Away has been growing exponentially in the last few years, and no wonder. The company does suitcases fit for the most enthusiastic of travelers, but they’re also tailored for those that only really travel once a year.
Hard shell and mushy insides has been the theme of Away luggage, and that doesn’t seem to be changing soon. But with frequent travels the hard shell is deemed to get dirty at some point.
Because of that regular cleaning has to be performed if you want your Away luggage looking fly. But how do you clean it, should you exercise caution to avoid potentially damaging your suitcase?
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Cleaning An Away Suitcase
I’ll go straight ahead and say it: Away suitcases’ shells are made to be very durable, and they’re relatively scratch resistant, which means that this puppy can take a lot before getting damaged at all.
That is not to say that you should go scrubbing away with a steel wool, but it can take a fair bit of scrubbing, which makes the cleaning process very straightforward.
What you will need is:
- Dishwashing soap
- Sponge
- Magic eraser – Optional
- Warm water
- Soft dry cloth
- Baking soda – For the insides
- Vaccum – For the insides
Table of Contents
Cleaning The Outsides
Warm up some water, you don’t want it too hot, but just enough so that it gets rid of those persistent stains. Keep it on the side, and start scrubbing with the magic eraser if you have one. If not, go straight for the sponge, and put a bit of dishwashing liquid in the water and on the sponge.
Just dip the sponge regularly in the warm water and scrub from the top down, do not put excess amount of water on the suitcase, just a small amount. For persistent stains, you can even flip the sponge to the green side and scrub harder.
Once you’ve gone over the whole suitcase, start wiping it from top to bottom with a dry soft cloth.
You’ll start to see the luggage looking much fresher than before, and much cleaner.
NOTE: Dishwashing soap is great for cleaning Away hard shell suitcases because it dissolves a lot of the stains which the suitcase might accumulate over time.
Rinse and repeat this process until you’re satisfied with the result.
Cleaning The Insides
Now, for most people, the insides don’t get that dirty. But there might be loose contaminants in the luggage, whether it be from pockets, shoes, and what have you.
This can be solved with a simple vacuum. However, remove any loose compartments you might have in the luggage first. Those can be vacuumed separately. Make sure to get into all of those nooks and crannies when vacuuming as well.
After you went over the whole suitcase with a vacuum, there is a way to remove unwanted odors from the suitcase which might have built up over time. If you don’t have any odors though, you can skip this step.
The baking soda method:
- Open up the suitcase.
- Sprinkle baking soda in the insides of the luggage – Make sure to get it into all compartments within the suitcase.
- Close the suitcase, store in a dry area, and leave it overnight.
- In the morning, dump out the baking soda, and go over the suitcase with a vacuum once more.
Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and is very effective at removing odors, especially if left for over longer periods of time.
Thankfully, due to the hard shell and relatively open compartments with the Away luggage, it is relatively easy to get it looking fresh yet again. Although, make sure to regularly clean it to avoid the extra work later down the line.
Because as the suitcase gets dirtier and dirtier, the stains will also get harder and harder to remove.
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