Cleaning a canvas messenger bag

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
1

I bought a cheap one from Target, and I use it for my every-other-day walks in warm weather. The problem is salt from sweat, especially on the shoulder strap.

There is no care label.

I asked a local dry cleaner, and they warned me their machines might break the metal clips. There are also a couple of small leather patches they said might be damaged.

Once, when a thunderstorm came up in the middle of a walk, it did get soaked completely (so did I). To dry it I just directed an electric fan at it, and there was no severe water damage when it finally dried out. It didn’t seem to do much for the amount of salt that was already there, though. Those leather patches were slightly stained, but not enough for me to care.

Wikihow says a machine washing should be okay, or if I don’t want to risk that, hand-washing. But the latter would be a moderate pain.

http://www.wikihow.com/Wash-a-Backpack

Agree? Disagree? Any other tips?

Could I get away with a standard detergent or must I buy a mild one? Can I do some kind of test beforehand to see if the standard detergent will damage the bag?

2

I’m thinking of the protocol for washing woolens in a machine, which is:

Let drum fill with mild detergent in it, let drum agitate to mix in detergent, then lift the lid to stop the machine and immerse your item in the sudsy water. Slosh it around a little to make sure it’s really wet, then let it soak a while.

Run the spin cycle.

Let the drum fill with clean rinse water, and stop it before it begins to agitate. Agitate the item gently with your own hands to get the soap out.

Run the spin cycle.

I think the only part of your bag that could possibly be damaged are the leather patches… given that it’s a cheap bag though, I’d try to wash it this way.