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Friday, November 9, 2018

Maintenance & Care: How to Wash 365 Collection Neoprene Items


Wondering how to wash your Dagne Dover Landon, Dakota, or other neoprene items from the 365 collection? Here's how I do it. (And if you have any tips and tricks of your own, please consider sharing them below!)


WASHING/STAIN AND CREASING REMOVAL

I've washed many 365 collection items and can tell you that it's best to wet the entire bag or item to ensure even drying. Here are the techniques that have either worked for me or for other Dagne Dover users:

  • Wash in the sink, shower, or tub, and work a small amount of Palmolive dish soap (pea-sized or less) into any stains using your fingers. Rinse throughly with cool or lukewarm water and hang to dry unsnapped. (I've even used a blow dryer on the interior to expedite the drying process!)
  • Secure the item in its dustbag and run it through the washing machine on a gentle cycle with cool water. Stuff and hang to dry.

Neoprene items generally clean up well, so don't be afraid to buy a bag on the secondhand market with a few dirt or drink stains on it! 


PILLING

  • Use a small razor to carefully shave visible pilling off of the bag or item. (I'd recommend Tinkle Eyebrow Razors in particular. This de-pilling method works great for most clothing too!)


EXAMPLES

Here are a few before/after transformations from my own 365 collection using quick shots taken before I started this website—my apologies! * * Zoom in to get the full before/after effect. * *



SMALL LANDON - STAINS, PILLING

I bought a used small Landon in Quartz that was in desperate need of a cleaning. Thanks to a Tinkle razor and the sink/Palmolive method, it's looking almost as good as new!




SMALL HUNTER - STAINS, STAINS, AND MORE STAINS

I've bought many great bags during Dagne Dover's sample sales, but I did receive one surprising dud this January—a very used small Hunter in Quartz. YUCK! Thankfully, it cleaned up pretty well. I hand-washed it in the sink with Palmolive dish soap and let it air dry. 




LARGE LANDON - CREASING

Have you received a 365 collection item with sharp creasing where there shouldn't be creasing (like along the very front of the bag)? The good news is that this creasing is unlikely to be permanent. Take, for instance, this severely creased large Landon in Quartz I bought through Poshmark last year. I can't remember exactly what I did to fix it, but I either stuffed it to the brim with pillows/clothes/etc, blasted it with a hair dryer, and/or wet the bag uniformly and allowed it to air-dry (or all three in that order, although I'm inclined to believe I did only the first step).


This is what it looks like today. Same bag, different wrinkles!




If you have any tips or tricks that aren't listed here, please consider leaving them in the comment section below!

8 comments:

  1. Hello Kat! So I cleaned my Micah Crossbody and I was left with water stains :( I tried the soap spot treatment and then followed by submerging the entire bag in water and I left it to air dry. There were water stains left on the top area on either side of the zipper, as well as on one of the edges of the bag. Should I try using a blow dryer next time so that the bag dries more evenly? Or did I maybe not squeeze out enough excess water? I would really appreciate the help, Thanks!

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    1. Oh, no—I'm sorry to hear that! Do you have a Dune Micah? Dune is the most notorious for developing water stains, it seems. I would suggest throughly wetting the bag again and hanging it to dry like before. Something similar happened to me with a Dune Dakota, and doing a second wet/dry round helped with the water stains if I remember correctly. I'm going to ask around for additional advice, and I'll leave a follow-up comment with anything I find!

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    2. The verdict is in! Re-wash the bag (in its dust bag) in the washing machine, then hang to dry. The spinning will remove more of the moisture, and you might need to give it an extra spin cycle or two. Someone else mentioned that they've used baby wipes to blend out water stains. Please let me know if this helps—fingers crossed!

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  2. How do you hang dry it? By the straps? Or just on top of a drying rack stuffed?

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    1. Usually by the straps to avoid uneven drying on the bottom and/or indentations!

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  3. Hi Thank you so much for this post. I just bought the L Wade Tote (for an every day bag) in dune. It arrived and although the color is beautiful, I've been afraid of it getting dirty and thinking of reselling it. I have a lot to do and know I won't do the best job babysitting a diaper bag (lol) and preventing it from getting dirty.

    I can't find it in onyx or moss anywhere, and would hate to not have one at all. Thanks to your post, I think I'm going to take a deep breath and use it! I love this brand, your blog is very much appreciated!

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  4. Do you use regular/traditional Palmolive?

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    1. That's what I use when hand-washing neoprene! :-) (If I'm machine-washing it, I use a tide pod!)

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