Lederhosen are not trousers just like any other – everyone knows that. With their robustness in the face of years of use, they have always been made to face wear and tear, which is why – just like good traditional jeans and biker’s jackets – they are a darn site cooler once they’ve got some wear and tear, the off scuff and scratch to show their age. So crucial is the vintage look to lederhosen’s appeal that many of the most popular new designs come ready-distressed. This means that the most obvious answer to the title question is “No way!”.
All the more since you can’t just put leathers into washing machine with everything else. Textiles like cotton, linen, and synthetic fibres can handle warm water and detergents, but leather – despite being able to stand up to a lifetime of Alpine agricultural use – just can’t. This is, in fact, the one area in which leather breeches are more demanding that suits, dresses and other things that need dry cleaning: outside of Bavaria, you can’t just take them to the cleaners and pick them up a week later (Bavaria, of course, has specialised lederhosen restorers…).
So if you can’t put your pair of lederhosen in the wash, and if they look better used anyway, why would anyone even think of washing them?
Reasons to wash lederhosen
There are, however, plenty of reasons to take care of your favourite lederhosen – especially at this time of year, when you couldn’t be further away from the Oktoberfest and you’ve got months on end in which you won’t need to wear them. While small marks or signs of use here may be part of the look, you might have noticed some larger stains that looked like badges of honour in the hungover dimness of last autumn, but which, on sober inspection a few months later, appear to be somewhat more serious…
Furthermore, beyond its appearance, leather covered by an overly-thick a layer of dirt – often lovingly-but-wrongly thought of as part and parcel of the “vintage look” – can no longer breathe. And when leather can’t breathe, it gets stiffer, less comfortable, and sweatier to wear.
So whether it’s slightly out-of-control dirt or a couple of bad stains you’ve noticed, your lederhosen needs a bit of care and attention. That doesn’t mean cleaning them, though, as you might expect, but washing them in water. Sounds wrong, right? As mentioned above, water can be damaging to leather. But leather should be washed wet, because it’s not the water itself, but strong detergents, fast spin-cycles, and changes in temperature that do damage.
How to wash your lederhosen
So if your favourite leathers need a spruce up before this year’s summer festivals and, of course, the Oktoberfest, here’s how to do it:
1. Wash by hand in a bowl of lukewarm water.
2. Use a natural soap especially for leather (check organic stores or try this).
3. After washing, dry slowly at room temperature, moving them regularly and bringing them into shape as you do so.
5. Once dry, kneed the leather gently and then brush it to return it to its original form.
Sounds like a lot of work, right? Bingo! It is. But your personal favourite lederhosen will reward you by lasting another five-to-ten years. A lot of work? Sounds like a good deal.