Now, the best quality chamois are made with sheepskin, and the highest quality sheepskin comes out of New Zealand. They’re then tanned in cod oil, and it gives that very soft, supple texture. A good quality chamois that’s properly maintained can last you for years.
Buyer’s Guide
You want to wash it in warm soapy water. And always use carwash soap just to be safe. And what you’re doing is just removing a lot of the excess cod oil that may be leftover from the tanning process. So keep squeezing it in the soapy water. There may be a little yellow residue that’s being released from the sheepskin, that’s fine. It’s totally normal.
Squeeze it out a little bit. Rinse it in some clean water. It’s a lot easier to do it in a kitchen sink, and then gently squeeze it out. Wring it out really well. And that’s it. It’s ready to use.
Once you finish using your chamois, after every use, you want to wash it in soapy water, wring it out well. Get it as dry as you possibly can, and it’s okay if you leave a little of the soap in the chamois. It’s totally fine. Shake it out, and you want to pull it out to its original shape. Make sure to get all of the edges so that it dries properly.
Then you can drape it over anything, the workbench, the clean handle of the lawnmower, the handlebars of your motorcycle, whatever you got.
As soon as you re-wet it, it’s going to become soft and absorbent again immediately. You find that it is amazing at removing smudges and fingerprints, even light dust off of TV screens, computer monitors, windows, mirrors, even your appliances.
Now, in order to soften this, all you do is you just work it against itself, kind of crumble it up a little bit. Rub it up against itself. If it’s still a little stiff, you can take it and work it across a very smooth, clean surface. You can use the workbench. You don’t want any nails or anything jagged that’s going to stick up and rip the chamois. So you just work it back and forth until you get it as soft as you want. And that’s it.
Make sure to keep it away from direct sunlight and intense heat and there you go. And remember, when you buy a natural chamois, make sure it’s a quality chamois and take good care of it, and it should last you a long time.
I actually do not own a leather chamois. I would love to have one given how, with properly maintenance, they are often able to last for years. Its absorbent properties are the coolest aspect to me though. Thanks for including the video tutorial on how to properly use one here.
To be honest, I’ve never heard of a leather chamois before. Although, after reading the post I can see why they would be so helpful! I’m going to get myself one and see how it works. I’m going to dry my car with it like in the video.
Hello, Bruce! Thanks for the comment.