Cleaning vintage Coach

ElaineQ

Member
Mar 23, 2008
24
0
Just want to share how I cleaned an old Coach bag I got from ebay. It's one of the older, unlined, thick leather ones - I had to have it because it was made in the USA:smile:. Item description said immaculate. Oh no, it was not - looked like someone had spilt coffee or soda on it - lots of little stains, plus the "wisp of a pen mark" was about 4 inches long. I don't know what made me do it, but I filled the sink up with warm water and soaked the bag for about 30 minutes. When it dried, ALL of the soda/coffee marks had gone and the pen mark was fainter but I was left with a very large water mark on the front flap. I decided I hadn't soaked it long enough so gave it another plunge for about 45 minutes to make sure it was uniformly soaked through. It is now near perfect. It's a red bag and I used Meltonian shoe polish (which is very creamy - almost a moisturiser consistancy) to touch up a couple of slightly worn areas. I also moisturised it really well and polished it with an old nylon stocking. The color is now slightly darker, but it looks great. :tup:
 
:shocked:

^Wow, you are BRAVE! I would never be so daring as to soak any of my Coach bags in the sink for nearly an hour and a half. I am glad it all worked out well in the end and that the bag looks so good - you should post some photos of it. Shame on the eBay seller who said it was immaculate. I hope you left her appropriate feedback.
 
:sweatdrop: Whew...you had me sweating over here while I read that op...
you should have taken before and after pictures so we could have seen your "delicate operation" on your new purse...:yes:

I am happy for you that it turned out great! You must have be a wreck while doing it though.
 
also pen marks can be removed with cheap hairspray. I can't wait to see it !
Actually, it's the alcohol in the hairspray that removes the ink. However, when trying to remove ink from leather using alcohol (or hairspray), you need to be very careful because alcohol also removes the dye from the leather and you could end up with a very noticeable light spot where the alcohol was applied. :yes:
 
LOL!! You know, I didn't think to take photos beforehand. All I can say is that the little stains have gone and the color of the purse has evened out - there are still a couple of marks on it, but they don't detract from the purse at all. Very little dye came out of the bag, in case you're wondering. It's a Lindsay bag, if that means anything to anyone. I was so disgusted with it, that I decided that if the soaking didn't bring the stains out, it was going to goodwiil anyway - I paid just over $30 for it with the shipping. To be honest, I knew the water wouldn't do any damage simply because the leather is such good quality. I also love the shape and color of the bag, so it was worth the risk. I once read somewhere that someone had taken a little pigskin suede Gucci bag to a cleaners and was told that the suede was so thick and of such good quality, that washing it with a mild soap probably wouldn't hurt it. I love 'The Bridge' leather goods (go check them out, fab leather) and knew someone who had carried the same bag every day for over 20 years - she said that she washed it in the washing machine from time to time:wtf: Really, it looked OK too!! I know it isn't recommended, but it's worth a try as a last resort!!
I didn't leave any feedback at all for the seller. Can't stand that retaliation negative feedback... Am I a wimp, or what??...
 
You know . . . sometimes there is no other way, somethings seem doomed and I say "it can't get any worse!" I have a short waisted camel suede coat lined with faux sheep . . . after trying numerous times spot cleaning I decided to "wash" it, it looks great. We're always told to dry clean wool . . . sheep in the rain don't shrink! washed 2 wool coats. They're fine.