Caring for your kit
Looked after properly, your kit should last you a long time. The leather will wear, mark and age over time, just like a cherished wallet or pair of shoes - it’s all part of the character that leather takes on over the years and what marks out your bit of kit as your own. A little plain, uncoloured wax polish lightly applied with a clean cloth will help protect the leather from damp grass or spilt wine. The leather can also develop a white bloom over time as the waxes rise to the surface: simply melt this with a hair drier.
While our canvas is water resistant, not even the most expensive gore-tex is ever waterproof. Spills should be blotted off as soon as possible with anything clean to hand - paper napkin, tea towel etc. Red wine, tea, coffee etc may stain the canvas just as it will stain your carpet, so the sooner you can wipe up spills the better. Mud and grass scuffs, and food smears can be wiped off the canvas with a damp cloth. Vigorous scrubbing - especially with a brush - will fray the weave and be very noticeable so should be avoided. Do not machine wash or dry clean. The cotton coolbag liners are machine washable.
The linings of our insulated products are made from 19 layers of different materials, so although our cool bags are soft, the insulation can crumple over time if not looked after. When storing your cool bags, try not to stack heavy objects on top of them and zip them up when not in use to hold their shape. Store in a dry place, and avoid putting them away damp to prevent any mould build up.
Zips can become a bit sticky over time, to make them run freely once more, rub each chain of runners with an old candle.
The ice buckets and flasks are made from copper or stainless steel and can simply be washed by hand as normal with warm water and detergent. Equally, our copper cups and horn cups should only ever be hand washed.
The gel cold packs contain a non-toxic gel that under normal conditions stays colder for longer than iced water alone. While the gel is non-toxic - containing salt compounds, cellulose and some glycerol, you should discard the pack if it is punctured or torn. They’re also excellent for bruises and sprains!
As sailors ourselves, we are asked from time to time whether our kit is suitable to take to sea. The leather and canvas will cope with a marine environment (we've taken it there often), but any metal fittings will be quick to corrode if exposed to seawater, despite being solid brass. So zips on a coolbag for instance will tarnish and run poorly, and the copper in our cups and ice bucket is unlikely to last long either. Yes the kit would probably be ok after a day on the water if stowed below quite promptly or used on deck when anchored or in fair weather, but we wouldn't keep any of it out on deck while under sail in big seas. (For the record, our own Little Chill coolbag has received a right old drenching in the stern of a poorly-draining rib in a big sea and it's absolutely fine, albeit for a lightly tarnished zip that still runs pretty well and a little staining to the leather. We probably wouldn't do that again, but you'd never know it has had so much punishment).