Looking After The Row Leather, Suede and Raffia Bags
Buy one of these bags and you quickly notice what is missing. Nothing to protect: no logo plaque, no coated canvas to wipe down, no heavy hardware taking the knocks. What you get in exchange is exposed surface: calfskin that shows its grain, lambskin linings, suede that marks if you look at it wrongly, 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 actually break down. The same season can give you a grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle that need opposite treatment, while a sisal bag is different again.
Start here: a caveat about care instructions
Nothing resembling a public care protocol has been issued, because The Row does not publish one. There is neither a manual nor a published cleaning chart, and no brand-approved products are sold with them. Everything below is therefore material-appropriate general guidance, taken from the behaviour of calfskin, lambskin, suede, canvas and raffia rather than from instructions handed down by the brand. Approach it the way a good leather specialist does: cautious, conservative and biased toward doing less. No definitive brand-issued cleaning routine exists for these bags, so anyone who presents one is filling a gap rather than quoting a source. Ask a professional before applying anything at all to a piece you care about.
Behaviour beats product, every time
Everyday handling is where most damage to a https://row-fashion.com/top-handle/ good bag starts, so the fixes are behavioural. Overfilling distorts a soft silhouette faster than anything else, and owners make it most often with the Margaux and the Park Tote. The belted side gussets on the Soft Margaux are there to let you adjust the shape, not so you can force more into it. Leather dries and fades in sunlight, with radiators and car dashboards accelerating both. Unfinished surfaces suffer more from rain than people expect, and suede 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.
- Avoid hanging a soft bag by its handles for any length of time, because the drop will stretch.
- Pens, keys and cosmetics belong in a pouch, not loose against the lining.
- Pale calfskin and untreated suede want clean hands.
Smooth, grained, saddle and polished calfskin
The backbone of the line, calfskin, is also the most forgiving material in it. Scuffs and shine show on smooth calfskin and hide well on matte grained calfskin, with polished saddle leather between the two. Routine care is a buff with a soft dry cloth after use, working with the grain and paying attention to the corners and base where dirt collects. Neutral conditioner is fine sparingly and infrequently, and both words matter, provided you test it on a hidden panel first. Over-conditioning darkens hide unevenly, leaves a tacky surface and softens structure you want to keep. Because pale calfskin picks up dye from dark denim, light bags belong away from indigo, and a transferred mark should never be scrubbed, because scrubbing spreads it.
Nappa and lambskin: linings more than exteriors
Nappa and lambskin show up more as linings than exteriors, which changes the way you protect them. Lambskin lines the Margaux Shoulder; the Bourse Clutch has a calfskin exterior and a nappa lining — which puts the softest material in the bag right where your keys sit. Both mark easily, both are exceptionally soft, and neither rewards any attempt to work on it. A soft dry cloth, applied lightly and rarely, is the whole treatment. Skip conditioner entirely, because they are supple to begin with, and over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen you cannot remove. Real protection is a pouch inside the bag, not a product applied to it.
Suede, the most demanding material in the line
Suede carries a consistent premium at this label and comes with a matching increase in care. The gap is plain in observed 2026 market prices: India 10.00 sits at $3,850 in leather against $5,370 in suede, and Agnes 15 runs $5,000 in leather against $5,800 in suede. The nap is what you are paying for, and it flattens, absorbs and stains more readily than any finished hide. Most owners miss the key point: suede is cared for mechanically, not chemically. A dedicated suede brush, worked gently in a single direction, raises the nap and clears surface dust, and and that on its own covers most routine wear. Anything wetter than that belongs to a professional.
- Brush lightly after each wear, going with the nap instead of scrubbing against it.
- Allow a wet bag to dry naturally at room temperature, away from radiators and hairdryers, then brush the nap back up once it is fully dry.
- A suede eraser lifts dry marks, applied with minimal pressure.
- Leave anything oily, coloured or set alone — send it to a leather specialist.
The list of what must never go on suede is short and absolute: no leather cream, no conditioner, no wet wipes, no soap and no water-based cleaner. What you get is a matted nap, or a ring that shows in every light. Prevention rather than repair is the realistic standard here, because regular brushing does more over a year than any treatment.
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 and the woven raffia and linen totes are not tanned surfaces, so there is nothing to condition, and no way to refinish a stained panel. Hard scrubbing and solvents will distort the weave and leave a clean patch that reads as damage, even though both wear well otherwise. On silk and satin, water and skin oils leave permanent marks, including the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes. For all of these, spot-cleaning with a barely damp cloth and quick blotting is the only home treatment worth trying. Because prevention carries the entire load here, rain and sunscreen are the two things to avoid completely.
| Surface | Regular routine | Never |
|---|---|---|
| Calfskin in grained and smooth form | Buff with a soft dry cloth; neutral conditioner used sparingly and rarely | Conditioning too often; soaking a stain |
| Nappa and lambskin | Soft cloth, dry, light pressure | Any conditioner or cream |
| Suede nap | Suede brush and eraser; a professional for stains | Cream and soap, wet wipes, any water-based cleaner |
| Raffia and sisal, canvas and nylon | Spot-clean and blot; air-dry | Dunking, solvents, or scrubbing hard |
| The silk and satin pieces | Professional care; keep dry | Home cleaning of any kind |
Hardware, linings and the bits 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. A dry cloth on the buckles and feet is enough, with a proper drying if they get wet so moisture does not sit in the join. The Margaux has engraved buckles and base feet, and dust settles into those recesses, and a soft brush clears it better than a cloth. Vacuum rather than wash the cotton herringbone linings used in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12. Inspect the stitching at the handle roots from time to time, because spotting a loose thread early turns a large repair into a small one.
Storing a bag between wears
Quiet deterioration is a storage problem, and the fix is cheap. Store it in its own dust bag, lightly stuffed so the shape holds without stretching the sides. Either acid-free tissue or a soft cotton scarf will do the job, though never newspaper, whose ink transfers. Store bags upright on a shelf rather than stacked under others, since these silhouettes hold their shape when empty and lose it under weight. Dark, dry and ventilated is what the space needs, and no sealed plastic boxes, which trap humidity against leather. Rotating what you carry counts for more than owners expect, because a resting bag recovers its form.
When to hand the bag to a professional
Maintenance and restoration are divided by a clear line, and crossing that line at home is precisely how good row handbags get ruined. A leather specialist should take anything involving colour loss, ink, oil, water rings on suede or a stretched handle. Structural work is the same, from loose stitching at a stress point to a lining torn away from its seam. Check that the specialist has handled unlogoed luxury calfskin, since what works on coated canvas does not transfer. A good one will test discreetly and tell you when a mark cannot be lifted cleanly, because on untreated hide some cannot. One competent intervention costs less than the resale discount left by a botched attempt at home.