katev said:
It looks beautiful! Wish you were my neighbor, I would get you to help me fix my leather bag!
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
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It looks beautiful! Wish you were my neighbor, I would get you to help me fix my leather bag!
handbagvirgin1 said:Hello all! I have a rehab that's about 90% done. Pics in a second.
The backstory is that I had been stalking the Coach City Bag on the Coach website. I only recently got into handbags (hence my screenname), and I found that I was more drawn to the classic styles than trendy ones.
Anyhoo, my dh asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him. He made plans to take me to the Coach store, but I have a tendency to get nervous about paying full price for things, and that's exactly what happened. I came here to see if I could find any information about Coach sales and outlets, etc. Then I came across a few threads discussing the how much better the leather quality was on the old Coaches.
I started thinking...why should I pay full price for a new Coach that would be of lesser quality? To make a long story short, I found THIS thread, read every page, then made a decision. I wanted a vintage Coach City.
I found one on ebay, had it authenticated here, and bought. When she finally arrived, I had a moment of intense panic because she was pretty...deflated, for lack of a better word. Soft, flimsy, flat, and very blah. I thought oh no, what have I done?
I bathed her, rinsed her, stuffed her, and let her dry to about 70%, then I massaged some Leather CPR in and polished the brass. Once she's fully dry I'm going to condition her again and touch up the straps with some black acrylic paint.
I'm in love! I'm SO happy with her and I can't thank you ladies enough for the wealth of information here.
Thanks for reading that long, boring story! And now, here she is, before:
And after:
I'll be getting some paint from Michael's tomorrow to touch up a few areas. I can't wait to start using her!!!
Unfortunately, there is a sad ending to this story. I have been bitten by the rehab bug and there are currently 14 items on my watch list. It's not looking too good for me at the moment.
Wow that turned out beautiful! I,m having to redo a convertible clutch that kind of didn't turn out right the first time. Got some good info here to I am at it again!
Hello all! I have a rehab that's about 90% done. Pics in a second.
The backstory is that I had been stalking the Coach City Bag on the Coach website. I only recently got into handbags (hence my screenname
Anyhoo, my dh asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him. He made plans to take me to the Coach store, but I have a tendency to get nervous about paying full price for things, and that's exactly what happened. I came here to see if I could find any information about Coach sales and outlets, etc. Then I came across a few threads discussing the how much better the leather quality was on the old Coaches.
I started thinking...why should I pay full price for a new Coach that would be of lesser quality? To make a long story short, I found THIS thread, read every page, then made a decision. I wanted a vintage Coach City.
I found one on ebay, had it authenticated here, and bought. When she finally arrived, I had a moment of intense panic because she was pretty...deflated, for lack of a better word. Soft, flimsy, flat, and very blah. I thought oh no, what have I done?
I bathed her, rinsed her, stuffed her, and let her dry to about 70%, then I massaged some Leather CPR in and polished the brass. Once she's fully dry I'm going to condition her again and touch up the straps with some black acrylic paint.
I'm in love! I'm SO happy with her and I can't thank you ladies enough for the wealth of information here.
Thanks for reading that long, boring story! And now, here she is, before:
And after:
I'll be getting some paint from Michael's tomorrow to touch up a few areas. I can't wait to start using her!!!
Unfortunately, there is a sad ending to this story. I have been bitten by the rehab bug and there are currently 14 items on my watch list. It's not looking too good for me at the moment.
haha. made me laugh! And I am loving your first refurb!!! GREAT JOB. You picked the perfect first bag to start with. Some of them will be like this, and some will frustrate the heck out of you. But it's SO FUN to bring these gals back to beautiful. Congrats
Katev - I'm going through this thread collecting tips on rehab/rescue. For this specific project, did you do anything specific for the scuffs on the piping of the bag? Or did the conditioner do such a remarkable job smoothing out the scuffs? This bag looks terrific now!
Following up on this (next time I'll try to combine my questions into one longer post) - as I understand, any edge treatments are done after the bag is dry (or almost completely dry) but before leather conditioner is applied? What is the impact of the extra 24 hour drying on the absorption of conditioner? Because some other posts mention that it's important to get the conditioning process going soon after the bag dries.
Also, have you ever had to re-wash a vintage leather bag after applying acrylic paint? And does the paint flake off? I ask because I can imagine that over time and with heavy use, a rehabbed bag might need another wash and reshaping, and I don't know what the impact of the acrylic paint would be. I am really eager to start conditioning a bag that is almost dry, but I think I will take the extra time to get some acrylic paint first.
No touch-ups were needed for the piping. Just washing and conditioning took care of the worn faded areas. And Black Rocks does a great job of hiding the flaws.
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach/coach-rehab-and-rescue-club-624452-6.html#post18255060
I guess it varies, the edge treatments are one of the last things I do and I have often already applied some conditioner. It's never been a problem but others may have different opinions.
I usually give the bag an application of conditioner while it is almost dry but still damp to slow down the drying a bit and keep it from cracking. If the bag was very dry before I started I will probably start applying the conditioner a bit sooner, while it is a bit wetter.
I have only re-washed bags that I have painted shortly after applying the paint, if I didn't like the way the paint looked. Maybe someone else has done that. I keep the bags stuffed and it a dustbag or pillowcase and I haven't found the need to rewash or reshape of them yet.
I have never had trouble with paint flaking off. It seems permanent after it has time to dry - but perhaps someone else has more information.
It looks like it was either used as a cutting board, or a cat used it as a scratching post.Oh wow! Looks like someone threw it under a mower
Thank you, Katev, for your thoughtful answers. Your posts have been such a source of inspiration! I am really low-tech with pictures so I will just tell you what I've done so far. I got a Rambler's Legacy on eB*y and it was described as black in one place and blue in another place in the listing - paid 34.99 plus shipping - in the initial excitement of the project (my first rehab - original pictures can be seen as item 251094229216 on eB*y). I was too scared to get the leather wet, so I just used some Coach Leather Conditioner that I already had. Even after multiple coats, it just felt softer, but it was still quite out of shape and dingy looking.
I was going to donate it, but a few weeks later, I've decided to give it a go - did a cool water wash with delicate-wash detergent (something like Woolite, quite mild) and rinse. I did not wash it for very long as it was quite clean, less than 10 minutes plus cool water rinses over several minutes.
I was surprised/concerned that it started to dry within an hour. I made sure to stuff some small rags in it and it was dry enough after 5-6 hours for one coat of Leather CPR. It continues to dry and I plan to give it another dose of Leather CPR tomorrow evening. The BEST part of the experience so far:
(1) Amazing reshaping from the bath - it just popped back into a flat/triangular shape - no sagging now!
(2) Brightened up the color - which was either a dark dark blue or a faded black. I think it will end up being black.
The piping scuffs are somewhat improved, and I am hopeful they will look better after more conditioning. I can also report that for the brass ball chain, Cape Code metal polishing cloths work very well. I have had one set of these cloths (Bed Bath & Beyond) for years, and they clean brass, silver, and numerous other metals. I can see these would be hard to use on turnlocks without getting the adjacent leather, but for the ball chain it was very easy to polish it up.
Will report further progress soon, I hope!
Yes, those light-colored ones are often a PITA...but I think she's beautiful. Once again, a lovely job well done!
Hello all! I have a rehab that's about 90% done. Pics in a second.
The backstory is that I had been stalking the Coach City Bag on the Coach website. I only recently got into handbags (hence my screenname
Anyhoo, my dh asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him. He made plans to take me to the Coach store, but I have a tendency to get nervous about paying full price for things, and that's exactly what happened. I came here to see if I could find any information about Coach sales and outlets, etc. Then I came across a few threads discussing the how much better the leather quality was on the old Coaches.
I started thinking...why should I pay full price for a new Coach that would be of lesser quality? To make a long story short, I found THIS thread, read every page, then made a decision. I wanted a vintage Coach City.
I found one on ebay, had it authenticated here, and bought. When she finally arrived, I had a moment of intense panic because she was pretty...deflated, for lack of a better word. Soft, flimsy, flat, and very blah. I thought oh no, what have I done?
I bathed her, rinsed her, stuffed her, and let her dry to about 70%, then I massaged some Leather CPR in and polished the brass. Once she's fully dry I'm going to condition her again and touch up the straps with some black acrylic paint.
I'm in love! I'm SO happy with her and I can't thank you ladies enough for the wealth of information here.
Thanks for reading that long, boring story! And now, here she is, before:
And after:
I'll be getting some paint from Michael's tomorrow to touch up a few areas. I can't wait to start using her!!!
Unfortunately, there is a sad ending to this story. I have been bitten by the rehab bug and there are currently 14 items on my watch list. It's not looking too good for me at the moment.
Wow...what a wonderful result...especially if this is your first time! You just can't go wrong with a classic Coach bag! Leather CPR is one of my favorite conditioners for breathing new life into old leather. And if you can find Blackrocks Leather n Rich, it's good for a finish treatment...seems to bring back the depth of color, especially on dark colors, and adds a nice glow. You can find it at a tack shop or online. After you apply it (sparingly - read the directions) and let it dry, it buffs to a really nice sheen. Sounds like you've got the bug...like the rest of us here. Welcome!
YIKES! Someone should be charged with "bag abuse" or "cruelty to a bag!" I'm not sure there's anything that could be done for that poor old girl...what a shame!
So glad to hear that you decided to attempt rehabbing instead of donating that pretty bag! See auction link below. I think that it may turn out to be a dark navy but I am sure it will rehab well and look great. It's intact and in good shape, just worn. And the navy is less common than the black rambler.
Some bags are so dry that they just suck in the moisture and you can moisturize them over and over and they still feel dry. So don't be afraid to give it multiple applications of Leather CPR but give the leather time to rest in between applications and don't let the conditioner build up and "cake" around the seams and piping.
I know that I have been preaching the Black Rocks lately, but it does a great job of "finishing" bags and really bringing back the color and covering scuffs and worn areas. If you think that you may rehab more bags in the future then you should get some.
I find that Q-tips (lots of Q-tips) work well for cleaning the hardware. I will look for the Cape Cod cloths next time I am in BB&B.
Good luck!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAP...6AOHFhDZiLRYlipNNi7nQ%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
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It's incredible how much a bath can help improve the appearance of a leather bag. I think that most of us were afraid to dunk a bag for the first time but now it is my preferred approach and I only hesitate for rare or delicate bags.
Below are before and after pics of a black rambler I rehabbed. It was in pretty good shape to begin with but it rehabbed beautifully.
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach/why-pay-258-when-you-can-spend-17-a-749153.html
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