Longetivity of your leather straps & strap care

[DemonSlayer]

Having been an only-steel watch guy, I recently purchased my first 'proper' strap for my 111h, it's a gen croc from Panatime. Insane quality for the price I must say. My knowledge on leather/exotic straps and strap care is next to nothing, so I have a couple of questions and was hoping fellow members can help me out a little

1)How long do your leather/exotic straps usually last? I read an article which said that no matter how well you take care of your straps, they will need to be replaced within a year or so with regular use. Also a deployant buckle will significantly increase life in a leather straps because it reduces the tugging and pulling when taking off a watch and putting it back on.

2)Strap hygiene - how do you clean your straps? Of course after regular wear the straps will subject to all kinds of nasty things like perspiration, water (rain) and so forth. Can fellow members give me any tips on how to increase the longetivity of my strap and to keep it clean?

Thanks.

[StormTooper4]

DS

Firstly welcome 2 the pam world

Secondly what took you so long?

Good questions

Length of life depends on too many factors to put a figure on it. But even if I used my Greg Stevens strap everyday I would expect to last well over a year. So knock that idea on the head straight away. Saying that I've had some straps that have not seen the month out. But the leather was thin. A deployant on your Croc could be a good idea but most Pam folk prefer a buckle. As for cleaning there are plenty of leather cleaning products I'm sure. I've even used shoe polish on a Vintage MF 1942 and it comes up a treat. As I'm sure you're now aware Pams don't come in 1's and we are always searching for the perfect strap buckle combo.

Best of luck. And look forward to hearing some of the answers you get

ST

[Roland]

Leather by itself lasts indefinitely. Its enemies are brittleness and wrong pH value. Leather needs a regular supply of oils to stay soft. This is not a problem with watch straps, since skin is oily and the leather gets it from there. pH value might be more of a problem. Don't get the strap wet when you wash your hands, don't let soap solution get into it.

Leather is a porous material. The middle layers in a strap can be any material, even cardboard for cheap straps. All these will soak up sweat and then bateria etc. will grow in the strap and start eating up all organic matter they find. This produces the bad smell. Some of these critters create an acidic environment, which is bad for the leather.

This said, the enemy to longevity is sweat. There is a simple solution:

Don't wear leather straps when you sweat.

No leather straps in summer. Summer is the time for metal bracelets and rubber bands.

As a precaution, oil a strap before first use. This will minimize its tendency to soak up sweat. I use Lexol leather conditioner.

You can clean straps, but with special leather soap that regulates the pH. After it is thoroughly dry, use leather conditioner. Cleaning will take care of dirt on the surface; once a strap is really smelly there is no way of cleaning it, at least I was never successful.

[DemonSlayer]

Thanks for the answers so far guys. Interesting info, I had a good idea that sweat is one of the main enemies to leather straps.

I am assuming that you apply the leather conditioners on the underside of the strap? There are also products out there which when applied to the exposed part of the strap add shine/color to it, is that correct?