Clothing Care
The materials used to make some specialty clothing items require specific care procedures and cleaning solutions to insure that they remain is good condition. Fetish clothing and lingerie items are often made from leather, latex, or PVC. Regular detergents are not effective in cleaning these types of materials and will often ruin them completely.
Caring for Leather
Caring for leather items begins with identifying the type of leather the item is made from. Top grained or protected leather is the most common material used in leather clothing. It has a finished appearance and is heavier than unprotected leather material. If you are not sure whether or not your leather item is protected leather, try dropping a bead of water onto its surface. If the item is made from protected leather, the water will bead and will not leave a darkened area on the leather surface when wiped away.
When cleaning leather clothing or toys that are top grained or protected leather, use water based leather cleaner made specifically for this purpose. Apply the leather cleaner and allow it to dissolve any dirt on the surface of the leather. Do not scrub, as this may damage the finished surface of the leather. After you have cleaned the leather item with the leather cleaner, rinse with water and apply a conditioner made for conditioning protected leather.
Another leather material which is much softer than top grained leather is suede, which has an unfinished rougher appearance and is lightweight. Similar in weight, but with a finished surface appearance is semi-aniline leather. Both of these leathers are less durable than protected leather, and require a different type of care to prevent damage.
To care for suede and semi-aniline leather, you must use products which are designed for use on this type of leather. In the case of these softer more porous leather materials, often an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You may wish to treat these items with sprays or creams which prevent staining before you use them. When suede or semi-aniline requires cleaning, use a cleaning product that is created for this use. These cleaners have the correct PH balance and rinse away easily. Condition the leather afterwards so that is remains soft. You should also test new cleaning products in a small inconspicuous area to be sure that it will not damage your leather item.
Caring for Latex
Latex clothing requires care in handling and cleaning. When you are putting latex clothing on, you need to liberally powder your body with talc or cornstarch. This will allow the latex clothing to go on easily and prevent tearing from excessive pulling. Take care with the edges of the clothing as the edges are thinner and more delicate and most likely will tear if pulled too hard.
Once you have the latex clothing on, you need only dust off the powder with a damp cloth if you like the naturally dull surface of latex. If you want your latex to have a high gloss shine, you may polish it up with a car interior cleaner. Once you have applied the polishing spray, you may want to buff it away completely. Or you may leave a light sheen on the surface for a shinier appearance and a slightly slippery feel.
Once you are finished wearing your latex clothing item, simply wash it with water. Do not use soap as this will damage your latex clothing. For storage of latex clothing, you will want to hang it up with a cloth covered hanger as contact with a plastic hanger can cause your latex to rot. You may also liberally dust the item with talc and store it in a cardboard box.
Clothing made from PVC should be hand washed using a liquid detergent, rinsed and hung inside out until dry on the inside and then turned right side out to continue drying and for storage. Never place PVC clothing in the dryer, it will melt and the fumes from melting PVC are quite toxic.
If PVC clothing is not actually soiled, you may wish to spray a fabric freshener on the polyester inside and wipe down the outside with a damp sponge. Keep your PVC clothing away from organic solvents as they will destroy the material. If you feel your PVC clothing needs some extra shine, you may wish to use a silicon spray on it.
If you have PVC clothing in a variety of colors, you will need to be sure that they do not come into contact with one another during storage as this may cause staining.
Specialty clothing items do require some additional time and care. It is well worth doing to protect the investment you have made, and will insure that you get to enjoy wearing your clothing many times for years to come. If in doubt, contact the seller or manufacturer for the best information about how to care for your fetish clothing items.
Article by Justine Case, Sex Toy Connossieur...