Assessing the Piece Before You Touch It

A well-made leather briefcase rarely dies; it simply falls out of favour. Before you reach for the cloth, give the case a proper examination in good daylight. Run your hands over the panels and note where the leather is dry, cracked or lifting. Check the stitching along the gusset and the handle root, since these take the most strain, and press the lining to see whether it has perished or come away from the shell. Look inside a strap or beneath the flap for the original colour — the exterior will have darkened with use, and that hidden patch tells you what you are working back towards.

One important distinction: full-grain and top-grain leather will respond beautifully to restoration. Corrected-grain or bonded leather, where a plastic coating sits over a split hide, will not. If the surface peels like thin paint rather than absorbing a drop of water, no amount of patience will bring it back.

Gather your kit: a soft flannel, a glycerine-based saddle soap, a small dauber or sponge, lukewarm water, a quality leather balm or cream, edge dressing, cotton buds, a horsehair brush and a soft toothbrush for the seams. Work on an old towel, on a table, near a window.

Cleaning with Saddle Soap

Saddle soap is the right first step because it lifts grime without stripping the oils that keep leather supple. Detergents and washing-up liquid will do the opposite, and baby wipes — usually laced with alcohol and silicone — are best avoided altogether.

Dampen the dauber, work it over the soap to raise a light lather, then apply to one panel at a time in small circles. You are cleaning, not soaking. Work around the stitching with care and use the toothbrush along the seams and under the flap where grit collects. Wipe the residue away with a clean, barely damp cloth, rinsing it often, and change the water as soon as it turns grey. For heavy soiling, repeat rather than scrubbing harder.

Then leave it alone. Dry the case naturally, away from radiators, agas and direct sun, for twelve to twenty-four hours. Wet leather always looks darker; it will lighten as it dries, so resist the urge to judge the result early.

• Test any product on a hidden area first.
• Never immerse the case or flood the surface.
• Dry in moving air, not heat.

Conditioning and Feeding the Leather

Once the leather is bone dry, it is ready to be fed. For a structured briefcase, choose a cream or balm rather than a liquid oil. Neatsfoot oil and similar treatments soften the temper of the hide, which is exactly what you do not want in a case that must hold its shape. A balm feeds the fibres while leaving the leather with some body.

Warm a small amount between your fingertips and apply a thin coat across the whole surface, paying attention to creases at the handle and the folds of the gusset. Leave it for twenty minutes, then buff away the excess with the horsehair brush. Two thin coats, applied over consecutive days, will always beat one heavy application. Stop when the leather feels supple but not greasy — an over-fed case attracts dust and will mark a wool overcoat.

Scuffs, Stains and the Edges

Most marks can be dealt with quietly. Ink responds to isopropyl alcohol applied on a cotton bud, sparingly and never in a flood. Water rings usually soften if you dampen the whole panel evenly and let it dry flat. Mould, common in a loft or garage, lifts with a wipe of diluted white vinegar — one part vinegar to three parts water — followed by a thorough airing in a dry room.

Scuffs that are simply pigment loss rather than damage take a whisper of cream polish in a matching shade. Apply it with a fingertip, let it settle, then buff. The edges of a briefcase, where the leather is cut and sealed, are the first thing to look tired. Re-colour them with a beeswax-based edge wax or a flexible edge paint, applied in thin layers with a small brush, drying between coats.

Replacing Worn Hardware

Solid brass fittings can usually be saved. Remove verdigris with a paste of lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda, or a gentle metal polish, then rinse and dry. If the original lacquer has worn patchy, either strip it completely or leave the patina alone — half-lacquered brass always looks worse than honest age.

Where metal is cracked, bent or missing, replacement is straightforward. Buckles, D-rings, rivets and press studs are widely available in solid brass. A zip is a job for a saddler or cobbler, who can match the gauge and colour and re-stitch by hand using waxed linen thread. Ask specifically for a saddle stitch, worked with two needles, which is considerably stronger than a machine lockstitch. If the case is genuinely collectible, keep the original hardware and store it with the piece.

Keeping It in Service

Restoration is not the end of the story. Wipe the case with a dry cloth each week, condition it twice a year, and give it a feed after it has been caught in heavy rain. Rotate it with another bag so the leather has time to recover. Store it in a cotton dust bag rather than plastic, stuffed with acid-free tissue or a rolled jumper to hold the shape, and keep it out of damp cellars, hot lofts and prolonged sunlight.

A good briefcase will outlast several owners if it is treated as a piece of equipment rather than an accessory. A few hours of work, spread over a weekend, is all it takes to put a handsome old case back into daily use — and it will only improve from there.