I’m afraid to clean my suede Celine bag

Nov 16, 2020
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I have a Celine sangle in red suede and it could probably use a clean, although it’s still in pretty good condition. I purchased a suede brush but I’m terrified of using it Like they do in the videos due to the metal bristles. Does anyone have any experience with maintaining a fully suede bag? Thoughts and experiences greatly appreciate!
 
I've plenty of suede and nubuck bags, none of them Celine, but it's the same rules. One of my vintage Guccis is very fine suede, it's made even harder to clean since it has little 'G's printed on it, it's from 1970 and it's perfect.

You don't need a metal brush for suede that hasn't gone 'bald' (it's smoothed out). They're just used to re-raise (roughen-up) the surface again. Even then it should be done gently.

Fine suede and nubuck should only need a clean, gentle brush to whisk away dirt and brush the pile plush again. The sturdier the suede the stiffer the brush - but never wire. Try to find a brush that has fairly soft, natural, undyed bristles. Use a baby's hairbrush if you can't find anything else.

For the very finest suede, nubuck and chamois, companies used to give a spare square of the material (sometimes backed to make it stiffer) so that the owner could brush the suede item with another piece of suede of the exact fineness and colour.

Better to brush your bag gently, regularly than let it get optically dirty/worn first. However, suede is quite easy to keep:

Stuff your bag inside corners or anywhere creases naturally occur.
Hold it from the inside
Brush gently along all edges and seems first
Work more gently as you get to the middle of larger areas
Aim to get all the suede looking plush and one colour
 
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