Box Bag Nightmare: Caught in the Rain!!!

Nicola_Six

The Enabler
Nov 26, 2010
258
0
Hi Ladies,

I haven't been on the forums for a while due to work. The first day I had off was today, so I thought I'd take my beautiful black box bag outside for a spin. But it started pouring cats and dogs when I was walking outside!

I thought I was safe because I had finally managed to use Obenauf on it per docride's instructions in the Hermes forum to waterproof calfskin...

But, clearly I didn't use enough Obenauf because when I wiped all the rain drops from it, the beautiful black leather on the top flap was COVERED with BLISTERS!!!! :crybaby: The raised dots were grey-ish and noticeably bumpy in the light and when I ran my fingers over it. Basically - it looked like an ostrich bag, but wayyyy less pretty.

Anyhow, as soon as I got home, the raised dots were flatter and were darker (thank goodness), but looked cracked. I massaged more Obenauf into the top flap and am waiting to see what is the verdict in the next few days. Not to sound too overdramatic, because I know there are countless terrible things in this world way worse than a ruined box bag, but please pray for me! :shucks:

So, the lesson is - NEVER EVER TAKE A BOX BAG OUT WITHOUT STOCKING A PLASTIC BAG INSIDE FOR UNEXPECTED DOWNPOURS!!!! EVEN IF YOU THINK IT'S BEEN WATERPROOFED! Better be safe than sorry... :sad:
 
OMG. I think I will be sobbing for the next 3 days at least if that were to happen to me. Could you ask someone from Celine for help? Hopefully when it dries, it will go back to normal. Will pray to the Purse Gods for you.
 
OMG. I think I will be sobbing for the next 3 days at least if that were to happen to me. Could you ask someone from Celine for help? Hopefully when it dries, it will go back to normal. Will pray to the Purse Gods for you.

I didn't sob, but I was of in shock. I was with my friends when this happened, and they have no idea how much the bag costs (and would probably berate me for it), so I was trying to play it cool. But I kept fiddling with the bag, examining it and making whimpering noises. :shame: The bumps on the bag were RIDICULOUS - I think over 100 small bumps, no joke, so more bumps than ostrich skin.

And you are so smart, I'll contact someone from a Celine boutique tomorrow if the bag is still in bad condition. There are no Celine boutiques in Canada, but I could definitely phone someone in the U.S. They will probably pass out when I describe how bumpy it was...it was more bumpy than ostrich!

Thank you for your prayers. :P I'll pray tonight too!
 
Dear Nicola, I am so sorry to hear about this!!! I totally know how you feel-similar thing happened to me last year with Chloe Darla which is made of smooth box leather.
I was able to almost completely restore the Darla with leather conditioner, but it depends on the bag, I am sure.
I highly recommend that you call or email Barbara from Lovin my bags, you can find her contact info on their website at lovinmybags.com. She responds very quickly and may be able to restore or at least improve the condition of the bag. I have dealt with her before and she is amazing, you will be surprised at what she can do. There are a lot of tpf members especially on the Balenciaga forum who use her help to completely restore damaged bags to look like new.
Hope this helps, and please stay strong!!!
 
That's my worst nightmare! I too would be inconsolable if it were me. I am so sorry this happened to you. My fiancé thinks I'm retarded, but I carry a longchamp bag in all my bags just in case. Please let us know what happens and I hope that Celine will be able to help.
 
So...the morning after....*drumroll*...

She's almost completely PERFECT! :happydance:

I ended up putting another coat of Obenauf on her and letting it rest overnight. When I woke up, I buffed her out with Blackrock. She's glowing now, almost as much as me! :smile:

The only thing that betrays that there was something amiss is that when I hold her to within an inch of my face while in sunlight, I can see very small, faint dots here and there - they're so small that my eyes *may* be playing tricks on me. I checked the weather today - it's sunny and gorgeous outside in Toronto, but lesson learned, I'm packing a plastic bag in her! Just in case...

I think the key to curing water damage (at least in my case) is letting it dry completely (with aid of towels/paper towels if possible to soak up excess water), and then, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, applying leather conditioner and letting it sit overnight. When the leather had dried from the rain, there were, what looked liked, small little surface cracks forming in the leather and linking up the blisters (it was quite the sight!) - so the leather conditioner helped heal those cracks, which are now completely gone. I have a feeling that if I hadn't applied leather conditioner ASAP, those cracks would have gotten worse and become permanent.

mouseptrolix - I'm glad your Darla is almost as good as new! And I'm sorry you had to go through that too. Thanks for the suggestion re: lovinmybags.com. If it happens again (but I hope it won't!!!!), I'll be sure to contact Barbara.

Tinn3rz - Great idea for prevention, thanks! I have been eyeing some Longchamp bags, and they're hard to not see because they're carried by virtually every woman in Toronto. I don't know if there's a Longchamp small enough to wedge into my Celine, but I'll take a look around. And yeah, I was pretty inconsolable - but I had almost come to terms with it. You know, the first thing I thought of when I thought I may have to bid "adieu!" to my bag is it would be a shame that I wouldn't be able to pass the bag down to my one of my young nieces who loves fashion (and shopping with me at Gap Kids and such). At least maybe now I can!
 
I'm so sorry that happened! But let me tell you guys, seriously if there is a chance of rain do not take your Celine out! My cabas has a bubble from a water bottle leaking inside the bag (yes, stupid me) and it's gotten other drops on it, they always bubble. I'm not convinced protectant spray will prevent the bubbling.

And I also think that letting it dry, then conditioning it should help get the same even texture again. I also try to think of it like this - it isnt a baby, it's a bag, it's allowed to get a little F'd up - but it's just so sad when it's new!
 
When I bought my box, my SA (Paris) told me not to take the bag out when it rains. He said Celine bags are not exactly rain-proof.

So there. Got to trust the Paris SAs. They rarely lie.
 
OMG, did you clean off the rain drops immediately. Next time bring an envirosax out, if it pours, you are covered it with envirosax so that the bag remain safe from rain.
 
What a relief! I've only been caught under a drizzle w/ mine, and rainspots simply dried out leaving no marks. Thanks to your post, i definitely wouldn't risk a 2nd time!
 
Thanks bagmad73, Tinn3rz, and spendalot - I'm glad it worked out for me too! I was a bit sad thinking that maybe I wouldn't be able to carry it around anymore, because even though I love all my purses, the box bag is one of my favourites.

MIffy27 - I definitely trust the Paris SA's! I had waterproofed my bag but clearly didn't do a great job on the front flap part...and now I will never take that chance again, even though I've now waterproofed it to the max with a few coats of Obenauf!

miumiume - I will always check the weather before I leave with my box bag...I was rushing out the door and forgot this time. ITA re: letting it dry (although it was agonizing watch it dry) - because if you don't let it dry and then use leather conditioner, I suspect that you end up sealing in the water, making it worse! Did you manage to repair the bubbles on your Cabas?

dinitegrity - hmm, well if by "immediately" you mean after 5 minutes of constant rain, then yes. :P I was too busy running in the rain and too confident in the waterproofing of my Celine to brush off the drops initially. And thanks for the envirosax idea, I've never heard of them. I'll look into it when figuring out what to stuff into my box bag to protect it!

purse-nality - I'm glad my post was a good cautionary tale! I was caught in a drizzle before, and it was fine too because I brushed off the rain the second it made contact with the leather. I think it's the constant rain and not brushing it off the second it makes contact with the leather that almost did my purse in. I will never risk it again!!! And I glad you won't either. :smile: