I've washed leather garments for years without problems, sometimes even in my front load washing machine. The trick is to use a short wash in cool water with just a small amount of low sudsing gentle detergent (I use a product called Soak which is what I use for washing cashmere and my lingerie)--or even a detergent made especially for leather (yes, there is such a thing: http://reviews.smartpakequine......eviews.htm). If you are hand washing, roll the garment in a towel to get rid of extra moisture but use an old towel because of possible color bleed. Once the garment is semi-dry, use a leather conditioner to keep the leather supple.
I've heard of people who actually partially dry leather bags and garments in a dryer just until the lining feels dryish, but I've always just stayed with air drying.
I'd actually be more leery of dry cleaning and using a product like Dryel because of the chemical nature of the process. Water and a mild soap has been the standard way to clean leather for centuries so, to my mind, it makes more sense. But I'll stick to my commercial leather conditioner instead of reverting to something like bear grease or fish oils that might have been used in the last century!
