Sheepskin footwear takes more wear than any rug in the house. Sweat on the inside, salt and rain on the outside, and it all lands on one small skin. A careful hand clean, done twice a season, keeps boots and slippers soft.
Can you wash sheepskin boots and slippers?
Yes, but by hand and cold. Sheepskin footwear washes in cold water with a mild liquid detergent, worked through by hand and rinsed cold. Hot water, tumble drying and harsh detergent shrink the leather backing and harden it for good. Machine washing is only safe for New Zealand skins.
The part people forget is that sheepskin is leather with the hair still attached. You are washing two materials at once. The hair can take a lot; the leather side cannot take heat, wringing or long soaking. Keep the water cold, keep the contact time short, and the skin stays supple.
What should you use to clean sheepskin footwear?
Use cold water, a mild liquid detergent made for delicates, a soft cloth or sponge, and a suede brush for the outside of boots. Skip bleach, enzyme detergents, powder, vinegar, alcohol and anything sold as a grease remover. Those strip the oils out of the leather backing.
- Yes: cold water, mild liquid detergent, soft sponge, clean cotton towels, suede brush, wire pet slicker brush, vacuum on its lowest setting.
- No: hot water, bleach, stain removers, powder detergent, washing soda, hair dryers, radiators, tumble dryers, direct sun.
A dedicated sheepskin detergent is worth buying if you wear the same pair every winter. Most of what is on the shelf is formulated for cotton.
How do you clean sheepskin slippers step by step?
Brush off dry dirt, then dampen the hair with cold water and a few drops of mild liquid detergent. Work it in gently with your fingers, without scrubbing. Rinse with clean cold water until no suds remain, press the water out in a towel, and dry flat away from heat.
Do the inside and the outside as two separate passes rather than dunking the whole slipper. The less water the leather backing absorbs, the faster it dries and the less it stiffens. If only the footbed is dirty, clean only the footbed. The same cold water logic applies to rugs, which we cover in how to clean a sheepskin rug.
How do you get salt stains off sheepskin boots?
Let the salt dry completely, brush the crust off, then wipe the mark with a cloth dipped in cold water and a little mild detergent. Work from the outside of the ring inward and blend past its edge so the panel dries evenly. Stuff the boot and dry it slowly.
Treating salt while it is still wet spreads it deeper into the suede. Wait, brush, then clean. Do the whole panel rather than the spot alone, because a cleaned patch surrounded by dirty suede shows more than the salt did.
How do you remove water marks from sheepskin boots?
Water marks are tide lines left when a wet patch dries faster than the leather around it. Dampen the whole panel evenly with cold water, not just the stain, so there is no hard edge left to dry against. Blot with a towel, then dry slowly at room temperature.
Slow, even drying is the whole trick. Anything that dries one area faster than the rest, a vent, a radiator, a sunny windowsill, puts the tide line straight back.
How do you get the smell out of sheepskin slippers?
Sprinkle baking soda inside, leave it overnight, then shake it out and vacuum on the lowest setting. Odor comes from a footbed that stayed damp rather than from the hide, so airing the pair for a full day between wears usually stops it coming back.
If the smell survives two rounds of baking soda, the slippers need a proper hand clean rather than a deodorizer. Do not spray perfume or fabric refresher into them. Alcohol based sprays dry the leather out and lock the odor in underneath.
How do you dry sheepskin boots so they keep their shape?
Stuff them with white paper towel or a clean cotton towel to hold the shape, then stand them upright at room temperature, away from sun, radiators and vents. Replace the stuffing once it is soaked. Full drying takes 24 to 48 hours, and direct heat is what cracks leather.
Use white or undyed stuffing. Newspaper and colored paper transfer ink into damp hair, and that mark does not wash out. Slippers dry the same way, laid flat on a rack with air moving underneath them.
How do you fluff sheepskin back up after cleaning?
Wait until the skin is completely dry, then work the hair with your fingers and finish with a wire pet slicker brush on long hair or short hair. Brush in one direction, in small sections. Curly sheepskin should only be shaken and vacuumed on the lowest setting, never brushed.
Brushing while the skin is still damp pulls hair out at the root. Once it is dry, matted hair separates easily and comes back close to its original loft. Full care notes for every skin type we sell are on the product care page.
Can sheepskin slippers go in the washing machine?
Only New Zealand sheepskin takes a machine cycle, and only on delicate at 86F (30C) or below with a mild liquid detergent. Every other skin should be washed by hand. Whatever the origin, never tumble dry sheepskin footwear, because the heat shrinks the backing and the fit is gone.
Check the origin before you assume. Hand wash is the default for sheepskin footwear, and a single hot cycle is enough to shrink a slipper a full size and leave the leather stiff.
How often should you clean sheepskin slippers?
A full wash twice a season is enough for most people. Between washes, shake them out weekly, vacuum the inside on the lowest setting, and spot clean marks the day they happen. Washing more often than that wears the hair down faster than the walking around does.
Daily wear compresses the footbed more than it dirties it. Lifting the flattened hair with your fingers every week or two does more for how they look and feel than another wash would.
How do you protect sheepskin boots from the start?
Treat new boots with a water and stain repellent made for suede or sheepskin before the first wear, and repeat it every few weeks through the wet months. Rotate two pairs so each one dries fully between wears. Keep dyed skins out of direct sun, since UV fades color permanently.
Undyed natural skins tolerate a bright room without trouble. Dyed ones do not, so store them in a closet rather than by a window over the summer.
Our sheepskin slippers are real skin, hand wash only, and built to be worn every day of a cold season. Free US shipping over $150, and you have 100 days from delivery to return them under our refund policy.
