometimes smells arise, and we have no idea where they come from. If your leather handbag is producing a weird smell, there’s a simple solution! All you need to do is carefully place an open container of baking soda inside the bag, close it, and let it sit for 24 hours. The baking soda will help to absorb the smell and you’ll be good to go!

You might not be aware of it, but there is an endless list of tips and tricks you can try to keep your leather handbag in the best shape, but these basics are what you need to keep you going. If you’ve already invested your money into an expensive bag, all you need to do is invest a little bit of your time in maintaining it, and with these tips, you’re already ahead of the game.