In reply to Flinticus:
Over the years my leather unlined climbing shoes (all Red Chilli if that makes a difference!) have been in washing machine and hand washed many times without any problem using liquid soap.
Max of 30 C, extra rinsing, and slow air drying. BTW one pair has been resoled twice and no problems were reported during resoling.
Edit: extra clarification.
Post edited at 10:35