These are made from natural cotton canvas and traditionally tanned leather and require maintenance to ensure long life. Machine washing will ruin the leather. For longest life, clean with only water and a soft brush or rag or a cleaner approved for leather. Air dry only. The canvas is treated initially for water repellency but is not waxed canvas. The leather is left in its original untreated condition. For use in rain, the leather must be treated with a water repellent conditioner such as Sno-Seal® or Proofide®. For the canvas you can use the pump-spray version of Nikwax, but avoid using Nikwax on the leather. Also, avoid over-treating the canvas to prevent temporary discoloration from the waterproofing. We don’t recommend treating the leather with mink oil or other oils, especially on the straps. They have a tendency to make the leather stretchy.