Caring for your Leather Journal

Note: This guide can also be downloaded here: Sojourner Leatherwork Leather Journal Care Guide

Our leather covers aren’t meant to just be for show (although they’re certainly good for that); but we also expect our patrons to use our covers to protect their writing and art for traveling purposes. (We don’t name our designs the Phineas Fog and Quartermaine for nothing.)  With that in mind, below is a short guide for keeping your journal cover in top-notch condition.  Like all leather goods, our covers are susceptible to permanent stain and damage.  If you want your cover to remain looking sharp, or even just age gracefully, we suggest being aware of leather-care basics.

How to do everything below in one step:

Leather care can be a complicated and debated subject, but if you’re looking to simply take a couple small steps every so often to protect your investment, we suggest the following: twice a year, apply Dr. Jackson’s Hide Rejuvenator to your leather cover.  Dr. Jackson’s is a cleaner, conditioner, and water-reppelant all-in-one, so it does everything outlined below in one step.  It’s recommended by master leathercraftsmen as a great way to take care of your leather treasures, especially those that you take with you everywhere and expose constantly to the elements.

An Introduction to Leather Care

Cleaning Leather

Wiping your cover with a rag lightly dampened with water is the easiest way to clean off dust and crud.  If your journal gets wet and dirty, be sure to clean the journal while it’s still damp, otherwise dirt will be sure to settle into the open pores of the leather and, when the leather dries and the pores close, stay trapped inside the leather.  Research cleaning agents thoroughly to make sure they don’t also remove important oils in the leather that keep the leather supple and protected.

Conditioning Leather

To condition leather is to attempt to restore oils to leather that may be drying out.  This step should be done only periodically if your cover should happen to begin feeling brittle.  Bee-Natural.com covers a wide line of all-natural leather conditioners (which also clean the leather as well); any of their products for leathercrafters is recommended (besides Dr. Jackson’s, mentioned above).

Polishing Leather

Polishing should not be confused with cleaning, finishing, or protecting leather from water damage.  Polishing is generally an aesthetic process done to leather to shine up and put a nice glossy touch on your leather.  Always clean the cover first before applying polish, and put a weather-protecting coat on afterwards if possible.  We’ve had patrons even use shoe polish, but we personally recommend focusing on using a good conditioner and leather protector rather than polish.

Protecting Leather

Leather is easily damaged by water, therefore the most crucial step to keeping your journal in good shape is periodically applying a leather water-protectant on your cover.  We send out our covers with two coats of Tan-cote, a professional finish designed for luggage and saddles, but that won’t last forever.  We suggest periodically freshening up your cover with a leather protectant, such as Dr. Jackson’s (mentioned above).  Otherwise, there are tons of leather water-proofing products available on the market.  Anything designed for shoes, jackets, or luggage may work; just be sure to research the product well first and test it on an inconspicuous spot of cover first.

Important Tips

• Always test a new leather-care product on a small, unnoticeable area, like the inside flap, to make sure the product doesn’t discolor your cover or do anything you don’t want it to do.
• If your journal gets dirty while it’s wet, clean it while it’s wet.  If it gets dirty while it’s dry, clean it while it’s dry (and without getting it wet).  Leather is highly porous, and water will open the pores on the leather, while dry leather will have closed pores.  You don’t want to get dirt stuck in the pores, and you don’t want to open the pores by accident and get dirt into them.
• Avoid rigorously rubbing and picking at the stitching.  Like all hand-stitched items, the stitching is strong, but not indestructible.  The waxed thread will add extra protection to the stitching holes, so you needn’t worry too much about that area to begin with; instead, focus care on the tool work and spine folds.

We hope you find this short guide helpful.  We deeply care about our leather journal covers, and we would like you to build a healthy attachment to them as well.  No two journal covers carry the same, exact toolwork design, and each is handmade from start to finish, so we consider each journal unique and irreplaceable.  If you have any questions or concerns at all, we’re always here at our site.

Luke and Christine
SLW