Maintaining The Row Leather, Suede and Raffia Bags the Right Way

What you notice first about one of these bags is what it does not have. There is no logo plaque in the way, no coated canvas to wipe down, no bulky hardware soaking up the bumps. The trade is exposed surface: calfskin showing its grain, lambskin linings, suede that marks at the smallest provocation, and a summer raffia weave with no seal on it. Care for The Row bags rests almost wholly on the material rather than on any finish laid over it. The result is a bag that is simple to maintain and merciless when you get it wrong.

The organising principle is material, because that is how the decisions actually break down. Opposite treatment goes to a grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle from the same season, while a sisal bag is different again.

Start here: a caveat about care instructions

The Row publishes no public care protocol for its bags. You will find no manual, no published cleaning chart and no brand-approved product line sold with them. What follows is accordingly 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: 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.

Why habits outrank products

Routine handling causes most damage to a good bag, which makes the fixes 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 is dried and faded by sun, with radiators and car dashboards accelerating both. Rain is harder on unfinished surfaces than people assume, and neither suede nor raffia has much 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 out before it goes into storage, receipts included, along with anything that shop the collection can transfer colour.
• Leave a soft bag hanging by its handles and the drop stretches, so keep it off the hook.
• Pens, keys and cosmetics belong in a pouch, not loose against the lining.
• Pale calfskin and untreated suede want clean hands.

Calfskin in its four forms: smooth, grained, saddle and polished

The most forgiving material in the line is also its backbone. Smooth calfskin reveals scuffs and shine, matte grained calfskin conceals them well, and polished saddle leather sits between the two. Routine care stops at a soft dry cloth after use, worked with the grain, with 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. An over-conditioned hide darkens unevenly, turns tacky and loses the structure you want to keep. Dark denim also transfers dye onto pale calfskin, so keep light-coloured bags away from indigo, and never scrub a transferred mark, because scrubbing only spreads it.

Inside jobs: nappa and lambskin

Because both are more often lining than exterior, protecting them works differently. The Margaux Shoulder is lined in lambskin and the Bourse Clutch puts a nappa lining inside a calfskin exterior, so the softest material in the bag is the one your keys sit against. Exceptional softness, easy marking, and no tolerance for being worked on describe both. A soft dry cloth, applied lightly and rarely, is the whole treatment. Avoid conditioner altogether, because they are supple to begin with, and over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen you cannot remove. The protection that works is a pouch inside the bag, never something rubbed onto it.

Suede: where the care burden peaks

Suede carries a consistent premium at this label and earns a matching increase in care. 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. What the premium buys is a nap that flattens, absorbs and stains more readily than any finished hide. The point most owners miss is simple: suede care is mechanical rather than chemical. A dedicated suede brush, worked gently in a single direction, raises the nap and clears surface dust, and which alone handles most routine wear. Past dry brushing, it is a professional’s job.

1. Brush lightly after each wear, working with the nap rather than scrubbing across it.
2. Dry a wet bag naturally at room temperature, clear of radiators and hairdryers, and brush only when it is fully dry.
3. Take dry marks off with a suede eraser, using minimal pressure.
4. 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. Every one of them mats the nap or leaves a ring visible in every light. Over a year, regular brushing beats any treatment, which makes the realistic standard prevention rather than repair.

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 there is nothing to condition, and no way to refinish a stained panel. Solvents and hard scrubbing distort the weave of canvas and nylon and leave a clean patch that reads as damage, despite how well both wear. Silk and satin pieces — the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes among them — mark permanently from water and skin oils. Across all of them, the only home treatment worth attempting is spot-cleaning with a barely damp cloth and quick blotting. Prevention carries the entire load here, so keep them dry and well away from sunscreen.

Surface	Routine care	Avoid entirely
Calfskin in grained and smooth form	Soft dry cloth; neutral conditioner, sparingly and rarely	Over-frequent conditioning; soaking a stain through
Nappa and lambskin	Soft cloth, dry, and only light pressure	Anything creamy or conditioning
Suede surfaces	A suede brush and eraser; a professional for stains	Cream, soap, wet wipes, water-based cleaners
Raffia, sisal, canvas, nylon	Spot-clean and blot; air dry	Dunking, solvents, or scrubbing hard
Satin and silk	Professional care only, and keep dry	Home cleaning of any kind

Hardware and linings, the overlooked parts

The finish is what you are protecting: the hardware is palladium-plated with a matte or brushed surface. Metal polish is made for shine and will burnish a deliberately soft surface into something that no longer matches the bag. Buckles and feet want nothing more than a dry cloth, and drying whenever they get wet, so moisture never sits in the join. The engraving on the Margaux buckles and base feet holds dust, and a soft brush clears it better than a cloth. Cotton herringbone linings, of the sort used in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12, want vacuuming rather than washing. Inspect the stitching at the handle roots from time to time, because catching a loose thread early costs a small repair instead of a large one.

How to store them between wears

Storage is where good bags quietly go wrong, and the fix is cheap. The dust bag it came with is the right home, lightly stuffed so the shape holds without stretching the sides. Acid-free tissue works, as does a soft cotton scarf; newspaper will not do, as the ink transfers. Store bags upright on a shelf rather than stacked under others, since these silhouettes keep their shape empty and lose it under weight. Keep the storage space dark, dry and ventilated, and avoid sealed plastic boxes, since they trap humidity against leather. Because form comes back to a bag that rests, rotating what you carry does more good than owners realise.

When to hand the bag to a professional

Maintenance and restoration are divided by a clear line, and crossing it at home is how good row handbags end up 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, whether that is 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 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 marks simply cannot be. A botched attempt at home leaves a resale discount larger than the cost of one competent intervention.