How Do You Clean And Maintain A Leather Watch Strap?

If you own a leather strap you will probably be aware that they can suffer from wear and tear and if you do not look after your strap, it will get ruined and need to be replaced.

Cleaning and maintaining a leather strap is important, but luckily it does not take much effort to do, and any little bit of care you can give your strap will help it last longer.

So let’s go through some ways you can care for your leather strap. 

You Shouldn’t Need To Give A Leather Watch Strap Much Care

If you are using a leather strap on your watch, you shouldn’t really need to give it too much care and it will not really need much maintenance, but it will need some from time to time.

Just wearing the strap and going about your business shouldn’t really cause it any real problems although occasionally you may need to clean it if you get something on it.

In general you should be cautious in certain situations, such as around water, but overall, the majority of the time you do not need to really worry too much about your strap, it will be fine.

I would just check on it every couple of months and decide then if it needs any sort of cleaning or care given to it and most times it probably won’t.

(You can read more about – How To Break In A New Leather Watch Strap)

Leather Straps Can Absorb Sweat

Really your biggest concern should be if you sweat a lot. If you are somewhere hot and humid, or you are just doing an activity that will cause you to sweat, such as exercise, it’s probably best to take your watch off, or even take the leather strap off and swap it for something else that can handle this.

Leather can absorb sweat, which isn’t ideal for your strap and it can cause it to smell or even damage it.

However, for most of us, we don’t need to worry too much about this, a little bit of sweat here and there will be fine,  just be aware that problems can happen if it builds up. If you are feeling particularly sweaty, just take the watch off until you cool down. 

Air The Strap Out

For most people, just taking the watch off and allowing everything to dry out and getting some air around it should be more than enough to keep things in order.

Really this just means that you should take your watch off before bed and even this small amount of time off your wrist will help a lot.

Wearing a watch 24 hours a day is fine, but when it comes to leather straps you want to let them breathe every now and again. This is going to help with any problems with  sweat and will really reduce the chances of any smells forming.

If you need to wear a watch more often, or you are finding that sweating is a constant problem, it may be best to swap the strap out for a while until the weather conditions change.

Airing the strap out by simply not wearing it for a while (like overnight) really is the simplest form of maintenance you can give it. It really requires no effort, so you should be doing this every day.

You Can Get Different Types Of Leathers

I think it is important to remember that you can get different types of leather, both in terms of what animal it is from, and how the leather has been treated and the general quality of the leather.

This shouldn’t make too much difference to how you care for or clean your strap, you can usually treat them all in a very similar way, but it is worth double checking how to care for the exact type of leather you have in case there is something different you need to do.

You will find that this can affect how long the strap lasts for. The low quality, poorly made straps are of course going to wear out and show signs of damage much faster than a higher quality one.

(You can read more about – What Are The Benefits Of A Leather Watch Strap?)

Use A Polishing Cloth

My general maintenance for leather straps is pretty basic; I just give it a wipe with a dry polishing cloth. You are probably using one of these anyway to remove finger prints off your dial or case, but you can also give the watch strap a quick rub too.

This will usually wipe off any dust or anything like that which is on the strap. It takes all of two seconds to and while the before and after isn’t exactly anything drastic, it does help. Doing this over the long run will help keep your strap a little cleaner.   

Be Careful With Water And Leather Straps

You cannot dunk your leather strap into water as this will of course waterlog it and ruin it.

This really means if you have some big stain on your strap, it can be hard to get rid of it as really we need to be careful with how much water we use.

This does make cleaning difficult, if we leave the stain, the strap looks terrible …if we try and wash it out …the strap gets damaged by the water.

You almost can’t win either way and you just need to try and clean it the best you can without causing more damage.

How To Deep Clean A Leather Strap

If you have some sort of stain on your watch, or you spill something on it, then you might want to give it a “deep clean” but as I have just mentioned, you need to be careful with how much water you use.

Leather and water do not mix very well, and if you get things too wet you will damage the strap.

This means you can only use a damp cloth, but even with this you must be careful. You really do not want to get things too wet, so make sure the cloth is just damp.

You can then use this lightly dampened cloth to brush off whatever you are trying to clean. You can only do so much, but it is better than nothing.

After you do this I would then use a dry cloth to wipe off any excess moisture and then also leave the strap to dry for a while afterwards before using it again.

If you are not happy with the results I would try again, but I would let everything dry completely in between attempts. Water really is the enemy, so be careful.

Remove The Strap From The Watch Before You Want To Deep Clean It

You shouldn’t really need to deep clean your leather strap unless there is an obvious reason to, such as something gets on it.

I would suggest that you remove the strap from the watch, as this can make things easier for you, and give you better control and access to the strap, but this isn’t always necessary.

Just be careful if you keep your watch attached while cleaning it, especially if it is a delicate watch.

You will need to remove the strap if you want to clean the area that is in contact with spring bars. Often this area can collect dust and grime, so removing the strap to get access to this can be sensible.   

You Can Use Leather Softeners and Conditioners

When it comes to watch straps, they should be fine on their own, although you can use leather softeners and conditioners if you want.

I wouldn’t really go crazy with these, and if anything maybe only use them once, probably when the strap is quite new and still pretty stiff.

You will find that the oils from your skin actually soften and condition the strap over time, so you don’t really need to be adding extra products, but they are available if you want to use them.

Don’t Use Shoe Polish On Leather Watch Strap

I think it is also very important to just point out that you shouldn’t be using shoe polish on your watch strap.

I know shoe polish is for leather shoes … but don’t use it on your strap. You will just end up creating a whole mess and probably running your strap; keep it for your shoes.  

Remember That Straps Are Replaceable

I think it is also important to remember that leather straps are replaceable. They are designed in a way that allows you to replace them as they know they will not last as long as the watch head.

While you can look after your straps and do your maintenance, eventually they will wear out and need replaced, they will not last forever and that is okay.

When your leather straps are too worn, just replace them and enjoy the whole process of getting a new strap and having a slightly different look and feel to your watch.

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see that maintaining and caring for a leather strap is pretty easy. You do need to be careful with how much water you expose them to, but apart from that are pretty easy to care for.  Just take it off every now and again and allow the air around it and that should really prevent any issues from forming in the first place.

They will eventually wear out and need replaced, but if you care for them properly they can last a long time and you can get plenty of enjoyment out of them.

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Watch Straps)