I am using my Glowforge to cut leather patterns, but I am getting smudge marks on the leather. What is the best way to eliminate the smudging?
Welcome to the forum.
The search function is a very powerful tool here in the forum. If you search “leather char” or “cleaning leather” will return lots of posts and suggestions regarding your question.
Posting in Problems and Support opens a support ticket for Glowforge support personnel to address problems with machines. Since this is not an actual problem that support needs to address, I will move it to a more appropriate category.
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Thank you I am so new at this
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We were all new once 
Welcome to the forum. The search function is crazy powerful, but keep in mind that often the depth of the information is in the thread, not necessarily in the first post 
Anything cut with a laser will have some sort of char, so it’s a question of prepping and or cleaning to get rid of it
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Mask the leather before cutting - you can buy the wide paper transfer tape lots of places online or your local sign maker supply. (Search forum for favorite recommendations, if you’re near Los Angeles i like to buy mine at McLogan)
Cut fast, with multiple passes if needed, rather than slow. That will cut down on char.
Before peeling off the masking, wipe the edges down with a barely damp baby wipe.
Gum tragacanth and a burnishing cloth or wheel is a traditional edge sealer for veg tan leathers.
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I do the same with damp paper towels, seems to do the job well enough.
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For me, paper towel tends to leave linty bits so I prefer a wipe or microfiber cloth
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Are you using proof grade leather? There are many variations with leather. When I have a problem with smudging I usually increase speed by 10-20, decrease power by about 10, and then increase the number of passes by 1.
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