Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[whateve]

I washed a sheridan glenwood bag and it came out fine:
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach/wh...unk-bag-shouldnt-get-689911.html#post19266585

Thank you. I guess I'll give it a quick dunk but I am a little nervous.

 

[katev]

I think it's beautiful as is -but I know you'd love to get the inner and outer to match! Its such a cute bag!

I think this looks great as is! I'd be afraid to do more to it myself, and it's a nice color.

Thanks! I don't think I will do much more to the casey, maybe just one more application of blackrocks. I think it looks much better, especially for a garage sale bag that only cost $2.50! She's a cutie!

 

[whateve]

Does anyone have some ideas on raising the creed number on a worn bag? I have a little brown leather bag, (not sure of name), marked with a legit creed that is light from wear. The number under the creed is unreadable. If I run my finger over it, I can feel the imprint from where it once was. I have looked at it in dim light, bright light, day light, artificial light, but no luck. I am not very worried about authenticiy, just mostly curious to what the number once was!

I even debated looking through the microscope at work, but my coworkers would think me nuts.

Did you try rubbing powder over the creed so you could get some contrast?

 

[whateve]

Crescent bag is done. Not super psyched with the restorer stuff, but it's good enough.
Dye is dry, brass is polished, only thing left to do is condition (gonna just use Apple because I don't wanna risk doing ANYTHING to mess this thing up ever again LOL)... Oh, and wait for a hangtag to come in the mail.

Wow, super amazing job! I knew you would do a good job, but I didn't expect it to look new!

 

[katev]

Does anyone have some ideas on raising the creed number on a worn bag? I have a little brown leather bag, (not sure of name), marked with a legit creed that is light from wear. The number under the creed is unreadable. If I run my finger over it, I can feel the imprint from where it once was. I have looked at it in dim light, bright light, day light, artificial light, but no luck. I am not very worried about authenticiy, just mostly curious to what the number once was!

I even debated looking through the microscope at work, but my coworkers would think me nuts.

It often helps to brush the creed with a light-colored eye shadow to bring out the wording and numbers.

 

[gallina66]

I only used a tiny amount of conditioner really, it didn't seem to be going on as well with it... So I used a minimal amount. Hope I didn't screw it up more

Oh I'm sorry you don't like the way it looks . It depends on the effect I want. If the bag needs a little spruce up then I use a lot of conditioner and mix in the refinisher as a tint. If the bag needs a complete make over then I use less conditioner to refinisher ratio. I have even done it straight out of the jar. It dries quickly but doesn't set for a couple of days. I have taken a lot of conditioner and rubbed it into the leather with my fingers and have lifted the refinisher off of the leather and started over. After a week the only way to lift is with acetone. That happened with a Kristin but that bag was so screwed up I had nothing to lose.
I like the refinisher because you can mix the colors to match the leather. I just redid a Chadwick and I noticed that the medium brown had a tinge of green. Maybe the color is more yellow than green?
Here is a picture of the side of my Kristin. The hangtag is the original color and the side shows the refinisher color. This was no conditioner turquoise mixed with a little black to give smoke blue. The bag was conditioned after a week.
The Kristin was so scuffed and the acetone left the color uneven. I could have had the bag dyed but the cost to have it done would have merited buying a new one.
Good luck with the bag. Let me know if I can help.

 

[Rambler]

Here is my most recent rescue project:

He was in front of my house Thursday morning ....

Sweet.

 

[gallina66]

I used a sponge to apply it and I thought that the dye/conditioner mix was much easier to to use than acrylic paint, and I am pleased that it doesn't have that chalky look that you sometimes get with paint. But the color looks more "irridescent" than is typical of vintage coach bags. Maybe the shine will diminish over time.

One area of concern. The manufacturer claims that the dye will not rub off on hands or clothes and it did dry very quickly. But the last step in the process is to wipe it down with a soft cloth and I've just done that, and I got a faint blue tinge on the white cloth. But it may still be drying - I just applied the dye last night - so I will keep an eye on that issue for a few days.

Before I applied the dye I rewashed the bag in the washer in warm water to get all the conditioner and black rocks out of it, and I think that was a good idea.

The directions say to apply the dye straight out of the jar but I decided to mix it with leather cpr because the bag was so dry after washing (and Gallina said that she has mixed it with conditioner in the past.)

But I would do a few things differently if I did it over. The navy dye is brighter and more purple than Coach navy color. I would probably buy a jar of black and mix the two shades to get a darker navy blue. I may still do that and apply a second coat of dye.

I would also remove the turnlock hardware to make it easier to apply the dye. And I would wear disposable plastic gloves. I wore my new pair of kitchen rubber gloves and they were ruined. But it was easy to clean up the dye from other surfaces using plain water.

The first pic below is of the bag after I rewashed it to remove the conditioners and let it dry. The last 4 pictures are after I dyed the bag and I think it is a big improvement but not perfect. But at least I won't be afraid to dye a bag in the future if I think it is necessary!

Oh the bag looks wonderful. Yes, I agree some black mixed into it would probably tone down the purple tinge. The Kristin satchel I finished in June I have used non stop since then and the color still looks great. Nothing on my white pants or hands. The color really sticks. I made smoke blue with turquoise and black. So far I am really happy with the results. I also have a navy city bag to refinish. When I'm done I'll post my pics. Sending my boys back to college has consumed all my time.

 

[gallina66]

I used a sponge to apply it and I thought that the dye/conditioner mix was much easier to to use than acrylic paint, and I am pleased that it doesn't have that chalky look that you sometimes get with paint. But the color looks more "irridescent" than is typical of vintage coach bags. Maybe the shine will diminish over time.

One area of concern. The manufacturer claims that the dye will not rub off on hands or clothes and it did dry very quickly. But the last step in the process is to wipe it down with a soft cloth and I've just done that, and I got a faint blue tinge on the white cloth. But it may still be drying - I just applied the dye last night - so I will keep an eye on that issue for a few days.

Before I applied the dye I rewashed the bag in the washer in warm water to get all the conditioner and black rocks out of it, and I think that was a good idea.

The directions say to apply the dye straight out of the jar but I decided to mix it with leather cpr because the bag was so dry after washing (and Gallina said that she has mixed it with conditioner in the past.)

But I would do a few things differently if I did it over. The navy dye is brighter and more purple than Coach navy color. I would probably buy a jar of black and mix the two shades to get a darker navy blue. I may still do that and apply a second coat of dye.

I would also remove the turnlock hardware to make it easier to apply the dye. And I would wear disposable plastic gloves. I wore my new pair of kitchen rubber gloves and they were ruined. But it was easy to clean up the dye from other surfaces using plain water.

The first pic below is of the bag after I rewashed it to remove the conditioners and let it dry. The last 4 pictures are after I dyed the bag and I think it is a big improvement but not perfect. But at least I won't be afraid to dye a bag in the future if I think it is necessary!

Oh btw I didn't wear gloves and it washed right off my hands. If you font like the color you can wash right off. After a few hours you can lift by massaging in conditioner and wiping off. Most will come off. After a few days acetone is the only way.

 

[gallina66]

Crescent bag is done. Not super psyched with the restorer stuff, but it's good enough.
Dye is dry, brass is polished, only thing left to do is condition (gonna just use Apple because I don't wanna risk doing ANYTHING to mess this thing up ever again LOL)... Oh, and wait for a hangtag to come in the mail.

Looks great. Let the color set for more than a week before you condition. Go light with the conditioner at first do it doesn't pick up the color. After a month I was able to condition my smoke blue Kristin without lifting color.

 

[katev]

I wonder if the blackrocks picked up the color because you had mixed it with conditioner? Maybe straight-up is better...their website says it won't rub off Or maybe it's just better to CPR and be done with it...

I'm anxiously following this, please keep us updated! I am not sure what to do with my Musette, it's got oily spots that actually got darker after washing. I love this bag and I'm not sure how much I want to experiment on it, in fact I have carried it with the spots. The cool thing about working at a university is there are plenty of battered old bags between the students and the nutty professors.

It came out nice, good to know the BlackRocks affected it. I don't think BR does much to Fiebings, now I'm going to have to try to remember where I've used it. Pretty sure I've used it on bags I've touched up with Fiebings though.

Oh btw I didn't wear gloves and it washed right off my hands. If you font like the color you can wash right off. After a few hours you can lift by massaging in conditioner and wiping off. Most will come off. After a few days acetone is the only way.

Thanks, I will try again when next I have a chance and let it sit a good long time before lightly conditioning it.

 

[katev]

A few members who saw this on the AT thread had better sit down! I bought this "hot mess" of a Coach bag a few days ago at a Goodwill Bargain Center (clothing @ $1.69/lb., $1 purses and $2 shoes, yes, that's right) a few days ago. Another customer picked it up and immediately threw it down and looked at her hands like she might have gotten "cooties!" I grabbed it. Here's a link to the "befores"...what was I thinking? She was filthy! Hyacinth said I'm probably right thinking she's a Penelope Optic Signature Lunch Tote #F15436.
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-763164-84.html#post22645062

First she had her lining and pockets thoroughly cleaned with a dry toothbrush. Then she got a plain, warm-water soak. Then she got completely sprayed down - inside and out - with Mean Green (I think my hubby said he had diluted it a little.) Then I started with a toothbrush on the dirtiest part - the bottom - and scrubbed her down - inside and out. Scrubbed in a circular pattern, as the weave of the fabric goes many directions...the imbedded dirt did too! Miracle of miracles! She started getting cleaner and cleaner and cleaner. Sprayed on more...scrubbed more. Then I threw her in the sink, again in plain warm water and rinsed a while. Lots of brownish, yucky water. Sprayed her down and scrubbed one last time. The fabric on all 4 bottom corners is a little worn, so I finally made myself stop. Gave her a thorough rinse and stuffed her.

The drier she got, the lighter she became! I've known for a very long time that Coach cowhide is tough, but never imagined that the fabric bags would be so resilient! The bottom of the lining didn't come completely clean, but only a couple of shades off. The outside positively glows! Gave the leather some CPR and I'm done! Though I've always been a BIG fan of Coach leather, she's my youngest and newest favorite! Can anyone help me pin down her age?

Unbelievable difference! I know that Coach fabric bags are tough, I once rehabbed a filthy canvas bag with red wine stains! You might try putting fray-check on the bottom corners to keep them from further wear. Nice job!

 

[katev]

Here is my most recent rescue project:

He was in front of my house Thursday morning when I went out for my run. He followed me and I let him because I figured maybe I'd get lucky and run across his owners looking for him. He followed me for 3 miles and minded me the whole time, so I came home, put him in my dog run, and got ready for work. I only had one time to put one sign out on my way out to work, but when I got home, he was still in the yard happy to see me, so I bought a $5 bag of dog food, put an ad on Craig's list, and got him settled for the night.

The next day on my way HOME from work, I drove around across the other side of the highway and found a "Lost Boxer" sign and was able to reunite him with a dad and his three daughters. About a half hour later I got a tearful voicemail from the mom thanking me for taking care of the dog. So he kept me busy for two days, but fortunately I didn't have to spend my Saturday morning taking him somewhere to get scanned for a microchip.

That's wonderful, and so nice of you!

 

[katev]

I posted about this bag in the "bargain" thread, I'm going to say it was $5 even though the shippping brought it a little over $20. I DID notice that before I bid but I took the plunge anyway. Anyway, I found it on the Wayback machine and it is from Spring 2000 a New SUEDE LACED SMALL SLIM DUFFLE, 48” adjustable strap11 3/4 (L) x 10 (H) x 3 (W) in Pool. Price: $228 Style No: 9112

Here is the before, you can't really tell but it was really dirty at the top near the zipper:

I pulled up where the buckle attachment covered the suede so you can see what the color was originally and how dirty it was:

Strangely, the bottom was probably the cleanest part:

It was no where near as dirty as the shearling bag I cleaned up (I don't think I ever posted afters), but I didn't expect it to clean up as well because I think the blue was probably faded. I am just guessing, but I wonder if the light colored suede bags don't suffer from the natural "brown" of the leather showing through after awhile? Just a guess.

Anyway, I sprayed it with "Shout", scrubbed it with a wash cloth, and threw her in the washer with some towels. I always do an extra rinse with my bags, and sometimes restart it and do an extra rinse cycle to make sure I get all the soap out. I actually took the strap off and just threw it in towards the end, during the rinse cycle to clean and "flatten" where the buckles were attached.

After I took it out, I went over it gently with a suede brush and hung it to dry. I doubled the strap for the picture, because it was LONG and it was hard to get the whole thing in a picture. I would def wear this long and cross body. As I expected, the new legacy tassel I bought with my last PCE was a near perfect match, so I put it on for her photo shoot:

Here she is with her "I don't need no stinkin' rehab" small Marielle that I found the same day:

The nap isn't quite laying right, but I have found when I've worked with other suede items that after it's used and softened a bit, it just comes back. I did lightly brush it. The disadvantage to suede is that it's a little stiff and there's really no way to condition the leather.

It's a tiny little bag, I think it would be perfect for an iPad, but it came out pretty cute. I just realized I didn't spray her with suede protector yet but I will probably do that next.

The marielle is gorgeous and the difference in the blue suede bag is amazing!

 

[katev]

Crescent bag is done. Not super psyched with the restorer stuff, but it's good enough.
Dye is dry, brass is polished, only thing left to do is condition (gonna just use Apple because I don't wanna risk doing ANYTHING to mess this thing up ever again LOL)... Oh, and wait for a hangtag to come in the mail.

Amazing transformation!

I got the multiquote messed up, I was trying to send this message to m3rma1d!