Stonewash leathers - High Maintenance??

#46
Stonewash in the rain report:

My Stonewash Espresso MAM and I got caught in the rain this morning on the way to work. I walked five blocks without an umbrella and I had never put any protectant on the leather. :sweatdrop: As soon as I got to my desk, I blotted all the water drops and the bag dried by lunchtime without any sign of spotting!

Granted, SW Espresso is super dark and I also have been wearing this bag nearly non-stop for about two months now. The leather has a soft shine to it from the natural oils coming to surface and is slightly warmer looking (it was more grey-brown and matte/not shiny when I first received it). A lot of the water beaded up and didn't even leave any spots at all but where the leather did get wet, it dried fine.

I don't think I would want to get caught in the rain with a lighter colored stonewash leather that hasn't built up a patina but SW Espresso held up wonderfully :smile:
 
#47
klj said:
Where did you happen upon that lovely!..... Fleurine..you lucky girl!!
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I got her from a great bonz seller (who's selling an NWT egglant mattie) now. I am so nervous about putting anything on the bag...I love her greyish look and I don't want her to darken now. What are best LMB products? The only product I have is the applegard conditioner (for all my numerous bags) but I think I need to invest in a whole line of leather care products. Here's a pic of my pristine stonewash blue mattie...
 

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#50
novella said:
^ ITA with what you said about SW Blue.
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novella said:

I own a Stonewash Blue MAM and you need to be very careful on what you use to treat it. In fact, I think you should send Stonewash bags to a professional like LMB for cleaning/spa treatment since it's pretty fussy/sensitive to products.

From my experience, the AG cleaners are too harsh for SW Blue bags and I wouldn't recommend using any of the AG products for it with the possible exception of the spray.

I used my SW Blue MAM without any treatment and I got some marks on it. When I tried to clean/condition my MAM with AG, I made the marks worse and the leather got pretty dark. I know that the Stonewash Blue leather is supposed to get darker and oilier as time goes on but AG definitely made the marks worse. I sent my MAM to LMB for cleaning and Barbara & Gary made it look like new again.

That said, I don't think I'm going to treat my incoming Stonewash Black Nikki but mostly because it's a dark leather and I'm curious to see it age naturally.

Barbara also gave me these LMB product recommendations for my SW Blue MAM. I think that these products will work well for all Stonewash bags though:

You will have to be careful, as this leather scratches very easily - it is the nature of the leather - but if you are particular - it will drive you crazy.

Silk serum is great to condition the leather and Pro-treatment to protect it and diminish the scratching to some degree.
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I just bought a few products from LMB to *try* on my SW blue mattie. Will let you know how it goes.
 
#54
I used For Handles Only on the handles, and the botanical silk miracle shield on the rest of the bag...it might have darkened it a tiny bit but not much. It was a long time spent drying all parts of the bag with a hairdryer, lol. Will post some pics...now I'm having a slight anxiety attack waiting for tracking on my black SW MAB.
 
#56
I love SW leathers! :heart: Even if they do require a little more TLC than other leathers, they are 100% worth it.

That said, I have not yet treated my SW Blue Nikki, but I'm going to send her to LMB to get taken care of before I move to sunny SoCal. I have a feeling that I'll be wearing her quite a bit more often in the gorgeous CA sunshine :yes:
 
#57
AG conditioner worked great, but against my better judgment, i sprayed with ag r&s. for the most part, it came out even (but noticeably darker, IMO), but there are definitely some areas with even darker spots. i've learned my lesson and will see if LMB can fix it & then protect it with their stuff. will probably try to send in my sage stamp mab in at the same time. thank goodness i didn't spray her!
 
#60
^^^ Me too....


thedseer - you'll have to post pics when you get these back and let us know how it goes....I am really thinking about sending in my Sagey and Tobacco too....I DO NOT want the handles to turn dark!
 
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