Introduction

Hello, my name is Chuck Horst. I am writing this bog to provide needed information with regards to the care and service of all types of handbags and purses. I will be documenting some of our actual cleaning and repair experiences at Margaret's as well as answering questions that may be of interest to the readers.

Let me start with some generalizations. Purses are not designed or manufactured to be cleaned. On the other hand, clothing is required by the Federal Trade Commission to list at least one acceptable means of care for the garment. This is what leads to those funny symbols on the care labels in all our clothing (follow this link for a copy of the Clothing Care Symbol Guide). There is no such requirement for garment accessories such as purses. Since there is no cleaning requirement, few if any designers take the cleaning or servicing into consideration. When you consider having a purse cleaned it really does need to be handled by a specialist.

Margaret's is most likely the nation's largest purse cleaning service provider. We have a full time staff dedicated to providing purse cleaning service including fabric, suede, leather, synthetic and combination of materials. Cleaning, redying and conditioning are all provided. In cleaning purses, each one is a new project and the cleaning method needs to be assessed individually. With the volume of purses we process we have determined the best servicing technique for each purse. When you bring yours in to one of our stores or send it in utilizing our CleanByMail service we have already determined and tested the best cleaning method.

CLOTHING CARE SYMBOL GUIDE:
http://http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/products/cln-card.pdf