Soiled Leather

Well it's that time again. The time for me to answer all of life's toughest, most ingtruiging questions. My how the time flies. Seems like just yesterday I was answering last weeks questions. I had a really tough question this week from K-dog. She writes, " While quickly running into the grocery store to grab some chicken, I picked up a package where the seal had been punctured. My still gloved hand went straight into the raw chicken!! What is the best way to clean a glove that has touched raw chicken? Do I need to be worried? Does Salmonella penetrate the poors of leather? Please help- it's still winter here in Canada and my hands are getting cold!!" What a good question and I was actually interested in discovering the answer myself! I found some really great websites that addressed the problem of stains on leather, however nothing covered raw chicken stains. I did find some helpful hints for cleaning leather however, that may perhaps help your salmonella dillema. As you probably already know, you must take expert care of leather in order to keeps its appearance, and these suggestions that I'm going to give you cover all gradations of leather as well, so no worries there. And before you ever attempt to do anything whatsoever with leather, make sure you test it on an inconspicuous spot first! Cleaning can alter the color of leather so if in doubt be sure to consult a professional (I would suggest the manufacturers if you know how to contact them). So, with all that said- The closest thing I could find under raw chicken was Protein/Blood/Urine stains. While it's too late to do this now (if you didn't already) I will suggest them for future spills :) In removing any one of these, simply blot with a damp cloth and then let air dry away from any heat source. Apparently this is supposed to take care of any stains in that department. Now, as far as salmonella goes, I might be a bit more cautious. Leather is a pourous material and would hold a bacteria such as salmonella. This website I keep referring to offered a water/vinegar alternative that may perhaps help with sanitizing bacteria. On professional leather, most water-based cleaners are safe to use, such as mild handsoap (I would recommend the anti-bacterial kind). And again, test on a inconspicous area if possible before attempting any sort of cleaning on your leather. And then rinse with 3 parts water, 1 part vinegar adding an egg yolk to the rinse water. Let air dry. This is confusing to me, because I would assume that a raw egg could contain salmonella, yet this site is suggesting you use it to promote a supple leather. So to you, I throw that out there. And as always, a local store such as Wal*mart or any one of its twins should carry a water-based leather cleaner (try Leather Master products) which might be wise to have on hand since you own leather gloves :) I struggle along with this answer as much as you, and am looking forward to hearing whether or not they work! Personally, I would start with the mild, water-based anti-bacterial hand soap for the sake of sanitizing the bacteria. Also, and this might be completely off the deep-end, but what about hand sanitizer?? I put it on everything!!! And while I know that it should be me answering and you asking....could it work? Just remember...before you use.....test first!!! And please let me know the results as soon as possible. I hope this has helped. And here's to clean leather and warm hands...

For more information and other links to anything I've posted please check out
www.ehow.com.