Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[2Blessed]

I sure would appreciate some expert advise as I'm running into trouble rehabbing my stewardess bag.

I bathed her yesterday. I think there was/is shoe polish on it. The water was very black! There was still black crud coming off on my hands so I ran a new baths and soaked more. I rinsed it till the water was "clearer" and stuffed it to dry. Today after it's still damp, the back, the sides and flap are extremely rough - almost like dried up swede! The front under the flap is smooth and soft like leather should be but I'm concerned about the rest of the bag. I've put Neatsfoot oil on her but it's not doing much to help that rough leather! Not even sure if I got all the shoe polish or whatever it is out.

Another thing I noticed, the plastic tub I filled with water to hold her down in the bath came out with oily black "gunk" on it. Some of the "gunk" also stuck to the bottom of my sink. It was black and sticky, even hard to wipe out of the sink. Does anyone have any idea what I need to do to salvage this bag? Thanks for any and all help!!!

 

[AggieK]

I sure would appreciate some expert advise as I'm running into trouble rehabbing my stewardess bag.

I bathed her yesterday. I think there was/is shoe polish on it. The water was very black! There was still black crud coming off on my hands so I ran a new baths and soaked more. I rinsed it till the water was "clearer" and stuffed it to dry. Today after it's still damp, the back, the sides and flap are extremely rough - almost like dried up swede! The front under the flap is smooth and soft like leather should be but I'm concerned about the rest of the bag. I've put Neatsfoot oil on her but it's not doing much to help that rough leather! Not even sure if I got all the shoe polish or whatever it is out.

Another thing I noticed, the plastic tub I filled with water to hold her down in the bath came out with oily black "gunk" on it. Some of the "gunk" also stuck to the bottom of my sink. It was black and sticky, even hard to wipe out of the sink. Does anyone have any idea what I need to do to salvage this bag? Thanks for any and all help!!!

I'm no expert, but I've been following katev's instructions which included putting some conditioner (Lexol) on the bag while it's still damp, possible several times, and then I've finished with Black Rocks. In fact, a couple of times I thought I'd ruined a bag with the Black Rocks, but then it soaked in and made the leather feel great. I wonder if the "suede" feel is due to dryness.

 

[chowlover2]

I sure would appreciate some expert advise as I'm running into trouble rehabbing my stewardess bag.

I bathed her yesterday. I think there was/is shoe polish on it. The water was very black! There was still black crud coming off on my hands so I ran a new baths and soaked more. I rinsed it till the water was "clearer" and stuffed it to dry. Today after it's still damp, the back, the sides and flap are extremely rough - almost like dried up swede! The front under the flap is smooth and soft like leather should be but I'm concerned about the rest of the bag. I've put Neatsfoot oil on her but it's not doing much to help that rough leather! Not even sure if I got all the shoe polish or whatever it is out.

Another thing I noticed, the plastic tub I filled with water to hold her down in the bath came out with oily black "gunk" on it. Some of the "gunk" also stuck to the bottom of my sink. It was black and sticky, even hard to wipe out of the sink. Does anyone have any idea what I need to do to salvage this bag? Thanks for any and all help!!!

Do you have any Leather Therapy conditioner? Sometimes I use 3, 4 or more to plump up leather. I think she is just dry.

 

[2Blessed]

I'm no expert, but I've been following katev's instructions which included putting some conditioner (Lexol) on the bag while it's still damp, possible several times, and then I've finished with Black Rocks. In fact, a couple of times I thought I'd ruined a bag with the Black Rocks, but then it soaked in and made the leather feel great. I wonder if the "suede" feel is due to dryness.

Thanks AggieK. I have improved the bag some by coating it heavily with warm neatsfoot oil. I agree with you, I think the swede feel probably is dryness but it feels gritty for some reason. Right now the leather is like the swede boots that they sell as "oiled leather." :-/ Anyhow I'm hoping if I keep putting oil on it, it'll get better. If it doesn't I can always re-wash and start over I guess! I'm also concerned about there may still be polish or something on it. Don't know how to get it off if there is. :-/

 

[2Blessed]

Do you have any Leather Therapy conditioner? Sometimes I use 3, 4 or more to plump up leather. I think she is just dry.

No I don't have any but I'll order some. I do hope she is only dry! Otherwise she's in fairly good shape. Thanks for the suggestion chowlover2!

 

[katev]

No I don't have any but I'll order some. I do hope she is only dry! Otherwise she's in fairly good shape. Thanks for the suggestion chowlover2!

If it feels rough, it is probably dry.

 

[chowlover2]

I would keep applying conditioner till she feels moist. You have a head start with the Neatsfoot oil. Give a day between coats so it can soak in and absorb.

 

[2Blessed]

If it feels rough, it is probably dry.

It does feel rough. It didn't get rough till after the bath. It was distressed though! Thanks!

I would keep applying conditioner till she feels moist. You have a head start with the Neatsfoot oil. Give a day between coats so it can soak in and absorb.

Thanks, I'll give her another coat tomorrow. I think this could be a longer transition than I expected but whatever it takes to bring her back!

I'm glad for all the advise as I was thinking it was more than just the leather being dry.

 

[whateve]

It does feel rough. It didn't get rough till after the bath. It was distressed though! Thanks!



Thanks, I'll give her another coat tomorrow. I think this could be a longer transition than I expected but whatever it takes to bring her back!

I'm glad for all the advise as I was thinking it was more than just the leather being dry.

I think there is a possibility that you removed part of a coating on it but not all of it and that is why it is rough. I might trying to rub it with something to see it any more of it will come off. Blackrocks is a cleaner as well as conditioner so it might help remove whatever it is.

 

[2Blessed]

I think there is a possibility that you removed part of a coating on it but not all of it and that is why it is rough. I might trying to rub it with something to see it any more of it will come off. Blackrocks is a cleaner as well as conditioner so it might help remove whatever it is.

That could be. There were black flecks that came off on my hand when I was bathing her. Inside the pockets felt almost slimy in the first bath. I read here that someone else had that happen too but can't remember what everyone said about it. It finally went away after the second wash.

Another thing I noticed with this bag that hasn't happened with any of the others I've bathed, the dish soap suds disappeared and it looked like I had her in plain water, very black water within 5 minutes of putting her to soak. I used a fair amount of dawn and the suds were heavy when I put her in. I had to rinse the suds off the other bags before I put them into the rinse water to soak. This bag killed the suds right away in two different baths. I'm thinking only a chemicals or oil would do that?

I'll give Black rocks a try today then I'll go back to neatsfoot and conditioning the rest of this week! (And maybe next week! lol!) Thanks for the help and advise!

 

[chowlover2]

That could be. There were black flecks that came off on my hand when I was bathing her. Inside the pockets felt almost slimy in the first bath. I read here that someone else had that happen too but can't remember what everyone said about it. It finally went away after the second wash.

Another thing I noticed with this bag that hasn't happened with any of the others I've bathed, the dish soap suds disappeared and it looked like I had her in plain water, very black water within 5 minutes of putting her to soak. I used a fair amount of dawn and the suds were heavy when I put her in. I had to rinse the suds off the other bags before I put them into the rinse water to soak. This bag killed the suds right away in two different baths. I'm thinking only a chemicals or oil would do that?

I'll give Black rocks a try today then I'll go back to neatsfoot and conditioning the rest of this week! (And maybe next week! lol!) Thanks for the help and advise!

I had the slimey feeling inside one of the bags I rehabbed. I assumed it was shoe polish. Took 2 days of soaking to get it all out.

 

[2Blessed]

I had the slimey feeling inside one of the bags I rehabbed. I assumed it was shoe polish. Took 2 days of soaking to get it all out.

I've been thinking this bag had shoe polish just by the way the black flecks were peeling off in the bath. I looked at the before pictures and the swede part of the leather had a white residue that looked like salt would look if it were wet then dried on the leather. I'm still getting quite a bit of black rubbing off onto the buffing cloth too so I may put her back in the bath and see if I can improve things.

Did you leave yours in the same bath water to soak for two days or change out the water/soap frequently?

 

[chowlover2]

I've been thinking this bag had shoe polish just by the way the black flecks were peeling off in the bath. I looked at the before pictures and the swede part of the leather had a white residue that looked like salt would look if it were wet then dried on the leather. I'm still getting quite a bit of black rubbing off onto the buffing cloth too so I may put her back in the bath and see if I can improve things.

Did you leave yours in the same bath water to soak for two days or change out the water/soap frequently?

I changed the water every couple of hours til it ran clean. Soaked overnight and was still oozing brown so I kept going til that night when water was clear. I conditioned alot, like 4 days of Leather Therapy, 1 coat of Blackrock, 1 coat of Obenauf's, 1 coat of Blackrock and a final coat of Obenauf's. I like waterproof, plus I think the wax keeps moisture in the leather. And you don't have to worry about waterspots in the future.

 

[katev]

I've been thinking this bag had shoe polish just by the way the black flecks were peeling off in the bath. I looked at the before pictures and the swede part of the leather had a white residue that looked like salt would look if it were wet then dried on the leather. I'm still getting quite a bit of black rubbing off onto the buffing cloth too so I may put her back in the bath and see if I can improve things.

Did you leave yours in the same bath water to soak for two days or change out the water/soap frequently?

When you mentioned that bits of color were flaking off, it made me think of paste shoe polish too. I really had a hard time removing the polish from this bag:

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach/what-do-you-get-when-you-scrape-off-745867.html

 

[2Blessed]

I changed the water every couple of hours til it ran clean. Soaked overnight and was still oozing brown so I kept going til that night when water was clear. I conditioned alot, like 4 days of Leather Therapy, 1 coat of Blackrock, 1 coat of Obenauf's, 1 coat of Blackrock and a final coat of Obenauf's. I like waterproof, plus I think the wax keeps moisture in the leather. And you don't have to worry about waterspots in the future.

So did you soak in soapy water or plain water? I think I'll put mine back in the bath and try soaking like you did. Thanks!

When you mentioned that bits of color were flaking off, it made me think of paste shoe polish too. I really had a hard time removing the polish from this bag:

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach/what-do-you-get-when-you-scrape-off-745867.html

Wow! I hope mine comes out half a gorgeous as your did!! That came out beautifully.

I may have to take her to the washer like you did if things don't improve. What kind of soap did you use int the washer?