Can You Really Wash a Leather Button?!

Yes. The answer is yes.

But let's get into it!

Our vintage buttons are some some of our customer all-time faves, and these leather toggle buttons add a special bit of flare to any cardigan! But of course you want to know, how should you safely wash them?

Leather buttons are actually pretty easy to care for!

Here are a few quick tips:

• Lots of agitation and chemicals can damage them, so no spins in the washing machine or trips to the dry cleaner for these beauties.
• Just like your knit and crocheted items, they love a hand wash in a gentle soap like Soak, and lay them flat to dry.
• If the leather looks a bit worn or dried out after the wash, you can carefully apply a bit of leather conditioner. Vintage button restoration pros recommend saddle soap or Neatsfoot oil if they are genuine leather; just use sparingly so they don't stain your knits (try a cotton swab for an applicator and let dry completely before wearing or moving; you can place some wax paper or foil under and around the buttons while doing so to avoid drips on your garment).

But did we test this?

• You bet! We soaked our buttons for 15 minutes, totally submerged, in cool water with Soak.
• The buttons looked exactly the same, and weighed the same (2 grams each), when they came out of the water - a great sign that they hadn't absorbed water!
• They dried quickly, too. We'd call this a win!