Vachetta leather is a luxurious, high end leather option - and like most materials that are luxury quality or specialized, it requires a little extra care to keep it looking it's best.
For more information on Vachetta leather, what exactly is it, how it's produced, what makes it different - check out the post 'Italian Vachetta Leather', which will give you the specifics on what makes this leather so special and sought after. For this post, I'll just be focusing on it's proper care.
Aside from the 'satin finish' oil tanned leather I offer in the shop, all of my leather pieces are currently produced using unfinished leather. All of the leather I use, whether oil tanned or vegetable tanned (Vachetta falls into the latter category) is full grain leather (the top most, highest quality layer of the leather hide) and is capable of developing patina over time. This characteristic is a positive one, allowing the leather to deepen in color over time - both with use (via the oils on your hands and body) and just exposure to sunlight and oxygen. Patina is overwhelmingly considered a value add - allowing each piece to improve with age and become truly one of a kind and unique.
A great example of this is the signature handles on Louis Vuitton handbags. These are actually made using raw Vachetta leather (what I use in the shop isn't quite raw, while not finished, the Vachetta leather I use is dyed, buffed, and polished), which starts out a very pale tan, and develops into a beautiful rich tan color over time and with use.
The Vachetta leather currently offered (or in production) from the Leather Cult comes in three colors, jet black, deep carmine red, and olive green. While many people will enjoy a natural patina developing over time in these colors, some people may not want too much color deepening. I also offer a vegetable tanned leather option in a vanilla color, which while not Vachetta, will also develop patina over time. Some customers may want to preserve the light shade of these pieces, which is totally understandable!
So the purpose of this article is to not only educate you on the general proper care of Vachetta leather, but also what steps you can take to help preserve the lighter color of this special leather, or at the very least, not accidentally hasten the darkening of the leather by using the same products you may use on your other leather pieces - most of which contain ingredients that may instantly darken vegetable tanned and Vachetta leather.
These are my go-to products for Vachetta (as well as light colored leather like natural tone vegetable tanned leather). These products are specifically formulated for light colored and specialty leather, and don't contain ingredients that darken leather. **Regardless of what the product says, leather is a natural material and each piece is different; always test products on a small, more inconspicuous spot before applying to the entire piece. Another recommendation is to use products more sparingly on light colored and specialty leather. I will apply leather cleaner/conditioner very generously on oil tanned leather, but whether cleaning or conditioning my vegetable tanned leather, I'm careful to apply only as much product as needed, avoid saturating the leather and paying special attention to even application.
For cleaning and conditioning vegetable tanned leather (including Vachetta) I have used and recommend two products: Apple Brand offers a cleaner and conditioner that is specifically formulated for vegetable tanned, vachetta, and light colored leathers; these would be my top recommendation, you can purchase the cleaner and conditioner separately, but you can also buy them together here. I also have historically used Bickmore's 'Bick 4' leather conditioner on my light colored vegetable tanned leather, with good results. I have treated my very light vanilla leather with this product without darkening the leather - you can find this product here. If you're specifically caring for Vachetta leather however, I would definitely recommend going with Apple Brand for the best results.
Apple Brand also makes a protective spray that helps prevent staining (even water droplets can stain any leather, especially unfinished and Vachetta leather). This product doesn't darken the leather, and creates a great protective layer on the surface of your leather, without altering the look of the piece once dry. I highly recommend this for Vachetta leather specifically. As I mentioned above, Vachetta leather develops patina and darkens slightly with time and use (even without use, this leather will slowly deepen in color just being exposed to air). Please note that due to the protective layer this spray creates, it may slow down the development of this patina. This is a positive if you're looking, for example, to keep your vanilla colored leather from darkening as fast - in which case I would recommend regular application. If you'd like patina to develop more quickly, I would use appropriate balms that contain protective/stain repellent ingredients to protect your leather, and if you use this spray, use it more sparingly. You can find this spray here.
Speaking of balms and waxes - many common ingredients, even all natural ingredients, are known to often darken leather. For example, in my shop's own small batch, all natural balm, two ingredients - cocoa butter and lanolin - are ingredients that may darken your leather piece. I've done a lot of research, particularly when formulating my own balm, on the effects of different ingredients, especially different types of oils, on the color of the leather it's applied to. From my research, it seems that mink oil tends to be the best oil for long term use on leather versus other oils, and has a more minimal darkening effect - this article is great, showing examples of leather before and after using several types of oil, as well as going over the pros and cons of commonly used oils. *If you want to skip the article, the oil they recommend most, based on appearance and long term effects, is mink oil.
If you're looking for a good mink oil balm without synthetic ingredients or additives, I use and recommend Startso World Mink Oil Paste.
With just mink oil and beeswax, it rejuvenates and protects. I use this product to finish all my oil tanned leather pieces before packaging them up. **I do prefer my formula and use it on my personal pieces, but since it contains almond oil and lanolin, I use the mink oil to finish pieces I for clients, just to be safe, since you could have a skin reaction if you have allergies to almonds or wool.
For those who don't have allergies to almonds or wool, I recommend my own formula, which is available in the shop. You can also read more about my formula (and even make your own at home if you'd like - I share my ingredient ratios in case you'd like to; it matters more to me that your leather pieces look their best and last longer than it does to keep my formula a secret!) in this blog post. The post goes over the five all natural ingredients that make up my balm, and the unique benefits offered by each.
I have tested the Startso World Mink Oil Paste against my All Natural Balm on both vanilla colored vegetable tanned leather and the carmine red Vachetta leather; and the results were the same as far as the effect on the color of the leather. The samples of vanilla colored leather looked identical once the balm dried. For the Vachetta leather, you can see in the photos below the very subtle effect my All Natural Balm had on the leather's color (this was after one very generous application, once dried).
To wrap it all up, I highly recommend using specialized products on your vegetable tanned leather, especially unfinished Vachetta leather (unfinished just means that no finishing coating - like a gloss coating for example - has been applied to the surface of the leather....Vachetta leather available from the Leather Cult is all unfinished, it get's it's sheen from being buffed and polished).
I don't recommend skipping or avoiding treating this leather, as leather requires regular care to keep it looking it's best and make it last for decades. If you skip treating your leather pieces, they will prematurely start to crack and show signs of wear, such as scuffs and scratches - issues that can be easily avoided with proper care - as well as being prone to stains.
Protect your investment and keep it looking it's best by caring for it regularly. How often you apply leather care product depends on a lot of factors, such as the climate you live in and how much you use or wear the piece (in drier climates, you'll need to condition leather more often to prevent it drying out - with more use, you'll likely need to apply product to rejuvenate and protect it more often as well). And if you're going to do it, do it right by using the proper products - I find the cost of the products I recommend in this post to be comparable to both inferior products and products that are just better suited to different types of leather, so taking the best care of your vegetable tanned and Vachetta leather doesn't mean spending more - just purchasing thoughtfully!
Have any questions? Feel free to reach out, via my contact page, or email me at hello@culteducuir.com :)
XX - Emily
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