How to Care for The Row Leather, Suede and Raffia Bags
Buy one of these bags and what is absent registers fast. No logo plaque, no coated canvas, no heavy hardware taking the knocks. What is left is a lot of bare surface: calfskin wearing its grain openly, lambskin linings, suede that marks at almost nothing, and in summer a raffia weave with nothing sealing it. Almost all of the care burden of The Row bags belongs to the material itself. Easy to maintain, and unforgiving of an error.
The guide below is arranged by material, because that is how the decisions really divide. A grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle from the same season need opposite treatment, and a sisal bag asks for something else entirely.
A necessary caveat on care instructions
No public care protocol exists for these bags, because The Row does not publish one. No manual exists, no cleaning chart is published, and no brand-approved product line is sold alongside them. Treat all of it as material-appropriate general guidance, built on how calfskin, lambskin, suede, canvas and raffia behave, not on instructions issued by the label. Approach it the way a good leather specialist does: cautiously, conservatively, and biased toward doing less. Anyone presenting a definitive brand-issued cleaning routine for these bags is filling a gap rather than quoting a source. If the bag matters, consult a professional before putting anything on it.
The routine that matters more than anything on a shelf
Most damage to a good bag comes from routine handling, and the fixes are behavioural. With the Margaux and the Park Tote in particular, overfilling is the usual mistake, which is also the fastest way to distort a soft silhouette. Adjusting the shape is what the belted side gussets on the Soft Margaux are for, and are not a licence to force more in. Leather dries and fades in sunlight, and faster still on a radiator or a car dashboard. Unfinished surfaces suffer more from rain than people expect, and suede saint laurent tote bag and raffia have almost no defence against it. No product on a shelf covers as much ground as simply keeping a bag away from sun, heat and water.
- Empty the bag before storing it, receipts and anything else that might transfer colour included.
- Hanging a soft bag by its handles for long stretches will stretch the drop, so keep it off the hook.
- Pens, keys and cosmetics belong in a pouch, not loose against the lining.
- Handle pale calfskin and untreated suede only with washed hands.
Calfskin, from smooth to polished saddle
Calfskin is the spine of the line and it is the most forgiving material in it. Scuffs and shine both show on smooth calfskin, matte grained calfskin conceals them well, and polished saddle leather falls between the two. Routine care stops at a soft dry cloth after use, used with the grain and concentrated on the corners and base where dirt collects. Neutral conditioner can go on sparingly and infrequently, after a test on a hidden panel, and the emphasis sits on both of those words. An over-conditioned hide darkens unevenly, turns tacky and loses the structure you want to keep. Because pale calfskin picks up dye from dark denim, keep light bags away from indigo and never scrub a transferred mark, since scrubbing spreads it.
Nappa and lambskin, mostly on the inside
Because both are more often lining than exterior, the approach to protecting them changes. On the Margaux Shoulder the lining is lambskin, and the Bourse Clutch pairs a calfskin exterior with a nappa lining — which puts the softest material in the bag right where your keys sit. Both are exceptionally soft, both mark easily, and neither responds to being worked on. Use a dry soft cloth, lightly and rarely. Avoid conditioner altogether, because they are supple to begin with, and over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen you cannot remove. Protection here means a pouch, not a product.
Suede: where the care burden peaks
At this label suede is consistently dearer, and the care it needs rises to match. Observed 2026 market prices spell the gap out: India 10.00 is $3,850 in leather and $5,370 in suede, while Agnes 15 goes $5,000 in leather against $5,800 in suede. For the premium you get a nap that flattens, soaks up and stains faster than any finished hide. Most owners miss the key point: suede care is mechanical rather than chemical. Most routine wear is handled by a dedicated suede brush alone, worked gently in one direction so it lifts the nap and clears surface dust. Past dry brushing, it is a professional’s job.
- Brush lightly after each wear, working with the nap rather than scrubbing across it.
- A wet bag should dry naturally at room temperature, well away from radiators and hairdryers, then brush it once it has dried completely.
- Work dry marks away with a suede eraser and the lightest pressure.
- Leave anything oily, coloured or set alone — it belongs with a leather specialist.
Leather cream, conditioner, wet wipes, soap and water-based cleaners are all banned from suede — the list is short and absolute. Matted nap or a ring that shows in every light is the result. Regular brushing does more over a year than any treatment, which makes prevention rather than repair the realistic standard.
The unserviceable materials: raffia, sisal, canvas, nylon, silk and satin
Buy these knowing they are the least serviceable materials the brand uses. The sisal family, along with the woven raffia and linen totes, are not tanned surfaces, so nothing can be conditioned and no stained panel can be refinished. Canvas and nylon are hard-wearing, but solvents and hard scrubbing damage them, which pulls the weave out of shape and leaves a clean patch that reads as damage. Water and skin oils mark silk and satin pieces permanently, the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes included. Across all of them, the only home treatment worth attempting is spot-cleaning with a barely damp cloth and quick blotting. Here, prevention carries everything, so keep them out of the rain and away from sunscreen.
| Material | Regular routine | Never |
|---|---|---|
| Smooth and grained calfskin | A soft, dry cloth; neutral conditioner sparingly and rarely | Frequent conditioning; soaking a mark |
| Lambskin and nappa | Soft cloth, dry, used with light pressure | Any conditioner or cream |
| Suede surfaces | A suede brush and eraser; a professional for stains | Anything wet: soap, wet wipes, water-based cleaners, and cream too |
| Sisal, raffia, canvas and nylon | Spot-clean and blot; dry in the air | Soaking, solvents and hard scrubbing |
| Silk and satin | A professional; keep it dry | Any do-it-yourself cleaning |
Hardware, linings and the parts people forget
What needs protecting is the finish: palladium-plated hardware in a matte or brushed finish. Metal polish exists to create shine, and it will burnish a deliberately soft surface into something that no longer matches the bag. Buckles and feet want nothing more than a dry cloth, with a proper drying if they get wet so moisture does not sit in the join. The engraving on the Margaux buckles and base feet holds dust, which a soft brush lifts far better than a cloth. The cotton herringbone linings in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12 should be vacuumed out, never washed. Because early attention turns a large repair into a small one, give the stitching at the handle roots an occasional look.
Storage between wears
Storage is where good bags quietly go wrong, and the remedy is cheap. Put it back in the dust bag it arrived in, stuffed lightly so the shape holds without stretching the sides. Acid-free tissue or a soft cotton scarf works; newspaper does not, because the ink transfers. Because shape survives emptiness but not weight, keep them upright on a shelf and never stacked under others. A dark, dry, ventilated space is the aim, with no sealed plastic boxes to trap humidity against leather. Because form comes back to a bag that rests, rotating what you carry does more good than owners realise.
The point at which it goes to a specialist
Good row handbags get ruined when the line between maintenance and restoration is crossed at home, and that line is clear enough. A leather specialist should take anything involving colour loss, ink, oil, water rings on suede or a stretched handle. So does structural work, including loose stitching at a stress point or a lining torn away from its seam. Ask whether they have worked on unlogoed luxury calfskin before, since techniques built for coated canvas do not transfer. Expect a good one to test discreetly and to tell you when a mark cannot be lifted cleanly, because on untreated hide, some marks simply cannot be. The resale discount from a botched home attempt outweighs the price of one competent intervention.