Leather care products are what decide whether a pair of handmade gloves lasts one season or several decades. Leather stays supple only as long as its natural oils are replenished; left alone it dries, stiffens and cracks along the seams. This collection gathers the glove care tools we use ourselves — a gentle soap, a conditioning gel, brushes and the small helpers that make the job quick. There is no all-purpose shoe wax here. Everything is chosen for thin, fine glove leather, which behaves nothing like a furniture hide or the upper of a work boot.
Glove care comes down to three steps. Brush away loose dirt and dust first. Then wash — rarely, and always by hand — with a very mild, richly fatty soap: our own leather soap is handmade in small batches to a recipe we developed, on an olive oil and coconut base, with shea butter and calendula infused in cold-pressed sunflower oil. Finally feed the leather with a care gel, let it rest 15–30 minutes, then brush the shine back up so the surface never stays tacky. Machine washing is far too harsh, gloves should never be submerged (natural-fibre linings can shrink), and fur-lined pairs cannot be washed with water at all. Fine leathers also dislike silicone-based sprays and creams. And the habit that costs nothing: stretch your gloves lengthwise after every wear — skip it and the fingers crease deeply and shorten by up to half a centimetre over time.
Not everything here is for gloves. A vegan, biodegradable stain soap made in Finland (roughly 60 g, saponified coconut fat) lifts greasy marks from a collar or cuff; suede rubber takes off stains and shiny darkened patches; a clothes brush freshens a wool knit without the lint-roller waste. And when the lining wears through but the leather is still sound, our relining service gives a well-broken-in pair of Sauso gloves a second life.
- Leather soap — handmade in small batches from our own recipe: olive oil and coconut base, shea butter, calendula in cold-pressed sunflower oil, litsea cubeba for a fresh citrus scent. Mild enough to wash your hands with.
- Leather care gel — from Famaco, the French family firm founded in 1931 and still based near Paris; gentle on the thinnest glove leathers and does not clog the surface.
- Brushes — wood and horsehair from Famaco (15 x 5 cm, made in Germany), or KENT. of Great Britain, brushmakers since 1777. Keep one brush for light leathers and one for dark.
- Spot fixes — suede rubber for stains and darkening, cleaning foam for smooth and patent leather, and a water-based, gas-free protector for suede, nubuck and textiles.
- Relining service — for Sauso gloves only: wool, cashmere blend, cashmere, merino, silk, rabbit fur or shearling.
Please note: the postal lining-replacement service is available in Finland only, and the turnaround is 4–10 weeks depending on season. Care products themselves ship normally to all our markets.
Step-by-step washing instructions and a video, made with the Finnish garment-care pioneer Arkivé Atelier, are on our care instructions page. Start with your winter leather gloves, then your mittens.
