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YEAH! I am stalking your posts, as I have a courier pouch that I have been nervous about taking the oxi gel to, but I think I need to face the fact that I need to move to more drastic measures with her. Glad your bag is coming out so nicely
I am stalking your posts as well. I love your crescent bag, and I think you are on the right track. The stain almost looks like someone set the bag down in some dirty, salty snow.......just a guess. Can't wait to see how she turns out. Hang in there!
P.S.--For the stalkers (lol), here's 2 more pics.. nothing too exciting, but well, since you're stalking:
Here she is getting beaten by a gel stick, and then relaxing in her 2nd bath.... The water turned MUCH more yellow during the 2nd bath than the first, so I wonder if I mighta ended up leaching some dye and making her lighter... Which will be ok by me. As you can see, the line is still visible, but I'm still not panicking--I've also got Blackrock coming in the mail soon...
She's now drying again and I am wishing I could fast forward to around Monday! But all this rehabbing stuff today did a wicked number on my monarch mani (I was at day 6 with it anyways, so it was bound happen), but at least I can do a new nail job to kill a coupla hours... I'm thinking leopard print.
I was when I saw the black goo on your bag! I am one of the stalkers, so yay for another post 
I only ask because that's where I first spotted the monarches...Holy cannoli.. I've never used or even seen the gel stuff before, so you can probably imagine how
Also loving your monarch mani - just got started playing with my nails again, and the monarch was one of my inspirations. You don't happen to be a redditor, do you?
Was hoping for some feedback. I am rehabbing a very abused Basic Bag. The things was so dried out it felt like cardboard inside. It also had hairline cracking on the outside. I have bathed it and am planning on initially using almond oil on it to start. I know to start pretty early on this bag so it doesn't crack while drying, how damp do you think it should be? I am anxious to get something into the leather, but don't want to start too early
Welp, I think I'm ready to declare by first rehab complete...my 1998 Black Station Bag.
Some of you may remember that I had an issue with the back slip pocket coming undone on the left hand side and was flopping into the bag. I took it to the cobbler and wasn't willing to pay the cost to restitch it related to what I paid for the bag itself. Definitely a lesson learned in carefully looking over a vintage find before buying it! So, I ended up doing a dirty cheaters' trick. My main goal was to stop it from flapping into the bag, so I bought some Aleene's Fabric Fusion and glued the sucker down. :shame: Not how I would ideally deal with the issue, but the annoying flapping into the bag is gone.
For washing and conditioning, I used Woolite to give her a bath. Then, I ended up applying three applications of Leather Therapy Restorer and Conditioner (I love this stuff!). Then, last night, I hand massaged in some Cadillac Boot and Shoe Care. Finally, this morning, I used a product that I got as a sample with my Leather Therapy Restorer. It's called Leather Finish - basically it provides protection from sun, wind and moisture and leaves a nice, mellow glow to the leather. The product itself is a thin, white liquid - applied sparingly with a sponge.
For the hardware, I used Wright's brass polish and am very pleased with the results (but, like others, I gotta say that polishing the hardware is my least favorite part of the process!!). Then I mixed together some black acrylic paint (the thick kind in the tube) with some leather conditioner and touched up the edges on the bag and on the strap. That made a HUGE difference in the strap as it had a lot of color loss on the edges and looked dingy and gray. (I actually stole this strap from my Pocket Purse, which is still finishing up its rehab process - had to use Leather Filler on that bag due to some areas of dry rot - I'll be posting after pics of that one soon) - and I'll probably just trade the strap back and forth between the two bags.
Coach is sending me a new hang tag, and then I think she's good to go! I'm posting a before pic for comparison, along with a few different angles of after shots. For my first time doing this, I'm really happy with how it turned out - but I'd love to hear what you ladies think! And, most importantly, thank you all so much for your advice, ideas and encouragement - you all rock!!
Can't wait to load this little lady up and start using her!!
eehlers said:Welp, I think I'm ready to declare by first rehab complete...my 1998 Black Station Bag.
Some of you may remember that I had an issue with the back slip pocket coming undone on the left hand side and was flopping into the bag. I took it to the cobbler and wasn't willing to pay the cost to restitch it related to what I paid for the bag itself. Definitely a lesson learned in carefully looking over a vintage find before buying it! So, I ended up doing a dirty cheaters' trick. My main goal was to stop it from flapping into the bag, so I bought some Aleene's Fabric Fusion and glued the sucker down. :shame: Not how I would ideally deal with the issue, but the annoying flapping into the bag is gone.
For washing and conditioning, I used Woolite to give her a bath. Then, I ended up applying three applications of Leather Therapy Restorer and Conditioner (I love this stuff!). Then, last night, I hand massaged in some Cadillac Boot and Shoe Care. Finally, this morning, I used a product that I got as a sample with my Leather Therapy Restorer. It's called Leather Finish - basically it provides protection from sun, wind and moisture and leaves a nice, mellow glow to the leather. The product itself is a thin, white liquid - applied sparingly with a sponge.
For the hardware, I used Wright's brass polish and am very pleased with the results (but, like others, I gotta say that polishing the hardware is my least favorite part of the process!!). Then I mixed together some black acrylic paint (the thick kind in the tube) with some leather conditioner and touched up the edges on the bag and on the strap. That made a HUGE difference in the strap as it had a lot of color loss on the edges and looked dingy and gray. (I actually stole this strap from my Pocket Purse, which is still finishing up its rehab process - had to use Leather Filler on that bag due to some areas of dry rot - I'll be posting after pics of that one soon) - and I'll probably just trade the strap back and forth between the two bags.
Coach is sending me a new hang tag, and then I think she's good to go! I'm posting a before pic for comparison, along with a few different angles of after shots. For my first time doing this, I'm really happy with how it turned out - but I'd love to hear what you ladies think! And, most importantly, thank you all so much for your advice, ideas and encouragement - you all rock!!
Can't wait to load this little lady up and start using her!!
