How Long Does It Take for Leather to Dry?

At room temperature, wet leather usually takes from about half a day to three days to dry, according to leather-goods makers' estimates. How long yours takes depends on the tannage, the thickness, how much water it took on, and the humidity, temperature and airflow in the room. None of these estimates comes from a published test, so judge by feel rather than by the clock. Never speed things up with a hair dryer, a radiator or a clothes dryer.

This page is part of our leather care and weather guide.

Drying-time estimates side by side

Every figure here comes from a company that sells leather goods, and none of them describes how it was measured. The spread is wide, which is why the feel test below matters more than any single number.

How to dry leather faster without heat

Museum emergency guides and leather makers agree on methods that speed up drying without harming the leather:

1. Blot first. Press off surface water with a clean cloth.
2. Absorb from inside. Stuff bags with a towel or newspaper, and put shoe trees in shoes. Conservators use uninked newsprint, and they swap out the padding once it is soaked.
3. Keep the air moving. A fan helps, as long as it isn't pointed straight at the leather. Raise the item so air reaches every side.
4. Lower the humidity. The Minnesota Historical Society's salvage plan uses a dehumidifier to bring the room slowly toward about 50% relative humidity.
5. Keep the shape. Hang a jacket on a wide, padded hanger. Leather that should stay soft may need gentle flexing while it dries.

What not to do: heat. A bootmaker warns that drying too fast can leave leather stiff, shrunken or cracked, and that excess heat can weaken adhesives. For step-by-step drying of shoes and boots, see hosob.com.

In this short clip, David from the shoemaker Barker Shoes warns against putting wet shoes on a radiator and shows stuffing them with tissue, swapping in fresh tissue after a day. He talks about letting them dry over about a week, which is longer than the makers’ estimates in the table above, so judge by feel rather than by the clock.

Start the same day

Don't leave wet leather in a bag or a closet overnight. Museum guides set a deadline: the National Park Service says to treat wet tanned leather within 24 hours, while the Minnesota Historical Society says to begin drying within 48 hours. The two guides disagree, so take the shorter window. At 90 to 100% humidity, mold can appear in as little as 2 days. For what water itself does to leather, see what water does to leather.

How to tell leather is dry

According to one maker's guide, dry leather has these signs:

• It feels dry, not cool or damp, to the touch.
• It still bends.
• Pressing it doesn't leave a mark or feel spongy.

If you're not sure, give it more time. Only put it away once it's fully dry. If it feels stiff afterward, read up on choosing a leather conditioner, where the sources disagree on whether to condition at all. Before the next storm, check whether to wear leather in the rain. For everyday habits, see caring for a leather coat.

Thicker leather takes longer to dry. When you buy, ask what you're getting: Leather Collection coats, for example, come in cowhide, sheepskin or goatskin.

FAQ

Does leather shrink as it dries?

It can if you dry it too fast. One bootmaker warns that rushed drying can shrink leather, crack it or pull it out of shape. We found no reliable figure for how much it shrinks, so dry it slowly at room temperature.