I have a pair of Hobby Horse suede show chaps that are pretty dirty around the bottom. What is the best way to get them back into show shape? I read a few online articles, some of which say to WASH them, but I’m afraid. TIA!!
I used to wash mine all the time, although it was years ago.
IIRC, wash them on the gentle cycle—cold water (maybe use Woolite) and when it’s time to add liquid fabric softener use almost the whole bottle (the small regular bottle, not the big gallon size).
Put them in the dryer on low/no heat with a dry towel for a while then hang them to finish drying. They will feel fairly stiff, but will soften when you put them on—just like jeans that have been line dried.
I swear it works, but I can understand that this sounds scary.
Mine were suede leather on the outside, smooth leather on the inside with a smooth leather waistband.
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Hobby Horse has directions for this. https://www.hobbyhorseinc.com/pages/faq-care-and-feeding-of-show-chaps
And if they are just dirty around the cuffs, you can spot clean them and not have to mess with the rest of the chaps… or even just brush ‘groom’ them with something like a fingernail brush.
Leather chaps do wash well but you usually re-dye them at the same time to perk up the color. It works fine- wash then lay them out to dry.
I used to toss mine in the washer as well - gentle, cold water, Woolite. As poster above said, they’d be stiff at first but softened right up after wearing a few times. Mine were suede also
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