Aha! Someone is awake, and has sent me questions and commentary:
Q: Bonded leather? Sounds entirely unsuitable for all the best uses of leather :} (though the name makes it apropriate for some).
A: Righto. I suppose it is as strong as any other plastic-based substance, but it really isn't leather.
Q: Does bonded leather feel or look like real leather?
A: It looks like leather, at least at first glance, and they usually use the perfumes that they put on real leather, too, so it smells like leather does. Which is of course not the way that leather smells, any more than your new car really smells like the perfume that they use in those.
Q: Aaanyway. What about rust stains? I wouldn't imagine they'd bleach well, as they're not organic - have you ever had to deal with them?
A: I haven't ever dealt with them, but information from friends says that rust stains in fabric are there to stay and there is nothing that can be done for them. The best solution is to fully immerse the garment in whatever stained it in the first place (which often includes rust-carrying mud) and hope you get an even color.
Late breaking news: there are some products that you can get which purport to remove rust stains. These will have oxalic axcid in them, and apparently work well. I have not used any of 'em.
Q: Bleaching colored fabric?
A: Sorry; misunderstanding. The bleach instructions were for WHITE fabrics only. I don't have any experience with "bleaching" colored fabrics.
Q: Vinegar is an interesting additive - chlorine bleach is a 'base' and vinegar is an acid; the mix of the two produces (as I recall) sodium acetate and chlorine gas.
A: Quite likely. The amount of vinegar involved is about a cup
in a bathtub full of 1/8 strength bleach and water solution. If you're
using bleach, you should of course have excellent ventilation. The
bleach bottle will suggest proper proportions for the bleach side of the
equation.
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