Taking care of your sheepskin is a breeze. It requires very little attention, although we do have some customers that find great relaxation in giving their pelt a good brush!
The thing about naturally tanned sheepskins like ours is that they are essentially self-cleaning. Sheepskin is dirt and bacteria resistant. It has been known for centuries that the lanolin in natural sheepskin provides it with a self cleaning quality when the sheepskin is hung in fresh air. Cool, right?
But perhaps your sheepskin needs a little love. Is it looking sad, kinda smelly, or maybe it just isn't shinning like it use to? Here are some tips for cleaning and making it beautiful again.
SIMPLE SPOT CLEANING:
(this is recommended for our CURLY hides, Gotland Hides, and Goat Pelts)
(this is recommended for our CURLY hides, Gotland Hides, and Goat Pelts)
The goal in this method is to not get the leather side wet. It's very easy, as long as you follow these instructions.
1. You'll need a scrub brush, cold water, and some natural soap
2. wet the area, and then scrub with a small amount of soap
3. Wet the scrub brush with water and scrub off the soap with the water. Repeat until the soap is gone.
4. Hang dry (normally takes about 1 hour to dry)
I have a short-hair sheepskin that I've owned for almost 6 years, and recently it started looking a little old. Instead of doing a full wash, I scrubbed the whole front of the hide as described above. It was easy and dried in 1 hour. Looked brand-new afterwards.
HOW TO WASH A SHEEPSKIN
*PLEASE NOTE: If you have a Curly Hide, Gotland Hide, or Goat see the instructions above.
1. Use cold water only! This is very important.
for sheepskin. See our suggestions below.
3. Machine wash using gentle/wool cycle. Or hand wash. *Please note, for longhair pelts (hair over 3 inches) we highly recommend handwashing only. Otherwise the hair will stick to the leather side of the pelt and it's hard to pull off.
4. If hand-washing, squeeze all the extra water out (as much as you possibly can).
5. Lay flat with leather side up. DO NOT hang or lay in the sun or on a hot day. Ideally hang dry in cool dark area or on a cooler night. Also, you can hang dry them in freezing weather (cool, right)
3. Machine wash using gentle/wool cycle. Or hand wash. *Please note, for longhair pelts (hair over 3 inches) we highly recommend handwashing only. Otherwise the hair will stick to the leather side of the pelt and it's hard to pull off.
4. If hand-washing, squeeze all the extra water out (as much as you possibly can).
5. Lay flat with leather side up. DO NOT hang or lay in the sun or on a hot day. Ideally hang dry in cool dark area or on a cooler night. Also, you can hang dry them in freezing weather (cool, right)
Recommended detergents for sheepskin: *click title for link to Amazon
CleanSheep Sheepskin Shampoo & Woolwash Concentrate, Lemon Myrtle scent
Outback Gold Woolwash, Original Scent, 16 Fl oz
Does it have a smell that might be bothering you?
Here are our tips:- Essential oils: this is our preference. In-fact, lavender works the best. Dab your finger in the oil and then rub the oil onto 10-15 spots on the base of the root, where the hair starts. You can repeat this once a week until the smell has vanished.
- Natural fabric softener: Dab your finger in the oil and then rub the oil onto 10-15 spots on the base of the root, where the hair starts. You can repeat this once a week until the smell has vanished.
- Let it hang outside, in the shade. Remember, sheepskin doesn't like direct hot sun. After a few days of airing out, the sheepskin should normalize.
Reducing dust build-up
- We highly recommend brushing your pelt once a month. Also give it a good shake outside to reduce any dust.
- Brushing your pelt will make it beautiful again and if you want that "plush" or groomed look, brushing it is key.
Brush we recommend for sheepskin
