suede and nubuck cleaning for Hill grips

[Learner]

Hello all:

fyi:  I had a "suede & nubuck cleaning kit" from Reebok lying around the house for years.  I had never used it, or even opened it.  We must have bought it one time when buying some shoes that had suede or nubuck leather uppers, and then forgot about it.

After shooting several hundred shots through my new Hill Big 5, I found that the beautiful wine colored suede was developing some slightly shiny and darkened areas from my hand gripping it.

So I went looking for a suede brush and found the aforementioned kit.  I followed the instructions, rubbing the bar over the soiled areas, then brushing the entire grip to raise the nap.  The results were immediate and excellent.

I could not find the same kit online, but did find an almost identical looking one made by Kiwi:

     

This is fairly inexpensive also, at $7 on Amazingzon.  If you're looking for a way to freshen up that Hill grip, I would recommend this.  One kit should last forever when using it for grips.

Best wishes,
Frank

[Deno]

Good post Frank.  My Hill WS has a gray suede grip that had grease and grime near the top.  I used soapy water but this stuff looks good.  Have to try it.  As a guy who grew up in the "White buck and Blue Suede Shoes" era it was a total disaster when someone stepped on my Blue Suedes... unless I was slow dancin' with a High School Cheerleader.    

Deno

[Learner]

Originally posted by Deno:
Good post Frank.  My Hill WS has a gray suede grip that had grease and grime near the top.  I used soapy water but this stuff looks good.  Have to try it.  As a guy who grew up in the "White buck and Blue Suede Shoes" era it was a total disaster when someone stepped on my Blue Suedes... unless I was slow dancin' with a High School Cheerleader.        

Deno

New information:

After using this kit multiple times, I'm no longer that impressed with it for normal hand sweat, skin oils and grime.

After using the cleaning bar, you have to brush it off with the brush to raise the knap.  But this ends up raising it too much, especially at the edges, resulting in a very "fuzzy" edge.  And, the suede does not seem to stay clean looking very long (probably because the skin oils are still somewhat present).

SO, I tried rubbing the grip with a clean microfiber cloth which had been rinsed in hot water.  This worked MUCH better on the skin oils and grime.  It also raised the knap the perfect amount, and keeps the grip cleaner for a longer period of time.

I did not need to use any soap using the microfiber cloth method.

Microfiber is amazing stuff!

Frank

Some oils can raise problems with glue.  Besides it is just a use mark on the leather, if it was an antique, it would be called patina.

[Learner]

Beautiful!

I do really like the patina on smooth leather.  But I don't like it on the rough side leather or suede.

On my "next" Hill (God willing) I'd like to get tbe elk leather.

Frank

I had a couple of deer hides tanned by a local want to be hillbilly that I gave a recurve and a couple of dozen arrows to. I like the tan color and the texture of deer skin.

[Deno]

pavan
My whole house growin' up was full of "patina"..who know it was worth money    

Frank

Thanks for the tip

Deno

Mine too, that arrow hole between those two upstairs windows of my house is patina from a great trick shot that my son took at a swinging quart milk bottle.  Dead center on a 5" board from 40 yards with a moving ricochet thrown in, just like Hill would have done.  More recently is the dent on my furnace the edge of my basement door, the scuff on a concrete block and the dent on the center of the back of my head.  Not one piece of glass was broken.  Who knew that I was that good of shot with a slingshot.  Now, if I would have called the shot before I made it, that would be some valuable patina.

[mahantango]

That's why I prefer smooth leather grips on my bows.

[DannyBows]

I  clean my suede grips using rubbing alcohol. I wrap it for awhile with a cloth soaked in the alcohol, then do a slow scraping with something like the back of a plastic comb. The alcohol really helps loosen the oils and dirt. When it looks pretty clean I rub it a bit with a cloth. It's quick and really makes a difference. I put some masking tape on either side of the grip so I wouldn't scratch the finish with a slip. If it's really bad I remove the grip to do it, but if you do this on occasion it shouldn't get that bad. If you just soak a small cloth with the alcohol and rub it some after every few shooting sessions it won't get dirty enough to need a complete soak and scrape. I generally only need to do that when I buy a used bow and it's gunky.