Guide to Caring for Your Cowhide and Leather Handbags

Guide to Caring for Your Cowhide and Leather Handbags

When you make a purchase with FURMOO, we carefully wrap your order in tissue paper and enclose a care card inside. This is to ensure that your item is safe in its journey to you and that once you have it, you understand how to care for the different types of animal hides.

FURMOO handbags are designed with quality and style in mind. Within our range we use high quality animal hides ranging from cowhide, goathide, sheepskin and springbok. All of our hides are sourced as a by-product of the meat and dairy industry, which reduces the wastage that would otherwise happen. With a little bit of love and care, your FURMOO handbag will last for years, if not a lifetime!

So, what’s the best way to care for your cowhide and leather hides? Below we’ve got a helpful guide for maintaining your FURMOO at home! 


Cowhide is commonly used in our range because of its long lasting durability and sleek appearance. Over time, hair on the hide may appear thinner and shorter. This is a natural progression of a hide and shouldn’t be considered an imperfection- however there are ways to reduce excessive friction from speeding up this process. 


  • For our bags with cowhide present on both sides, we advise switching up the side you wear your bag! By alternating the side wearing against the body, you’ll reduce excessive friction on the hide which may cause premature shedding.

  • When not in use, cowhide should be stored in a clean and dry area away from moisture and dust. We recommend storing these items in one of our FURMOO dust bags! 

  • To maintain the shape of your bag when in storage you can pack the inside with dry newspaper or cloth.

  • To remove dirt from the hide you may use a wire comb to gently brush the hair in its natural growth direction. 

  • If you need to spot clean your cowhide, take a damp cloth and gently smooth the fur in its natural direction of growth. You can repeat this process until the hide is clean but be sure to remove excess water from the cloth before doing so. 

Leather styles require a little less work and often they get better with age! Each crease over time adds to the character of the bag, making them truly unique. To care for your leather styles we recommend:

  • Using a soft, damp cloth to spot clean any marks or scuffs. Our smooth leather styles can be gently cleaned with the assistance of an animal-friendly soap.

  • To maintain the integrity of the leather as much as possible and get the most life out of it, we recommend every six months using a quality leather cleaner and conditioner.

  • We recommend patch testing any soaps or conditioners on a discrete section of the bag first to ensure that the product is compatible with the leather. 

For our other styles that are dyed or printed hides there’s a couple of things that we suggest to maintain their unique qualities!


  • For coloured hides such as our springbok range, making sure that your bag isn’t exposed to excessive amounts of sunlight will help to keep the hide as bright as possible. 

  • Our printed hides, although colour fast, are best protected from the rain to maintain the quality of the print. 


For general day-to-day maintenance, a quick dust with a dry cloth- a couple of times a week will help lessen dirt building up. This also means that you’re giving the hide a once over to assess for any wear or marks that should be dealt with. 


If you have any questions about the type of hide your purchasing we’re here to help. Simply email us with your query and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can! In the meantime if you already own a FURMOO you can rest easy knowing you have all the steps to get the most out of your purchase.