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Leather Care

Bag of Trix™ Collection

Alligator and Crocodile
(Alligatrix™ line)
Cowhide Leather
(Nitrix™ and Conquistatrix™ lines)
Python
(Serpentrix™ line)
The products in the Alligatrix line may be either a shiny "glazed" finish or a matte "desert" finish.

The glazed finish can usually be buffed shiny again after collecting a lot of fingerprints, by simply rubbing it with a very soft cotton cloth (think t-shirt material), being very careful not to scratch it.

You can wipe off dust and dirt on products that have a "desert" (or matte) finish. But since those products do not start out as shiny as the "glazed" finish, it is a bit easier to keep them looking nice, as fingerprints will generally not show up.

Alligator is not waterproof and can be damaged if exposed to heat, water, or solvents. Do not use any cleaning or polishing products on it. Most of the care instructions about cowhide also apply to Alligator, except you should not use Neatsfoot oil or saddle soap.

Our tannery recommends a neutral color Kiwi Mink Oil as a protectant, if it is going to be exposed to a lot of moisture or dry air. The Kiwi product contains mink oil, silicone, and lanolin, and is often used on boots and shoes to protect them from harsh, wet environments.

One product that comes highly recommended is DYO Reptile Conditioner. Another is Bick 4 Leather Cleaner and Conditioner, which purports to be safe to use on both glazed and desert finishes of alligator to clean, condition, polish, and repel stains. We do not have any experience yet with either of these products but will be testing them shortly. Purportedly these can be used if some of the scales begin to harden or curl up. But at this point we do not know whether these products will remove the shine from a "glazed" skin, so try in an inconspicuous part of the handbag first.
Store your leather products in a cool, dry place. Cowhide is not waterproof, although we apply waxy waterproofing finishes to our leather products to help them shed any accidental water splashes or rain drops. If it becomes wet, dry it off with a soft absorbent cloth. (If you wrap a cowhide product in a plastic airtight bag, mold can grow which will destroy it. So allow it to breathe.)

Cowhide becomes softer and darker with age and use. This is normal. Your bag or wallet may feel stiff now, but it will soften over time. Over several months of use, your hands will impart some oil to the leather, which will give it the rich patina that leather is so famous for.

Keep leather away from sources of heat. If you place leather in the sun, it will darken. If you heat leather, it will dry out and could crack or become brittle. If soaked in water, leather will mold itself into whatever shape it was when wet.

To prevent leather from getting too dry, you can add some oil to it, but this will also darken it somewhat. When we say "oil", we prefer that you use a natural oil, made from animals, and not a petroleum oil. Normally we would recommend 100% pure Neatsfoot oil, but this darkens leather considerably. So, if your light-colored leather has gotten dry and you want to recondition it, we recommend "Lexol Neatsfoot Leather Dressing - Non-darkening" to reduce the darkening effect somewhat. Do not allow the leather to come into contact with any other oils or solvents. Make sure you do not apply a leather finish that contains a solvent, as this could attack the dyes we used to color the leather.

If leather becomes dirty, try to clean it first with a dry soft cotton cloth (t-shirt material). A rough cloth could scratch the top finish or even dig into the leather, so be gentle. If that does not work, try dampening the cloth with water. Do not use any harsh cleaners. If that still does not work, you can obtain "saddle soap" from a Tandy leather store. Read the instructions and follow carefully. If your product has become damaged beyond your ability to care for it, ask a local dry cleaner to refer you to a leather cleaning shop. If they cannot help you, contact us and let's see what we can do.
Try to avoid rubbing Python skins the "wrong" way, that is, against the normal flow of the scales, as this can dislodge scales or curl them up.

Python is not waterproof and can be damaged if exposed to heat, water, or solvents. Do not use any cleaning or polishing products on it. Most of the care instructions about cowhide above apply to Python, except you should not use Neatsfoot oil or saddle soap on Python.

One product that comes highly recommended is DYO Reptile Conditioner. Another is Bick 4 Leather Cleaner and Conditioner, which purports to be safe to use on Python to clean, condition, and act as a stain repellent. We do not have any experience yet with either of these products but will be testing them shortly. Purportedly it can be used if some of the scales begin to curl up.


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The following are trademarks of David St.Moritz:
Leather Art on your Shoulder
Leather Art in your Hand
Bag of Trix
Alligatrix™, Aquatrix™, Conquistatrix™, Dominatrix™, Nitrix™, Serpentrix™, and Don't Choker

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