Care for Your Leather Belt with These Easy Tips.
Male or Female, we all wear leather belts and caring for them requires some intentionality. Generally speaking, a belt is a flexible band or strap made of leather, fabric, or other material and it’s worn around the waist or close to it.
Depending on how you rock your belt, it can be a necessary item for holding up your clothes or one simply used as a fashion accessory. Historically, the existence of belts date back to the Bronze Age, but afterwards, it was used for decorative purposes. In the military, especially, it was a major part of their uniform and sometimes used to show authority. In recent times, belts are now viewed as a compulsory fashion item for men to fasten their trousers in modern communities and corporate settings. On the other hand, women wear theirs mainly as a decorative piece.
Today there are several types of belts for both men and women. And they all serve different purposes. Since leather belts are the most commonly used type, apply these tips to care for your leather belt and make it last longer.
Use Carefully
This really had to be our first tip. The reason being that no matter how you try to care for your leather belt, if you use it carelessly, it won’t stand the test of time. Sometimes, we want our belt to sit tightly on our body so we tend to make it as tight as possible. Doing this weakens the leather and causes it to break or have ugly marks on it. Be mindful and avoid brushing your belt against hard surfaces to prevent it from scratches.
If you need to wear belts regularly, you should have more than one to reduce the pressure on a single one. We’ll also mention that you mustn’t leave your leather belt out in the sun or rain.
Clean It Right
For the regular cleaning of your belt, using a damp cloth will do the trick. What you want to do is to get a soft absorbent cloth and dampen it, then stroke it on both sides of your belt (i.e. the front and back sides). Once you are done with it, hang it somewhere to dry properly.
Now, let’s look at how to care for your leather belt when a spill occurs. In the case of a spill, not cleaning your belt isn’t helpful, as it can either spoil the belt or lead to other stains on whatever cloth you wear it on. You can use a leather cleaner or put some soap in a bowl of water and clean it with a soft cloth as usual. Using soap and water isn’t really a great method if you are trying to ensure your belt lasts longer. We found some very interesting and unpopular ways to clean your belt. But for tougher stains on your belt, you can try out some DIY cleaning methods like the use of cornstarch, alcohol, and even vinegar. They work wonders.
Use Leather Care Products
There are so many leather care products in the market. Some are the same you’d use to care for your other leather products like your bags, shoes, and the likes. There are care products for cleaning, conditioning, polishing or oiling, and deodorising leather. Get any of them depending on your needs to ensure you strengthen your leather belts and increase their durability.
Storage
Since this is an item we use every day, some don’t give much thought to how we store them after each use. Once you take off your leather belt, the first thing to do is to air it. This prevents it from feeling damp or smelling due to sweat. Once dry, you can then store it up appropriately. For leather belts, ensure you do not hang it by the leather part or roll it up; doing any of these can weaken the leather, make it tear, or look out of shape. What you can do instead is to get a belt organiser which sort of looks like a cloth hanger but is designed to hold several belts together. If you can’t afford to get this type of hanger, you can make one for yourself using hooks. Put up the hooks firmly on a wall then hang your leather belt by the buckle.
And that’s a wrap. Do you know of any other tips on how to care for your leather belt? You should share it with us by dropping a comment. While you are still here, you can visit our store to find durable leather belts of your choice.
