Going through the metal detector . . .
A few years ago my ex-bf and I went to IML in Chicago, and he packed a suitcase with 38 pounds of leather gear. Mostly rope, but also some chains, hooks, clamps of various sorts, etc., etc., etc.
At LAX checked luggage is left in a stack to be screened, which happens on the other side of a partition. We were a little apprehensive, so we loitered on the outside of the partition until we heard one of the handlers grunt as he picked it up, and then the metallic tinkle of the chains as it was loaded onto the conveyor. After a moment we didn't hear any commotion, and so figured it was OK. It arrived in Chicago just fine, but we always wondered what it must have looked like on the x-ray machine!
Ex-bf and I are still good friends, and while he doesn't put leather itself into the washer, he does find that the rope cleans up nicely when put into a mesh sack and run through the gentle cycle on his KitchenAid top loader.