LeatherArts & Accessory Care

Caring For Your Accessories

Caring for LeatherArts & CanvasArts

Care Instructions

All accessories and jewelery needs a certain level of care for it to remain shiny and untarnished. 

18Ct gold plating - Yes, it is done using REAL Gold! It is not solid gold though and as such it can lose its luster and brightness as time and wear can cause the plating to fade or tarnish. This happens regardless of the quality of the piece due a variety of factors such as exposure and storage. Proper care and storage can keep your accessories shiny and tarnish free for longer! Gold plated pieces that have become tarnished due to wear and tear can be replated by a good jeweler when required.

18CT Gold Plating & Leather Care

Keep your precious pieces away from harmful elements that will tarnish or damage them. Gold Plating and Leather should be protected from high humidity, salt, soil, acidic foods, water, sweat and chemicals such as cleaners, hairspray, lotions, makeup and perfumes.

Preventative care is the best way to protect your pieces. 

• After each use wipe all gold plated parts with a microfibre cloth to remove any sweat or lotions that could have rubbed onto the metal during wear.

• When getting ready for a night out, do your hair and makeup before washing your hands and putting your accessories on. 

• Do not swim in chlorinated or salt water pools and remove all accessories before showering.

• Don’t carry or toss your accessories into a purse with other metals to prevent scratching. 

• If leather is saturated with water or very wet, do not use an iron or try to steam it dry as the leather may harden and shrink. Use a hairdryer on cold or let dry in a shaded windy place

Storage – 18CT Gold Plating & Leather 

Weirdly enough, storing it properly can make a huge difference. 

Store away from moisture and direct sunlight. Leather can be affected by UV just like our skin. Store in seperatly from other jewelery to avoid scratching or damaging the leather, paint and gold plating.

Put your accessory in a plastic bag or ziplock bag and remove all the excess air before sealing it. Without oxygen, and other jewelry to rub or scratch it, your items will be shinier and brighter for longer.

Cleaning – Leather

Leather should be wiped with a clean damp microfibre cloth. Avoid saturating the leather in water and do not scrub with coarse brushes as it could damage the hand painted detail. 

If leather needs a deep clean, follow the instructions for cleaning 18CT Gold Plating below and finish by pressing the leather between 2 sheets of paper towel or clean towels to remove excess water.

Makeup on your Leather? Use a sensitive skin make-up removal wipe to GENTLY remove foundation or other makeup. Rinse with water and dry with below instructions.

Do not iron or heat or steam the leather to dry it fully after washing or it will distort and harden. Hot water on leather SHRINKS & HARDENS IT. Instead use a hairdryer on cold or allow to dry naturally in a shaded place preferably with a breeze. DRY AWAY FROM HEAT!

Do not store wet leather in an airtight box or plastic bag storage as it will cause humidity that isn’t healthy for leather or metals. Only store once dry.

Cleaning – Canvas

Canvas as an accessory material is fairly new in Michelle's accessory range and the artist would love it if you could contact her if any problems with the material arise. The first batch of earrings (Round Drop Studs) only have 4 layers of Varish and are more delicate so please don't clean these roughly! Wipe with a damp cloth only.

However, from the second run of drop earrings...

The Canvas used in Michelle's Accessories are all treated with a durable 6 layers of 4 different kinds of varnishes and sealers, making it easy to clean and look after. The canvas is treated in a way that even if you leave them in your pockets and they go through the washing machine, they won't fall apart, however this might tarnish or damage the metal parts of your accessories. The canvas artwork will make it through unscathed.

The canvas is glued using a washing machine safe formula and one of the varnish coatings is also designed to be washing machine safe. With 4 layers of hand varnished sealers applied, you can safely clean and care for your canvas accessories using cold water and a cloth. Simply wipe it down. For when wine accidents happen, run under cold water with some mild hand soap and make sure to carefully remove all moisture from any metal parts with your microfiber cloth.

Do not store wet Canvas in an airtight box or plastic bag storage as it will cause humidity that isn’t healthy for the varnish or metals. Only store once dry.

The least durable part of a CanvasArt accessory is the edging. it is sealed and varnished in place, however rigorious rubbing with antibacterial wipes or harsh chemicals can cause it to lighten or rub off, this is just a black edging to make the design seamless aesthetically and can be touched up with any black permanent marker or fabric marker. Or find me at a market and I will use the proper edging paint with sealant to touch up the edging.

Please treat canvas accessories with care, even though I've worked to make them durable and they can survive a run through the washing machine (oops lol), they are a handmade craft and should be treated as such.

Cleaning – 18CT Gold Plating 

 Gold Plated Brass that has visible dirt or sticky substances (vodka waterfalls can do that) should be cleaned with a warm and soapy solution. Only clean one accessory at a time to prevent them scratching against one another. 

1. Mix 1 cup of warm water with 1-3 drops of dishwashing liquid. Place metal parts into the solution and allow to soak for 5 minutes. Keep any parts of the accessories with leather, fabric, pearls, gemstones, enamel or delicate sections out of the solution during the soaking time as glues and leathers can be damaged by too much water exposure. Only soak the metal parts. 

2. Using a cotton tip to remove any soil, dirt or sticky substances gently. Never use sharp or abrasive implements to remove dirt or it may scratch the gold plating. 

3. Soak the accessory for another 5-10 minutes. Using a cotton bud or soft cloth, dip the bud or cloth into the soapy water and use that to clean the rest of the accessory materials (leather and embellishments) 

4. Carefully rinse the accessory making sure no soapy solution remains. 

Dry (Leather – see Leather Cleaning instructions for drying) and buff the metal with a lindt free or micro-fibre cloth to return the shine.

AllWhat are LeatherArts?

LeatherArts are simply artworks using leather. It’s fascinating to see how leather can be used as art. It can be painted, hand-tooled, lazered and even formed into three dimensional sculptures. 

There are all kinds of uses for leather, from sculpture, accessories, jewelry, clothing, wall hangings, saddles and so many others. It’s been amazing to see what some artists are doing with it, some of my favorite sketchbooks were made by artists using leather to creatively book-bind with clay and tooling!

What are CanvasArts?

CanvasArts are simply accessories created from my art using canvas. Still experimental as a material in accessories, the CanvasArts I create are all printed with archival inks and sealed with multiple varnishes and sealants so that it is very durable. It's then hand cut, edged, varnished and assembled. This is still a way of using canvas, so it's a little experimental. If you have any issues please get in touch so I can improve on its use.

LeatherArts in the Shop & Gallery

The LeatherArts available in the gallery and shop are lazered designs and hand painted creations by Michelle Jk in Victoria, Australia. As these items are handmade by the artist, they will have natural flaws and minor imperfections due to the hand painting, varnishing and edging that is all done by hand. All handmade items are slightly unique in that way and it is a testament that time and care has gone into each and every one. 

Most LeatherArts available are accessories or jewelery pieces that are made with Genuine Leather and 18CT Gold or Platinum Plated brass whenever possible. See below for how to care for your LeatherArt Accessories.

Leather Information on Environmental Sustainability.

Environmental Considerations: Let’s be clear, leather, genuine leather is made from animals so it will NEVER be an animal-friendly resource. Anyone advertising animal friendly leather is lying or promoting Vinyl, which is WORSE for the environment! Vinyl may be animal cruelty free, but it’s production and disposal harms the environment and animals far more than genuine leather ever could. Leather, while sourced from animals, is actually the better choice environmentally and to ease your mind about animal rights, most crafters are choosing to use leather sourced from animals raised for their meat. This means that it doesn’t need additional land or resources as it’s a by-product of another industry. Waste not want not! 

The biggest environmental impact leather posses is the tanning process, which uses toxic chemicals. However, the everchanging industry is working on this issue as there are already some leathers that are eco-friendly in their tanning processes. They use chrome free and eco-friendly chemicals while also recycling and purifying their wastewater. Hopefully more tanneries adopt this process in the future!