How is this suede jacket washable?

My Dry cleaner said that fabric care labels are attached before trim, so the care instructions only refer to the main garment. I wonder if this is why they specifically call it 'trim' in order to exclude it from the washing aspect.

 

Lol, it makes me laugh how some of the very extravagant embellished 60's 70's gowns all say remove trim before dry cleaning, it's the same amount of work as when they were made!

 

Exactly..That's sad but funny.

 

I've had '60s cardigans with suede patches and had the same dilemma, but my feeling is that to survive this long it's likely that they were washed and indeed I have hand washed them and they've been fine. I wonder if the suede is treated with some product?

A few years ago I had a disaster at the dry cleaner - they had washed one of my suede '60s vests and it was a mess. Lost its shape and the dye ran all over the place. They compensated me for it, but that's how I learnt that they sometimes wash things, rather than dry clean them. They must have considered it to be a washable material. Bizarre.

Yesterday a lady came in with a polyester late '60s wedding dress with some marks. A dry cleaner had quoted her $500 to get them out. I told her to wash it on the gentle cycle - I'm sure they were going to wash it too, I can't see that the dry cleaner would get these out but I'm confident that a good old fashioned wash would.

 

I don't know if suede garments are treated before their initial purchase but they might be. There is scotchgard for suede which repels water, oil, and stains. There is also suede cleaner that can be applied after brushing stains and/or debris loose to remove them.

 

Might it be chamois trim? It is sometimes confused with suede (on purpose) and is fully washable.