How to Wash a Longchamp Bag

Official Guidelines

Apply Longchamp colorless cream to the leather areas. Use Longchamp's colorless cream or another colorless cream-based leather cleansing product on all leather portions of the bag. Use a soft brush to lightly scrub the leather portions of the bag with the cream. After cleaning the leather, wipe any excess cream with a clean, soft cloth. Use small, circular motions to buff the bag clean.

Clean any canvas with soap and water. Some Longchamp bags are partially made of canvas material. Clean this material with a soft cloth or brush, along with a little warm water and neutral soap. Use a soap that is mild and free of dyes or perfumes. Do not let water spill onto the leather portions of the bag. Water can damage leather. You can clean both the outside and inside of the bag using soap and water. Make sure that the contents of the bag have been removed before you clean it, though.

Let it dry. If you cleaned canvas portions of the bag using soap and water, let the bag sit in a well-ventilated room for a few hours until it completely dries. Hang the bag up by its handles. Keep it in an upright position using a clothing hanger, and place it in a sunny area to speed up the drying process.

Protect the leather with a waterproofing agent. Since water can damage leather, it is advisable to apply a leather conditioner to the leather portions of the bag after cleaning it. Place a small amount of waterproofing agent on a clean, dry rag and gently buff it into the leather using small circular motions. Continue buffing until the product you applied has disappeared into the material.

Alternate Hand Washing Option

Remove heavy surface stains with alcohol. For surface stains that cannot be scrubbed away with a cloth, like ink stains, rub the stain with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol. Many surface stains, like grease stains, will be removed when you clean the entire surface of the bag with soap and water later on. Dip the cotton swab into the rubbing alcohol, then rub the surface of the bag with the swab until the stain disappears. Focus on the area of the stain only. When finished, let the bag air dry.

Remove deep stains with a cleansing cream. When you are dealing with a stain that has set deeply into the material, use a paste made from cream of tartar and lemon juice. Deep stains can include blood, wine, and many food or drink stains. Combine one part cream of tartar and one part lemon juice, mixing until a thick paste forms. Apply a generous amount of this paste to the stained area of the bag and let it rest for 10 minutes. After the paste has had a chance to sit, wipe it off with a clean, dry rag.

Mix a mild soap solution. Combine 2 cups (500 ml) of warm water with just a few drops of mild, dye-free liquid soap. This soap solution can be used to clean light dirt from a leather bag, or from a bag with leather components, as often as once a week. Use the mildest soap possible to minimize the risk of dehydrating or damaging the leather.

Use a soft cloth to gently scrub the bag. Dip a soft, clean cloth in the soapy water. Wring out the excess moisture, then gently wipe away all the dirt and grime from the bag. Use this solution to clean the outside and inside of the bag. Make sure that everything in the bag has been removed before you clean the inside, however. Only allow the leather parts of the bag to get slightly moist. Do not soak or submerge them.

Buff dry. Use a dry, soft cloth to lightly buff the surface of the bag while it is still moist. Continue buffing until the surface feels dry. After drying the bag with a cloth, allow it to continue air drying for an hour or so, especially if you cleaned the inside. The inside of the bag should be thoroughly dry before you return anything to it.

Recondition the leather parts using a vinegar solution. To prevent the leather parts of the bag from drying out and cracking, you should condition it. You can make a conditioning paste from white vinegar and linseed oil. A conditioner will also make the leather more stain resistant in the future. Mix one part white distilled vinegar with two parts linseed oil until well combined. Dip a clean, soft cloth into this solution and rub a generous amount over the entire surface of the leather bag. Work in small, circular buffing motions. Allow the solution to soak into the leather for 15 minutes. After the solution has rested, buff the leather of the bag with a dry, clean cloth.

Machine Washing

Place the bag in your washing machine. Remove everything from the inside of the bag and place it in an empty washing machine. You can clean the bag by itself or with other items, but make sure that the other items you place in the washing machine can bleed or otherwise damage the bag.

Add mild detergent. A standard liquid laundry detergent should be fine, but opt for one that is dye-free and fragrance-free if possible. The detergent should be as mild as possible to minimize the risk of damage. If you want to be especially caution, skip the detergent and opt for a more gentle, natural cleansing product, like Murphy's oil soap or liquid castile soap. Only use about 1/4 cup (60 ml) of soap for this process.

Set the machine to a gentle setting. Both the agitation and temperature settings should be mild, so choose one of the gentlest settings on your machine and set the water temperature to "cool" or "warm." After making your selections, start the machine. A "wool" setting should work well, but a "delicate," "gentle," or "hand wash" cycle might be better. The temperature of the water should be somewhat cool, approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius).

Let the bag air dry. After you remove the bag from the washing machine, hang it from its straps on a clothes hanger and let it air dry for four to five hours, or until it is completely dry. To speed up the drying process, you could toss the bag into a drying machine and run the dryer on its lowest heat setting. Make sure that there are other items in the dryer, like large towels, to further reduce heat exposure. Dry the bag this way for five to ten minutes, then finish hang drying it for another hour or so. You can also speed up the drying process by placing it in a sunny spot as it hangs.

Apply a coat of leather conditioner. Place a little commercial leather conditioner on a clean, soft rag and buff the conditioner into the leather portions of the bag. Conditioner softens the leather and protects it from further stains and possible water damage.