How to Care for Your Vegan Leather Baby Backpack

You've taken the plunge and invested in a beautiful new vegan leather baby backpack. If you're expecting your first little one (congratulations by the way!), or they have older brothers and sisters who have shown you the ropes, we're sure you realise that babies need accessories wherever they go, and they also create mess!

So, how can you keep your new baby bag clean and beautiful for years to come?

Don't believe the people that tell you to treat vegan leather just like regular leather—they are very different substances. Traditional leather creams may affect the surface differently and may not help at all.

So, what's a busy Mumma to do? Luckily, your new M&B. baby bag is easy to care for if you follow a few simple guidelines.

Read on to learn how to care for your faux leather baby bag. 

Care For Your Baby Backpack Like the Luxury Item it Is

First, remember that your new baby backpack is an investment. With vegan leather, just like regular leather or any other luxury good, you get what you pay for. Interestingly, vegan leathers have become so luxurious that even the highest-end luxury cars now use vegan leathers for their interiors.

Your new bag is made with premium vegan leather and other durable, stylish materials. It is carefully crafted to the highest standards. That means that, with a little bit of care and maintenance, it will stay looking beautiful and provide practical use for years to come.

Keep Your Bag Organised

As every Mumma knows, messes are unavoidable with little ones. That said, you can prevent all sorts of spills and damage to your faux leather baby backpack by keeping it organised.

This can seem next to impossible with the long list of necessities for your baby bag. Your M&B. bag has numerous compartments to take advantage of, making it easy to find what you need quickly without risking more spills.

Be sure and also utilise the accessories kit that comes with your M&B. baby bag. The zip purse and bottle warmer are a great way to protect and separate items that could easily spill.

Wet bags are also an excellent investment as are reusable zip lock bags. However, if you forget these or they fail, you can quickly clean up on the go with a few baby wipes or with a damp cloth with mild detergent.

Another good tip is to clean out your bag regularly. Ensure to remove forgotten and unwanted items, especially food or anything else that could soil the lining.

Cleaning The Exterior of Your Bag

You may be wondering—if you can't use traditional leather creams, what can you use to clean the vegan leather exterior?

The good news is that it doesn't require any specialty products at all. Mild dish soap or detergent, warm water, and a soft cloth will easily clean most marks and dirt.

Just mix a bit of mild soap with warm water, dip a soft cloth in it (microfibre cloths are excellent!) and gently wash the mark by hand. Non-scented antibacterial kitchen wipes or baby wipes also work wonders!

Mix a 50/50 blend of white vinegar and water for the toughest stains, and moisten a cloth to wipe the area. Blot dry with an unused part of the cloth.

Be sure never to submerge your faux leather baby bag in water, and always let your bag dry thoroughly before storing it or refilling it with your baby's essentials. Otherwise, you risk mould and mildew growth.

Cleaning Your Vegan Leather Baby Backpack on the Inside

No matter how well you organise your bag, spills and messes are inevitable, especially on the inside. Clean and re-organise your bag regularly to make sure there isn't anything forgotten lurking in a corner—there's nothing worse than a forgotten yogurt pouch that's exploded!

When you have a spill or mess to tackle, the interior of your bag is lined with wipeable and stain-resistant nylon. Just clean it as you do the outside, with mild soap and warm water-soaked cloth.

Or, for a mess on the go, simply wipe it down with a wet wipe and check you've cleaned it properly once you're home again.

What To Avoid

Our baby bags are made with premium materials but are not safe for machine washing or the dryer. Soaking and submerging these materials may promote premature splitting and peeling, as will extreme heat.

In saying this, we also don't recommend leaving your faux leather products in a hot car for extended periods. But, we also can't imagine you not wanting your beautiful bag with you everywhere you go!

Back to the washing machine, even a gentle cold-water cycle involves agitation while your baby bag is soaking wet. This can cause the hardware, clips, zippers and d-rings to rub against the swollen vegan leather or potentially get caught in the washing machine.

Regularly wiping the inside and outside with a mild detergent and water should do the trick and avoid that feeling like you need to do a deep machine wash clean.

Your accessories, however, are a bit of a different story. While you can clean both your baby change mat and insulated bottle warmer just like the rest of your bag, it's also okay to machine wash them occasionally on a gentle cycle, then line dry.

Additional Tips and Tricks

Like your favourite handbag, your faux leather baby bag will last much longer if you swap it out occasionally. This may be tricky, as you'll quickly rely on it as your everyday baby bag.

If you're home for a day with you little one, that is an excellent opportunity to unload your bag fully. Give all your items a careful cleaning, and give your bag a bit of a hiatus at the same time.

We might even be as cheeky to say you need two luxurious baby bags to swap between. Maybe one in Caramel and one in Black—just saying!

Avoid extended periods of direct sunlight if possible for both your vegan and regular leather items. Don't stress if you're wearing your baby backpack while you're enjoying a stroll on a summers day, but do avoid leaving it outside under the midday sun to dry after cleaning.

Over time, the sun can crack or damage faux leather. If you need to leave it in your car, make sure to stow it in the boot or under a seat.

Finally, if you're storing the bag for a day or have swapped it out temporarily, be sure and protect it from dust and grime. You can use a pillowcase or slipcover to keep it clean. Be sure and store it upright and avoid hanging it by the backpack straps for extended periods.

Keep Your Vegan Leather Baby Bag Looking Sharp

Buying a M&B. baby bag is an investment in a stylish, high-quality bag that will keep you organised and on the go. If you follow these simple guidelines, your new vegan leather baby backpack should stay clean and look sharp for many years to come.

Check out our Baby Genius articles for more tips and tricks on making the most of your new M&B bag!