Here we're going to discuss general cleaning, rather than stain removal which is a different ballgame altogether. The number one rule for cleaning is, DON'T use any alcohol-based products on your leather. These will quickly evaporate the essential oils that keep your leather supple and strong, which leads to cracking and ultimately destroys your gear. The vast majority of the time, cleaning can be accomplished very easily and without any products. Simply lightly dampen a soft cloth or paper towel, and wipe away surface dirt and dust. Thats it! Easy, eh? This keeps the pores of the leather open, allowing the leather to breathe and accept conditioners. Its very important to condition after cleaning, which is covered in the next section.

If your leather item is VERY dirty or muddy, then it might be necessary to use a specialized cleaning product to do the job. The product you use is determined by the type of leather you're cleaning. To keep it easy, I'll break down our products into three main types of leather:

"Firm" Leather - This includes our belt and bracer products, as well as mug straps, skirt hikes, and certain types of pouch. This leather will be smooth where a design isn't tooled, and is stiffer than "purse" type leather. For this leather type, select a good saddle soap such as made by Fiebings, and follow the directions on the container.

"Soft" Leather - We use this leather primarily for our pouches and linings on certain products. This is the stuff that most modern purses, etc... are made from. It may have a pebble-grain texture, or be smooth. You can almost bunch it up in your hand like a rag most times. Because the tannage differs from firmer leather, you'll want to use a specialized cleaner such as the Lexol or Weaver Wipes products.

"Suede" Leather - This is a sub-category of the soft leather, but must be treated differently. If you use any of the above products on suede, it will be ruined. To clean suede, first try a suede brush as can be picked up from most department stores. If you need more cleaning power, there are products available just for this purpose, although we can't recommend any from personal experience.

You really should at least give your leathers a quick wipe down before putting them away using a damp cloth / paper towel. It won't take long, and can prolong the life of your leathers significantly. We've read soldiers manuals from the 19th and 20th century and in each one, the soldiers personal gear is to be cleaned and conditioned after every single use. These items included belts, holsters, baldrics and boots. I guarantee there is a good reason for this :) One note on storage: DON'T PUT YOUR LEATHER AWAY WHEN ITS WET OR DAMP You've probably heard this before, and its super important. Let it dry first by a window or on a counter. And once its dry, you'll probably want to condition it, which is covered in the next section.

Once you've cleaned your gear, its time to condition it to replace the oils and tannins that have been lost due to normal weathering and the cleaning process. For the firm and soft leather types alike, we've found a fantastic product that does an amazing job. Its called Bickmore 4 formula leather conditioner, and we offer it in the form of wipes. Unlike many other formulas, this stuff doesn't contain animal fats that can go rancid, or chemicals that breakdown the structure of the leather and make it weak and mushy. I haven't used any conditioners for suede personally, so I couldn't recommend a method.

This is one of those things where you really have to rely on your best judgment. On one hand, not ever conditioning is a sure death sentence for your leathers, but its also really easy to OVER condition. Some of the factors that dry out leather are humidity / heat levels, sunlight exposure, wetting and drying, and use. Areas in the leather that receive a lot of handling, such as pouch flaps and belts at the knot point, etc... will dry out quicker than the other parts and are more prone to cracking if not cared for. If you need a rule of thumb, applying a LIGHT coat of conditioner every other use should be safe and will keep your leather in optimal condition. Don't try to "soften" a stiffer leather by applying a ton of conditioner, as this will just ruin your gear. Instead, work the leather back and forth in your hand for a while, or over a smooth metal cylinder. This will move the existing oils throughout the fiber structure of the leather, as well as bending said fibers so it will be more supple.