Mending Circle & Leather Care

NEW! Our lovely volunteer Avarie will be available to help revive your leather pieces!

Learn the rewarding and approachable pastime of caring for your leather items so they look great and last you a lifetime! Drop into the Community Mending Circle from 12pm-5pm where we will provide a variety of leather care tools and supplies, help with and recommendations on DIY care & repair, advice on if an item should go to a cobbler instead of DIY, assistance with more technical repairs or maintenance, and general leather/shoe knowledge!

Please plan to stay with your items after cleaning so they can dry for ~15-20 minutes prior to conditioning/waterproofing/etc. If you need to leave Kindred for any amount of time, please take your items with you.

We will not be taking leather items after 4:00 pm

Expect to stay at the workshop for ~20 minutes for performing basic maintenance, at least 45 minutes for a standard deep clean, and longer for any damage repairs.

Folks should bring:

Non-artificial, animal-based smooth leather, suede, or nubuck items Shoes, boots, belts, or other small items in need of basic first aid and maintenance:

Cleaning, deodorizing, moisturizing & conditioning, polishing & shining, waterproofing, shoelace cleaning & plastic aglet repair, stacked leather heel care, minor scuffs/scrapes/gouges depending on item’s color and level of damage

A few cotton rags or microfiber cloths (spares will be provided if you need them)

Please leave at home:

Any item that may be hazardous to health! (any pests whatsoever or contains toxic materials, biohazards, etc.)

Patent leather items (these are better entrusted to a local cobbler because of their delicate high gloss)

Large items (Sorry, no large leather jackets, horse saddles, car upholstery, leather couches)

Extremely damaged items (large tears, severely detached soles, extensive mildew damage, etc.)

Items needing a high level of specialized care

Non-family-friendly items