Before and After using Woly Shoe cream

[muchstuff]

OK, before and after, using the Woly shoe cream in neutral. I applied the product quite liberally, using a soft cloth. I let the bag dry overnight, stuffed and hanging, then gave it a good buffing this morning (Note: the bag will still feel a bit tacky even when dry, that goes away the more you buff). The colour has darkened but seems to have gone much closer to the original. Barely a trace of a scent, so subtle that it's not really worth mentioning. The leather is still squishy and pillowy but does have a slightly different feel, as if there's a bit of a protective coat on it, but it doesn't at all take away from the leather feel. (Remember, this was a pretty dry bag, this might be closer to the original leather feel).

I will note that the neutral does not cover up any fingernail scratches, little scrapes where the leather is lighter in colour. I think the coloured cream probably would do that. The areas of the bag that were highly distressed (where the weight of the bag's contents stretched the leather itself, near the strap on each side, see pic #4 & 5) are much nicer to look at, but I may do a second coat on those couple of areas. It's evident in the photos that the colour is now much more even, the lighter faded spots have blended in significantly.

First photo is the bag when I purchased it. Second is after last night's treatment. Third is a comparison of the interior tag (untreated) and the treated exterior. Fourth and fifth are the very distressed areas of the bag after treatment.

As usual, I had a hell of a time trying to capture the true colour. Is the bag perfect? No, but I don't think I'm going to use the coloured cream at this point, as the leather looks nourished and the imperfections give it character.The bag does look much better, so all in all I'm pretty pleased. I'll post photos again a couple of weeks down the line to let everyone know if the colour lightens up or stays rich).

 

[Indiana]

Wow that's impressive, muchstuff. Nice bag before, but she's a beauty now!

 

[miasvault]

WOW! I love that it didn't change the color or the character of the leather, just enhanced it's beauty! Adding this to my list of care products. Thanks!

 

[muchstuff]

Wow that's impressive, muchstuff. Nice bag before, but she's a beauty now!

Thanks, she does look much better!

 

[muchstuff]

WOW! I love that it didn't change the color or the character of the leather, just enhanced it's beauty! Adding this to my list of care products. Thanks!

It'll be interesting to see if the depth of colour is maintained or if it starts to fade out after awhile, which I've read happens with some moisturizing products. I'll let you know...

 

[muchstuff]

For those of you who saw the original post of my men's Day before and after using neutral Woly shoe cream, here's the next step. I actually did a second application of the neutral about a week after the first, as the upper portion of the bag where the leather was stretched and the original colour had faded a lot was still looking a little dry. The bag felt fine after that, but I wasn't happy with those stretched areas so decided to try the coloured cream. Never one to leave well enough alone, I slathered on a dark brown (the closest match I could find in the limited selection I had available) and left to dry for 24 hours before buffing out.

Pics 1 and 2 are the right corner pre and post coloured cream. Pics 3 and 4 the left corner. Pics 5 and 6 show part of the bottom (note that all of the light scratch marks are gone after the colour cream). Pic 7 shows that the bag is a tad darker than the original colour (but so was my shoe cream). The last 3 pics are the bag as I received it, after using neutral cream, and after using colour.

Sorry for the long post...a couple of notes. The bag is feeling just a little tacky still so I'll buff again tomorrow. The scent is more pronounced but I did put a lot on so I'm sure it'll air out. At this point it feels as if it's been treated but I did use three coats and they were generous ones. I think it'll feel better once it dries for a few days. Definitely more evenness of colour and more shine. If you try the colour cream make sure to buff well as some of the colour does come off on the cloth, better there than on your clothes! The top corners look better but they're still a bit duller due to the fact that the original finish was worn off in those areas.

 

[muchstuff]

For anyone interested in the further adventures of my men's Day bag, check out my care and maintenance post...I've now used the coloured cream on it...

http://forum.purseblog.com/balenciaga-care-and-maintenance/adventures-with-coloured-shoe-cream-934382.html#post29838266

 

[LostInBal]

:doggie:

 

[muchstuff]

Final post...the scent is almost gone and the bag looks and feels good, I still feel a bit of product on it (my husband says no) but I used 3 really generous coats of shoe cream. I think that feeling will go away after a few more days of drying and another buffing ( you can see it already looks less shiny than after the first buffing out, last pic of last post). Three pics here, first of the bag in it's original state, the second two as it is now. Not quite the original colour, more chocolate than the ashy brown it was, but I was too impatient to get a better colour match. But for a $300 bag I think I did OK...between shortening the strap and treating the leather I have a very nice-looking bag!

 

[Honeylicious]

Your bag looks really good, the leather looks soft and chewy.
I just came across your post, its very inspiring, lol... makes me want to touch up my bags too.
My bleu Mineral is quite faded (the entire bag), I'm thinking to try their color shoe cream, they have cobalt blue which I hope is close enough - I'm pretty sure a neutral balm just won't do

 

[muchstuff]

Your bag looks really good, the leather looks soft and chewy.
I just came across your post, its very inspiring, lol... makes me want to touch up my bags too.
My bleu Mineral is quite faded (the entire bag), I'm thinking to try their color shoe cream, they have cobalt blue which I hope is close enough - I'm pretty sure a neutral balm just won't do

The leather on this bag is exceptionally soft and thick...we couldn't really pinpoint the year but narrowed it down to 2008-2010 based on the tag. A word of warning though, re: the shoe cream...the colour on my bag now is a bit darker than the original. The store in my area had a very small selection of colours and I grabbed the closest one, figured since I had already shortened the strap it was a good bag to experiment on. If you're trying to stay as close to the original as possible you might want to look at Meltonian or Woly, and maybe combine some colours and try them out on an inconspicuous part of the bag. I'm also not sure if there will be any colour transfer as I haven't carried it since I conditioned it. I'm about to switch over to it and will have a better sense of colour transfer after I've carried it for a few days.
But if you have a bag that's kind of beyond merely conditioning, the shoe cream really makes a huge difference in its appearance. As the condiitoner has settled into the bag its less shiny than in the pic I took, very glad I touched it up!

Please post before and after pics with your bleu mineral, I'd love to see what you do with it!

 

[luxurygal84]

Muchstuff- I’m hoping you can help me with an addendum to this reconditioning project. I found out this morning that my new-to-me Bal Work that you authenticated is forest green in the daylight. While it seems like this is somewhat common over time, my tPF research says that it’s fixable. Would you change anything about dying your Day? Products, sealant, etc., now that it’s a few years after the project’s completion?

This is the best reconditions poet I found and I hope to lean on your experience.

Thanks!

The leather on this bag is exceptionally soft and thick...we couldn't really pinpoint the year but narrowed it down to 2008-2010 based on the tag. A word of warning though, re: the shoe cream...the colour on my bag now is a bit darker than the original. The store in my area had a very small selection of colours and I grabbed the closest one, figured since I had already shortened the strap it was a good bag to experiment on. If you're trying to stay as close to the original as possible you might want to look at Meltonian or Woly, and maybe combine some colours and try them out on an inconspicuous part of the bag. I'm also not sure if there will be any colour transfer as I haven't carried it since I conditioned it. I'm about to switch over to it and will have a better sense of colour transfer after I've carried it for a few days.
But if you have a bag that's kind of beyond merely conditioning, the shoe cream really makes a huge difference in its appearance. As the condiitoner has settled into the bag its less shiny than in the pic I took, very glad I touched it up!

Please post before and after pics with your bleu mineral, I'd love to see what you do with it!

 

[muchstuff]

Muchstuff- I’m hoping you can help me with an addendum to this reconditioning project. I found out this morning that my new-to-me Bal Work that you authenticated is forest green in the daylight. While it seems like this is somewhat common over time, my tPF research says that it’s fixable. Would you change anything about dying your Day? Products, sealant, etc., now that it’s a few years after the project’s completion?

This is the best reconditions poet I found and I hope to lean on your experience.

Thanks!

Hmmm, I haven't really been carrying my Days for awhile now (too many bags I guess) so I haven't retouched anything with shoe cream lately. What I can say is that shoe cream is a more temporary fix than using a dye, and you would need to redo it on a semi regular basis. (I haven't had to do that if I've used sealant over the shoe cream, but that's been on edges etc. rather than an entire bag). Which isn't a big deal, it's not hard to do. I'm not sure how well it'll cover the green in your bag as I've used it to freshen faded colours and cover up small imperfections mostly. Dying the bag is obviously a more permanent fix but there have been mixed reactions on what dying does to the leather. A few people have said it hasn't affected it but I've seen more say that it's made a texture change, which wouldn't make me happy.

If it was my bag I'd try the shoe cream first. Maybe even two coats. But be sure to buff it out well so you don't have colour transfer. Think of polishing shoes. They don't transfer colour if done correctly, and I haven't had any colour transfer problems with the bags I did. Perhaps one of the spray products like Collonil over top would help to seal in colour, I haven't had experience with using that product but have read good things. Let us know what you end up doing!

 

[luxurygal84]

Hmmm, I haven't really been carrying my Days for awhile now (too many bags I guess) so I haven't retouched anything with shoe cream lately. What I can say is that shoe cream is a more temporary fix than using a dye, and you would need to redo it on a semi regular basis. (I haven't had to do that if I've used sealant over the shoe cream, but that's been on edges etc. rather than an entire bag). Which isn't a big deal, it's not hard to do. I'm not sure how well it'll cover the green in your bag as I've used it to freshen faded colours and cover up small imperfections mostly. Dying the bag is obviously a more permanent fix but there have been mixed reactions on what dying does to the leather. A few people have said it hasn't affected it but I've seen more say that it's made a texture change, which wouldn't make me happy.

If it was my bag I'd try the shoe cream first. Maybe even two coats. But be sure to buff it out well so you don't have colour transfer. Think of polishing shoes. They don't transfer colour if done correctly, and I haven't had any colour transfer problems with the bags I did. Perhaps one of the spray products like Collonil over top would help to seal in colour, I haven't had experience with using that product but have read good things. Let us know what you end up doing!

Thanks for the advice! I’m excited to get started. I ordered the Woly’s this morning and will do some research on the Collonil.

 

[muchstuff]

Thanks for the advice! I’m excited to get started. I ordered the Woly’s this morning and will do some research on the Collonil.

Please post before and after pics!