How to Care for Leather and Shearling Outerwear

Good leather does not need much. It needs the right little, done consistently, and it needs you to resist the instincts that work on everything else in your wardrobe. Most damage to designer outerwear comes from well-meant intervention: a steam, a general dry clean, a radiator. Here is what each material actually wants.

Know which material you own

The care changes with the skin, so start by reading the composition rather than the colour.

• Lambskin leather. Smooth, supple, often unlined. The most common shell in houses like Nour Hammour.
• Lambskin shearling. One skin with the wool left on. The leather side faces out, the wool becomes the lining.
• Toscana. Long-haired shearling, used for collars, cuffs and whole coats. It sheds and mats more readily than short wool.
• Suede. The underside of the skin, brushed to a nap. The most vulnerable finish in the wardrobe.

Between wears

Dust the surface with a dry, soft cloth. That is genuinely most of the job. Hang the piece on a broad shouldered hanger, never a wire one, so the shoulder line holds its shape. Leave air around it; a leather coat crushed between two wool ones will hold the creases it picks up.

Let a damp jacket dry at room temperature, away from radiators and direct sun. Heat drives the oils out of leather and the result is a stiffness you cannot reverse.

What not to do

Do not iron and do not steam. Heat and moisture together will mark leather permanently and will flatten a shearling pelt. If a piece is creased from storage, hang it in a well-ventilated room and give it a few days; leather relaxes on its own more than people expect.

Do not use household cleaners, baby wipes, alcohol gel, and do not test anything on a visible panel. Do not machine wash a shearling under any circumstances. Do not put a leather jacket in a plastic garment bag for the summer either, because it needs to breathe; use cotton.

When it needs a clean

Take it to a leather specialist, not a general dry cleaner. The distinction is real: standard dry cleaning solvents strip the finish and can shrink a shearling pelt. A specialist will clean and recondition, and a good one will re-dye small worn areas at the cuff and pocket edge.

Once a year is plenty for a coat in regular rotation. Some houses sell a dedicated care line, and a light conditioning between professional cleans keeps supple leather supple.

Suede and Toscana

Suede wants a soft bristle brush, worked in one direction to lift the nap. Do this dry. A suede eraser lifts small marks. Waterproofing spray before the first wear is worth the ten minutes, and it needs redoing each season.

Toscana mats where it rubs, usually at the collar and inside the cuff. Brush it gently with your fingers, and a wide-toothed comb works too, to separate the hair. Never brush a pelt with anything stiff.

Storing over summer

Clean it first, because body oils and unnoticed marks set over months and become permanent. Store in a breathable cotton cover, on a broad hanger, somewhere dark and dry. Cedar blocks near shearling deter moths, which are drawn to the wool side rather than the leather.

Knitwear is the opposite: fold it, never hang it. A heavy cashmere and wool sweater hung on a hanger stretches through the shoulder and does not recover.

What natural variation looks like

Real leather is not uniform. Grain shifts across a panel, tone varies slightly between pieces cut from different skins, and small marks are part of the hide’s history. Houses working with Leather Working Group tanneries say this openly. It is the clearest signal that you are looking at a genuine skin and not a coated, corrected surface.

Browse designer coats and designer jackets at Coveti, and read who Nour Hammour is for the house that built its name on lambskin.

Frequently asked questions

Can you dry clean a shearling coat?

Only with a specialist. Standard dry cleaning solvents strip the finish and can shrink the pelt. A leather and shearling specialist cleans and reconditions in one process.

How do you get creases out of a leather jacket?

Hang it on a broad shouldered hanger in a well-ventilated room and give it a few days. Leather relaxes on its own. Never iron and never steam it.

How often should leather outerwear be cleaned?

Once a year is enough for a coat in regular rotation, plus a dry-cloth dust between wears. Always clean before storing it over summer.

What is the difference between shearling and Toscana?

Both are a single skin with the wool left on. Toscana is the long-haired version, used for collars, cuffs and full coats, and it needs gentle separating with the fingers where it mats.

Does real leather have marks?

Yes. Grain and tone vary across a hide and between pieces, and small natural marks are normal. Uniformity usually means a heavily coated, corrected surface.