Now, this is definitely NOT for the faint hearted.
I discovered to my horror this afternoon that I have blue ball point stains on my Gold Togo Birkin. I was aghast because I remember very clearly that my manager told me if there is ball point ink on the leather, the bag's a goner. The thing is, I have been very careful with my bags, and it astounds me that there are even marks on my birkin. It was either caused by my DH who was looking for a small ruler in my bag (he could well be holding on to a pen), or by my children who drew on my bag
(less likely, come to think of it because if it were true, the damage would be greater!
ush: )
I happen to walk past a DIY store when I discovered the stains and I bravely walked right in. I asked for something that might help me rid the marks. The store assistant asked if the stains were fresh, and I said yes. She then reached out for a chap-stick looking thing and suggested that I try it. It's called Ink Away (by Leather Master) and cost me S$22 (USD14.50).
I sat my daughter down in MacDonald's, gave her her french fries and started applying a little bit of the glue-like ink on a small ink spot, on the flap of my birkin. The instruction says to only leave it for 30 sec. By the 20th sec, I was quick to rub off the application. Viola! The ink came off.
Then I proceeded to remove the ink marks above the inside zip i.e. on the chevre lining. Again, the ink came off.
But what came off too, was a teenny weeny bit of the Gold dye. I am not entirely surprised for the fact that this eraser is strong enough to remove the ink so fast.
I looked at the spots I treated and both spots look a little duller than the rest of the bag. I believe the top layer of shine or wax treatment has been removed along with the ink stain. I am crossing my fingers that when I take my birkin to my craftsman tomorrow, he will be able to give it a polish once over and restore the original shine. My SA was actually very amazed I managed to get the pen marks off, because it has never been done before ....
I discovered to my horror this afternoon that I have blue ball point stains on my Gold Togo Birkin. I was aghast because I remember very clearly that my manager told me if there is ball point ink on the leather, the bag's a goner. The thing is, I have been very careful with my bags, and it astounds me that there are even marks on my birkin. It was either caused by my DH who was looking for a small ruler in my bag (he could well be holding on to a pen), or by my children who drew on my bag
(less likely, come to think of it because if it were true, the damage would be greater!ush: )I happen to walk past a DIY store when I discovered the stains and I bravely walked right in. I asked for something that might help me rid the marks. The store assistant asked if the stains were fresh, and I said yes. She then reached out for a chap-stick looking thing and suggested that I try it. It's called Ink Away (by Leather Master) and cost me S$22 (USD14.50).
I sat my daughter down in MacDonald's, gave her her french fries and started applying a little bit of the glue-like ink on a small ink spot, on the flap of my birkin. The instruction says to only leave it for 30 sec. By the 20th sec, I was quick to rub off the application. Viola! The ink came off.
Then I proceeded to remove the ink marks above the inside zip i.e. on the chevre lining. Again, the ink came off.
But what came off too, was a teenny weeny bit of the Gold dye. I am not entirely surprised for the fact that this eraser is strong enough to remove the ink so fast.
I looked at the spots I treated and both spots look a little duller than the rest of the bag. I believe the top layer of shine or wax treatment has been removed along with the ink stain. I am crossing my fingers that when I take my birkin to my craftsman tomorrow, he will be able to give it a polish once over and restore the original shine. My SA was actually very amazed I managed to get the pen marks off, because it has never been done before ....
