I have an Elisha in white, Maggie, that I bought this summer for a really good price. If it hadn't been such a good deal, I wouldn't have bought it. But, I really did need a bright white bag and I used it quite a bit. Now, it's back in its little dust bag for the coming winter.
Cleaning Ivory Koobas
- Thread starter maggie7
- Start date
Hi! Does anyone know how to properly clean white leather bags? I have a white leather kooba but I'm afraid to use any cleaning products. I've tried cleaning alittle spot with leather cleaner but it ended up turning yellow. Please help. I love my kooba bag. Thanks in advance.
Kind of a related cleaning question or should I say preventative care. Does everyone use the Wilsons TLC on all the colors and textures of Kooba leather or only on the light stain prone leather?
I used it on the Khaki Jessie I bought for my Mom. I was a little nervous but it did dry nicely. I figured I would give it a once over so she does not have to worry about it.
I used it on the Khaki Jessie I bought for my Mom. I was a little nervous but it did dry nicely. I figured I would give it a once over so she does not have to worry about it.
I just bought the pink Talia. I usually use Coach cleaner and conditioner on my bags, but I am hesitant because I had a purple/grey Nina last year that turned a horrible color after I treated it (ended up exchanging for the blonde and seemed to an issue with that dye?). I see a lot of people are using the apple brand-does it do ok on Koobas?
That Nina you had was the Slate colour, which they had no end of problems with..some people found it turning an ugly brown in the sun..
You shouldn't have any problems with other colours, most girls here has used leather cleaner with good results..
ashy, I have an Ivory Sienna which I've cleaned several times, what I find is the stain can go yellow when wet, but is ok when it dries, did yours stay yellow?
I had mine cleaned by a professional leather cleaner and it came out just about perfect.
However, you talking about white...WHITE!!!! Most dirt will come out, put continued dirt on top of dirt over time sometimes stains the leather in which it will never be truly the same but will get better.
DOes that make any sense?
That's why I'm very selective where I carry my Kooba Sienna in Cream. That's like a "Red Carpet" event for me!!!
However, you talking about white...WHITE!!!! Most dirt will come out, put continued dirt on top of dirt over time sometimes stains the leather in which it will never be truly the same but will get better.
DOes that make any sense?
That's why I'm very selective where I carry my Kooba Sienna in Cream. That's like a "Red Carpet" event for me!!!
HI! So I had an ivory Kooba Micki a few years ago and took it to a local shoemaker..well he spray pained it..yes you read that right! He was so proud and I didn't have the heart to freak out in front of him. Anyway, I am now looking to fix up my Ivory Molly. It has a few stains on it. Any advice on how I can do it or a reasonable place to go?
THANKS!
THANKS!
Hi there, I know that ivory Micki was a pain. It was a beautiful bag but just not practical for me. It was such beautiful leather but was a dirt magnet. I could not find a cleaner to do the job. I had a terrible time finding a place to do a recolor job but I did find leather medic. A color match is about$100 a total recolor is a bit more but they do a fabulous job. The leather was was just as wonderful after as before. Hope this helps!
Hi! I got yet ANOTHER not as described bag (new without tags! with stains on the inside! 
) but I might keep it since the outside looks ok. The inside is the lavender suede lining. It's lightly brown stained in some places (think pale coffee spill) and just generally really dirty. Has anyone had any luck pulling the lining out and washing it, or does that ruin the nap? Any other ideas?
) but I might keep it since the outside looks ok. The inside is the lavender suede lining. It's lightly brown stained in some places (think pale coffee spill) and just generally really dirty. Has anyone had any luck pulling the lining out and washing it, or does that ruin the nap? Any other ideas?
Well, I didn't get any responses to my post a couple weeks ago about how to clean the lavender suede lining of my Kooba, so I decided to just try some things and see what worked.
The inside of the bag I was dealing with started out with some hair and crumbs/lint, a large purple-ish stain the size of a quarter on one pocket, severe darkening at the bottoms of the inside pockets (*almost* looked like mildew but fortunately wasn't), makeup stains, lipgloss stains, and an overall dinginess darker in some spots than others. In other words, pretty gross. (This bag was sold as "new without tags, btw. :lolots
First of all, I vacuumed out the bottom and pockets. This removed the crumbs/hair. Then I used some antibacterial hand wipes to scrub at the worst stains a little bit. This took away much of the major residue. Then, since in this bag the lining can be pulled out of the body of the bag, I hand washed the lining with warm water and antibacterial dish soap. This was a little tricky, because the tops of the pockets and the top of the zipper pocket are lined in black leather, and I didn't want that to bleed. I held it over the water and scrubbed the bottom part of the lining thoroughly, then used a washcloth to scrub the areas closest to the leather so they were never dipped in the water. They did get wet, but fortunately I didn't have a problem with bleed at that point. I rinsed the same way (twice) with clean water.
Drying was tricky. I left the lining pulled out of the bag to dry it, and used several old small towels to stuff inside the pockets and around the edges of the leather to keep the leather portions from touching the wet lining. This turned out to be crucial because on the one area where I missed and part of one handle touched the lining while drying, it left a black smudge.
The makeup stains did not come out with the washing, so I used some isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) on a cotton ball and blotted those stains away while the lining was still partly damp. While it was drying, I "fluffed" the lining a few times and rubbed gently with a towel, and the nap of the fabric seems to have returned just fine.
Overall, not all the darkening came out of the lining. It still doesn't look new, but it looks TONS better. It is nearly stain free with just a couple of dark spots, and at least now I know it's really CLEAN. I plan to go back around the edges and inside the exterior pockets with those anti-bac wipes, because that seemed to work really well.
Hope this helps someone else fix up a sad bag!
The inside of the bag I was dealing with started out with some hair and crumbs/lint, a large purple-ish stain the size of a quarter on one pocket, severe darkening at the bottoms of the inside pockets (*almost* looked like mildew but fortunately wasn't), makeup stains, lipgloss stains, and an overall dinginess darker in some spots than others. In other words, pretty gross. (This bag was sold as "new without tags, btw. :lolots
First of all, I vacuumed out the bottom and pockets. This removed the crumbs/hair. Then I used some antibacterial hand wipes to scrub at the worst stains a little bit. This took away much of the major residue. Then, since in this bag the lining can be pulled out of the body of the bag, I hand washed the lining with warm water and antibacterial dish soap. This was a little tricky, because the tops of the pockets and the top of the zipper pocket are lined in black leather, and I didn't want that to bleed. I held it over the water and scrubbed the bottom part of the lining thoroughly, then used a washcloth to scrub the areas closest to the leather so they were never dipped in the water. They did get wet, but fortunately I didn't have a problem with bleed at that point. I rinsed the same way (twice) with clean water.
Drying was tricky. I left the lining pulled out of the bag to dry it, and used several old small towels to stuff inside the pockets and around the edges of the leather to keep the leather portions from touching the wet lining. This turned out to be crucial because on the one area where I missed and part of one handle touched the lining while drying, it left a black smudge.
The makeup stains did not come out with the washing, so I used some isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) on a cotton ball and blotted those stains away while the lining was still partly damp. While it was drying, I "fluffed" the lining a few times and rubbed gently with a towel, and the nap of the fabric seems to have returned just fine.
Overall, not all the darkening came out of the lining. It still doesn't look new, but it looks TONS better. It is nearly stain free with just a couple of dark spots, and at least now I know it's really CLEAN. I plan to go back around the edges and inside the exterior pockets with those anti-bac wipes, because that seemed to work really well.
Hope this helps someone else fix up a sad bag!