Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[JOODLZ]

Cool, I love seeing these more unusual bags!

As for zippers, if you haven't tried it already, lubricating them helps. I've heard different things, from soap to mineral oil. I'd probably try something like a dab of vaseline because you can control where it goes pretty easily so you can keep it on the "teeth", without risking your pretty clean bag, but I'm sure there are lots of options. I've had mixed results with lubricating zippers, it depends if there's something else wrong with it, but sometimes it helps.

Thanks, a lube job might help. It seems too that the zipper is a little twisted, so that might be torque-ing it out as well.

 

[katev]

Cool, I love seeing these more unusual bags!

As for zippers, if you haven't tried it already, lubricating them helps. I've heard different things, from soap to mineral oil. I'd probably try something like a dab of vaseline because you can control where it goes pretty easily so you can keep it on the "teeth", without risking your pretty clean bag, but I'm sure there are lots of options. I've had mixed results with lubricating zippers, it depends if there's something else wrong with it, but sometimes it helps.

Thanks, a lube job might help. It seems too that the zipper is a little twisted, so that might be torque-ing it out as well.

I have heard of rubbing parafin wax on the zipper and also rubbing the teeth vigorously with waxed paper, but I haven't tried it.

 

[katev]

I am getting ready to work on 3 red bags! Two of them are burgandy and they are really dirty and definitely need baths, so I will have to take my chances with color loss.

The 3rd bag is a "true red" large shoulder sac 9730 from around 1989 and it is fairly clean and in very good condition. It does have some dirty areas and there are fairly extensive water marks on the bottom of the bag but that didn't show up in the photos.

I am debating surface cleaning versus dunking. There are AT pics of the bag at the link below, what are your opinions? Thanks!

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-694619-689.html#post21790455

 

[ledobe]

I don't think there's anyway to really get watermarks out without dunking the whole bag-but maybe I'm wrong. I would say it depends on how much it bothers you.

The red/burgundy bags I've dunked have not really come out noticeably lighter, even when the water changed color, I've just worried about the red bleeding-so I'd hesitate to dunk a red, lined bag.

You may have had different results though? Have we seen anything besides the red tribeca that had noticeable color loss or unevenness after a dunk?

 

[RoseUSA]

My experience with "washing away" watermark has not been very good.

May I ask how you do it to get rid of the "ring"? My understanding is that the old water pushed the leather dye to the outer edge which created the ring, and if it sat for long (which most vintage bags are) the dye settled there permanately. I have not been able to wash out the ring on mine.

 

[katev]

I don't think there's anyway to really get watermarks out without dunking the whole bag-but maybe I'm wrong. I would say it depends on how much it bothers you.

The red/burgundy bags I've dunked have not really come out noticeably lighter, even when the water changed color, I've just worried about the red bleeding-so I'd hesitate to dunk a red, lined bag.

You may have had different results though? Have we seen anything besides the red tribeca that had noticeable color loss or unevenness after a dunk?

I have rehabbed 3 red bags so far. I gave baths to 2 of them and I only surface cleaned the other one. One of the bags that got a bath came out fine and the other one had significant color loss. It was a red collegiate bag.

I prefer giving my bags a bath to get them clean and shaped but the negative experience with one red bag has made me cautious.

I may try surface washing the red shoulder sac with saddle soap to see how that works. If I do, I will let you know what happens!

 

[Jessi319]

I am getting ready to work on 3 red bags! Two of them are burgandy and they are really dirty and definitely need baths, so I will have to take my chances with color loss.

The 3rd bag is a "true red" large shoulder sac 9730 from around 1989 and it is fairly clean and in very good condition. It does have some dirty areas and there are fairly extensive water marks on the bottom of the bag but that didn't show up in the photos.

I am debating surface cleaning versus dunking. There are AT pics of the bag at the link below, what are your opinions? Thanks!

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-694619-689.html#post21790455

ooh pretty. Every bag acts differently in water, but if it already has water spotting about the only thing that seems to even out those water rings is to get it all wet. Maybe in cooler water. The only real issues I've had is the dye leaching in an uneven "stripey" type pattern. Maybe if it's pulled out of the water and immediately toweled carefully? And then again, this may be one of those "reds" that does just fine like my Lula and lunchbox tote did. A little dye came out -but no major issues. I hope this goes well because this is a great bag

 

[whateve]

I just dunked a red bag with dark lining and it came out fine. The water turned red but after I dunked it, I noticed that there were some brighter red patches which scrubbed off. Now the color is more even and the stains are gone, but I didn't have any water stains. The only thing that doesn't do well in a lined purse is the creed patch. It absorbs water and warps.

 

[JOODLZ]

I am getting ready to work on 3 red bags! Two of them are burgandy and they are really dirty and definitely need baths, so I will have to take my chances with color loss.

The 3rd bag is a "true red" large shoulder sac 9730 from around 1989 and it is fairly clean and in very good condition. It does have some dirty areas and there are fairly extensive water marks on the bottom of the bag but that didn't show up in the photos.

I am debating surface cleaning versus dunking. There are AT pics of the bag at the link below, what are your opinions? Thanks!

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-694619-689.html#post21790455

The 2 red ones I recently did behaved quite differently. Less color in the bath water from the Basic Bag than Legacy Small Hobo. The Hobo was darker to begin with. But neither looked significantly different once they dried.

I agree with Jessi319's suggestion about cooler water. I tend to wash on the warm side.
Cooler might help keep the color stable.

Good luck...can't wait to see your results!

 

[katev]

I am getting ready to work on 3 red bags! Two of them are burgandy and they are really dirty and definitely need baths, so I will have to take my chances with color loss.

The 3rd bag is a "true red" large shoulder sac 9730 from around 1989 and it is fairly clean and in very good condition. It does have some dirty areas and there are fairly extensive water marks on the bottom of the bag but that didn't show up in the photos.

I am debating surface cleaning versus dunking. There are AT pics of the bag at the link below, what are your opinions? Thanks!

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-694619-689.html#post21790455

I don't think there's anyway to really get watermarks out without dunking the whole bag-but maybe I'm wrong. I would say it depends on how much it bothers you.

The red/burgundy bags I've dunked have not really come out noticeably lighter, even when the water changed color, I've just worried about the red bleeding-so I'd hesitate to dunk a red, lined bag.

You may have had different results though? Have we seen anything besides the red tribeca that had noticeable color loss or unevenness after a dunk?

ooh pretty. Every bag acts differently in water, but if it already has water spotting about the only thing that seems to even out those water rings is to get it all wet. Maybe in cooler water. The only real issues I've had is the dye leaching in an uneven "stripey" type pattern. Maybe if it's pulled out of the water and immediately toweled carefully? And then again, this may be one of those "reds" that does just fine like my Lula and lunchbox tote did. A little dye came out -but no major issues. I hope this goes well because this is a great bag

I just dunked a red bag with dark lining and it came out fine. The water turned red but after I dunked it, I noticed that there were some brighter red patches which scrubbed off. Now the color is more even and the stains are gone, but I didn't have any water stains. The only thing that doesn't do well in a lined purse is the creed patch. It absorbs water and warps.

The 2 red ones I recently did behaved quite differently. Less color in the bath water from the Basic Bag than Legacy Small Hobo. The Hobo was darker to begin with. But neither looked significantly different once they dried.

I agree with Jessi319's suggestion about cooler water. I tend to wash on the warm side.
Cooler might help keep the color stable.

Good luck...can't wait to see your results!

Washing in cool water is a good idea, too bad I didn't read that before I decided to go ahead and "take the plunge"!

I started by dunking the 2 burgandy bags in warm sudsy water and there was some color release into the water, but not bad at all.

Encouraged, I gave the red duffle a good looking-over and decided to wash it too. I added it to the suds with the other 2 bags and the water still just had a light redish tinge so I was encouraged to continue.

When I started rubbing the bags with a soft cloth to try and get out the dirt - that's when the water really started to turn red! My fingers were staining red too, so I had to put on rubber gloves.

The small burgandy bag seemed to bleed the most. By the time I was done the water looked like blood!

The rinse water had a lighter red color and the bags are drying now. They look okay for the moment, but they are wet so we will have to wait and see what happens.


Below are some pics of the washing process.

Pic 1: Hardware, the 2 burgandy bags had bad verdigris so I had to remove the turnlocks; they are soaking in vinegar and water.

Pic 2: Reddish-tinged suds after dunking and soaking the bags.

Pic 3: Blood-red water after vigorous washing.

Pic 4: Reddish rinse water and red-stained fingers.

Pic 5: Stuffed and drying.

 

[katev]

.

 

[Jessi319]

The small burgandy bag seemed to bleed the most. By the time I was done the water looked like blood!

.

It's just so strange how the same color in 2 different bags will react so differently. I imagine even cooler water would still cause some bleed since I don't often make my water more than tepid ever. These look like great bags so my fingers are crossed that they dry evenly!!!

 

[Jessi319]

My experience with "washing away" watermark has not been very good.

May I ask how you do it to get rid of the "ring"? My understanding is that the old water pushed the leather dye to the outer edge which created the ring, and if it sat for long (which most vintage bags are) the dye settled there permanately. I have not been able to wash out the ring on mine.

Yes when a smaller section of a purse's leather gets some kind of liquid on it, it often will cause the dye to "run" and shift outward to cause the ring. the problem is, we often don't know what kind of liquid it was that caused the watermark or ring -and that can cause it's own stain edge in addition to the dye's redistribution. We often have to wet the entire bag, hoping that we can erase the ring mark by causing all of the dye to evenly get wet then evenly dry again. I hope that made sense. It doesn't always work perfectly though.

 

[katev]

It's just so strange how the same color in 2 different bags will react so differently. I imagine even cooler water would still cause some bleed since I don't often make my water more than tepid ever. These look like great bags so my fingers are crossed that they dry evenly!!!

Thanks! I think that the difference must be due to different lots of dye.

 

[ledobe]

Washing in cool water is a good idea, too bad I didn't read that before I decided to go ahead and "take the plunge"!

I started by dunking the 2 burgandy bags in warm sudsy water and there was some color release into the water, but not bad at all.

Encouraged, I gave the red duffle a good looking-over and decided to wash it too. I added it to the suds with the other 2 bags and the water still just had a light redish tinge so I was encouraged to continue.

When I started rubbing the bags with a soft cloth to try and get out the dirt - that's when the water really started to turn red! My fingers were staining red too, so I had to put on rubber gloves.

The small burgandy bag seemed to bleed the most. By the time I was done the water looked like blood!

The rinse water had a lighter red color and the bags are drying now. They look okay for the moment, but they are wet so we will have to wait and see what happens.


Below are some pics of the washing process.

Pic 1: Hardware, the 2 burgandy bags had bad verdigris so I had to remove the turnlocks; they are soaking in vinegar and water.

Pic 2: Reddish-tinged suds after dunking and soaking the bags.

Pic 3: Blood-red water after vigorous washing.

Pic 4: Reddish rinse water and red-stained fingers.

Pic 5: Stuffed and drying.

I bet they'll look fine when they dry. The advantage to using warmer water is it will "break" the oily dirt in the bag quicker so overall you might have still ended up better

I about how it bleeds more when you "scrub". Still, it's better to get everything off the first time so you don't have to redunk. I think scrubbing somewhat evenly will also help keep the fading even.