One of our most important design principles is that the bag must be easily taken care of and repairable if necessary. One bag should be usable by one or series of users for decades or even lifetimes.

At the end of its life the material of the bag must be reusable to the maximum. The leather of a well cared bag we can use later to make second round of smaller products. 

Important daily tips:

1. Avoid long term direct & intensive sunlight, as it may affect the colour of your bag. Lighter tones become darker. Bright colours become duller.

2. Natural leather that has not been heavily treated is vulnerable to high temperature. It alters the shape and structure of leather. Do not use hot water for cleaning. Let your bag air dry at room temperature when wet. Avoid hot radiators.

3. Natural leather and hand sanitizer don’t go together. It can ruin the leather if it spills. Keep the hand sanitizer separately, either in the pocket of the bag, or even in a minigrip.

Regular care

Normally your bag is fine with regular care routines and does not need thorough cleaning too often. Wipe your bag with slightly damp cloth and apply leather cream for moisturising. Use only a small amount of cream at a time and apply it in circular movement to avoid stains. Do this every couple of months if your bag is in heavy use.

We recommend thorough cleaning and care once a year. It needs patience and proper tools, but you can easily do it at home. However, our crafters are glad to do it for you. You can find detailed information about our care service below.

Basic guidelines for cleaning your bag at home:

1. Wipe off any stains and light grease with a damp cloth. Do not apply high pressure on a stain as it might make it bigger.

2. You may use a special leather soap or cleaning agent. For removing stains use a damp sponge with lukewarm water. Avoid hot water. Use little water and squeeze out excess water or cleaning agent before washing. Ideally just use the foam on the sponge. Move in circles and cover the whole surface. This avoids stains and changes in colour. Wipe the foam off with a dry cloth.

3. After cleaning use a sponge to apply the care cream. Move in circles and cover the whole surface. This avoids stains and changes in colour. Eventually polish the surface with a clean cloth.

To make it easier for you to care for your bag at home, we have a variety of care products available. As all leathers react a bit differently it is best to first test the care product on a less visible part of the bag.

Care service

In addition to cleaning and applying moisturising and protective cream, we also replace any details that are worn out or broken and we have our special tricks to pamper the overall look of the bag.

We recommend bringing the bag for aftercare after 6-12 months of use. Depending on the state of the bag, we can then suggest how often to bring your bag back for maintenance. Usually the interval is 6-24 months depending on the bag’s colour (lighter leather needs cleaning more often), how heavily it’s used and how many things you carry along with it.

Aftercare fee:
Small bags – 20 EUR
Medium and big bags – 30 EUR
Custom repair – 50 EUR

Write to us to schedule a time: design@stellasoomlais.com
We offer care service only for Stella Soomlais bags.

Round 2

It is important for us to keep the material of our bags in use as long as possible. To make it easier for you to return the bags you have used up (after long and loving care, of course), we offer a credit for your next purchase. The credit amount depends on the state of the bag. So it pays to take good care of your bag.

Literally :)