Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[pittcat]

Ok, I am laughing at the person's comment on the photo "where can I get one".... well... scour ebay for months on end, have several failed attempts to win one....patience my friend, patience

Lol I liked that comment too... Granted I haven't been looking for vintage bags that long but if they only knew hahaha

 

[ledobe]

This is my first time uploading a picture here hopefully this works so you can see what coach posted!

Yes ! how I love this bag!!

Does this bag seem a little taller/rounder than a Musette? Is a "Swag bag " a different style?

Thanks for sharing Pittcat!

 

[SEWDimples]

I recently rehabbed this exact bag! This was my second Dakota, and I have to say, not sure if it is the leather or just my luck, but they both were extremely dry! Here is what I did:
-cleaned inside with wet washcloth, interiors were in good condition
-cleaned outside with Lexol Leather cleaner
-Did several coats of Leather Therapy Oil
-polished hardware, touched up edging (there is a TON of edging on these Dakota's)
-Both were STILL dry so I then used Obenauf's oil, not the heavier LP
-Finished with Blackrocks, to avoid any build up in the crevices on box leather, I carefully rubbed the tiniest amounts between my two fingers, applied very lightly, then went over the area with a clean toothbrush
-On the bridle leather trim, you can just rub in the Blackrocks as normal

FINISHED!

Here is the one I did:

Looks great! What did you use to touch up edging? Thanks for the information. I appreciate it. I will give it a try.

 

[Porter4]

Looks great! What did you use to touch up edging? Thanks for the information. I appreciate it. I will give it a try.

I used Fiebings EdgeKote in brown

 

[SEWDimples]

I used Fiebings EdgeKote in brown

Great! I will order some. Thanks again.

 

[abl13]

Hello

I am doing my very first rehab on a black legacy studio flap. I think it is going ok, but I have 2 issues:

1. I noticed when I purchased it that the edges are worn. Didn't think this was a big deal, but after I cleaned it I could see that someone had used a Sharpie (Sharpie!!!) in an attempt to color in the edges. Now they just look a lot shinier than the rest of the bag, and have almost a red tone. I was going to use Kiwi leather dye on it, does anyone have any better suggestions?

2. I noticed that the hardware on the bag is brass however the strap is detachable and someone replaced the strap with a newer one that has silver hardware. Probably no one would notice but it irks me that they don't match. Has anyone had success getting a replacement strap? I've searched ebay with no luck.

Thanks!!!

 

[chowlover2]

Hello

I am doing my very first rehab on a black legacy studio flap. I think it is going ok, but I have 2 issues:

1. I noticed when I purchased it that the edges are worn. Didn't think this was a big deal, but after I cleaned it I could see that someone had used a Sharpie (Sharpie!!!) in an attempt to color in the edges. Now they just look a lot shinier than the rest of the bag, and have almost a red tone. I was going to use Kiwi leather dye on it, does anyone have any better suggestions?

2. I noticed that the hardware on the bag is brass however the strap is detachable and someone replaced the strap with a newer one that has silver hardware. Probably no one would notice but it irks me that they don't match. Has anyone had success getting a replacement strap? I've searched ebay with no luck.

Thanks!!!

You could use Edgekote, that's what they are sealed with to begin with.

 

[ledobe]

Hello

I am doing my very first rehab on a black legacy studio flap. I think it is going ok, but I have 2 issues:

1. I noticed when I purchased it that the edges are worn. Didn't think this was a big deal, but after I cleaned it I could see that someone had used a Sharpie (Sharpie!!!) in an attempt to color in the edges. Now they just look a lot shinier than the rest of the bag, and have almost a red tone. I was going to use Kiwi leather dye on it, does anyone have any better suggestions?

2. I noticed that the hardware on the bag is brass however the strap is detachable and someone replaced the strap with a newer one that has silver hardware. Probably no one would notice but it irks me that they don't match. Has anyone had success getting a replacement strap? I've searched ebay with no luck.

Thanks!!!

Are you talking about sharpie on the edges of the strap, or on the piping around the bag?

 

[ledobe]

OK, I keep saying I'm going to post these and I am finally getting around to it. I have just barely been using my laptop lately, it's time for a new one, and it's next to impossible to do this on my tablet and phone. (also please note that some of my weird spelling errors are due to posting from my tablet).

Anyway, I have this shoulder flap bag from the lightweights collection that I picked up for about $16 on eBay. I have one of these in bone and I really like it, and even though I need another BT bag like I need a hole in the head, I couldn't resist picking this one up. I posted the before pictures somewhere else, probably the vintage thread. The bag was in in good, clean condition, and it only had this one issue, the piping and edging in various places around the bag was pretty worn:

I was hoping a bath and conditioning would help as it often does with British Tan bags but it came out looking about the same. So, even though I value the burnishing on my older bags, I opted to use the same leather refinisher that I had used on my Musette on this bag. I am sure this lightweights bag is British Tan, in fact I switch the hangtag that came with it on one of my other bags, and it's almost the same, it's just a teensy bit browner, there was slightly less red to the color than my other bags. If the British Tan on this lightweights bag had been n exact match with the refinisher and my other BT bags, I probably would have JUST done the edging, but I needed to do the entire bag to make this look good.



So, here it is, snuggled up with my other BT bags. The Musette in the back has been refinished using the same product, the two girls peeking on the sides are au natural:

AND, as an interesting note, I just did the top of the little gathered inside pocket. I wanted to let the rest of the bag dry, and then prop the pocket open and do the rest of the inside pocket so there wouldn't be a noticeable line. However, once the bag had dried, there really wasn't a noticeable line anyway, so I left it as is, this has only been "refinished" just about to where that stitching is about one inch from the top, but it's a good match and I can't even tell where it ends:

Here's the back of the bag. It's worth noting here that my iPhone pix all seem to be darker on the right side, not sure why. Also, I haven't done the strap on this bag yet, so you can see it's still kind of dingy looking compared to the rest of it. I hadn't decided whether it was best to do edge coat first and then use the refinisher, plus, I wanted to wait till the bag was dry because I KNEW I was going to have some sort of disaster if I didn't. It's been hanging around waiting me to finish it for a month, but I thought I'd take the pictures now while I'm thinking about it:

 

[pittcat]

OK, I keep saying I'm going to post these and I am finally getting around to it. I have just barely been using my laptop lately, it's time for a new one, and it's next to impossible to do this on my tablet and phone. (also please note that some of my weird spelling errors are due to posting from my tablet).

Anyway, I have this shoulder flap bag from the lightweights collection that I picked up for about $16 on eBay. I have one of these in bone and I really like it, and even though I need another BT bag like I need a hole in the head, I couldn't resist picking this one up. I posted the before pictures somewhere else, probably the vintage thread. The bag was in in good, clean condition, and it only had this one issue, the piping and edging in various places around the bag was pretty worn:

I was hoping a bath and conditioning would help as it often does with British Tan bags but it came out looking about the same. So, even though I value the burnishing on my older bags, I opted to use the same leather refinisher that I had used on my Musette on this bag. I am sure this lightweights bag is British Tan, in fact I switch the hangtag that came with it on one of my other bags, and it's almost the same, it's just a teensy bit browner, there was slightly less red to the color than my other bags. If the British Tan on this lightweights bag had been n exact match with the refinisher and my other BT bags, I probably would have JUST done the edging, but I needed to do the entire bag to make this look good.



So, here it is, snuggled up with my other BT bags. The Musette in the back has been refinished using the same product, the two girls peeking on the sides are au natural:

AND, as an interesting note, I just did the top of the little gathered inside pocket. I wanted to let the rest of the bag dry, and then prop the pocket open and do the rest of the inside pocket so there wouldn't be a noticeable line. However, once the bag had dried, there really wasn't a noticeable line anyway, so I left it as is, this has only been "refinished" just about to where that stitching is about one inch from the top, but it's a good match and I can't even tell where it ends:

Here's the back of the bag. It's worth noting here that my iPhone pix all seem to be darker on the right side, not sure why. Also, I haven't done the strap on this bag yet, so you can see it's still kind of dingy looking compared to the rest of it. I hadn't decided whether it was best to do edge coat first and then use the refinisher, plus, I wanted to wait till the bag was dry because I KNEW I was going to have some sort of disaster if I didn't. It's been hanging around waiting me to finish it for a month, but I thought I'd take the pictures now while I'm thinking about it:

Wow!! Looks great! Sorry if I missed it but what product is that? I am working on a British tan duffle 9085 and just got done giving it a bath and noticed it looks a lot better when it's a little darker because there are a few pen marks that I could only lighten not remove. I haven't conditioned it yet, and I'm hoping for the best but this might be a plan b if the conditioning doesn't help. There are a few scratches as well do you think the leather refinisher would help cover the pen marks and fill in the scratches or is that not what this product is for? Thanks for sharing!

 

[abl13]

Are you talking about sharpie on the edges of the strap, or on the piping around the bag?

The piping around the edges of the bag.

 

[ledobe]

And while I'm at it, I might as well post pix of this one. Some of you may remember my Red/BT spectator City Bag. It was NOT in good shape, in fact I bought this one just to see what I could do. I can't find the before pix! I washed her several times, conditioned, and she looked OK, but still just a little dirty. She sat on the shelf for quite awhile. I tried acrylic paint and was happy with the appearance, but she was pretty stiff. Also, Jessi and I had talked about whether or not using Edge Kote on a bag was a good idea, so I experimented with brown Edge Kote on the piping at the same time I played with the acrylic. I do not recommend using Edge Kote on the leather, it feels like it will rub off after awhile, though it looks OK.

Anyway, after having such good luck with the Leather Refinisher on the B&T bags, I decided to try the red, not only for the city bag but also for this one, which is sitting around unfinished because I can't get her to look good:

So, in order to save this bag, I continue to use my poor lil City Bag as a guinea pig. I ran her through the washer for what is probably close to the tenth time, to get the acrylic paint off and tried the refinisher on her. The interesting thing to remember when looking at this is I only put the refinisher on the part you see here in this picture, the back and the flap, because that was the part that was stained:

So, in this picture, you can see the refinished part right up against the "natural" red, which is the area below the flap:

She's still a work in progress also, I need to decide whether to try to get the Edge Kote off the blap, or just roll with it still it starts coming off on it's own, but even though neither of these bags are finished I thought they might be helpful to other people who are making decisions.

I almost hate to push this stuff because I kind of hate the idea of people starting to use it on bags they are going to sell (and who knows who is lurking around here?). It can really make a bag look new and to me that is deceptive in a bag you re reselling. But it's great for fixing up an item you love.

 

[whateve]

OK, I keep saying I'm going to post these and I am finally getting around to it. I have just barely been using my laptop lately, it's time for a new one, and it's next to impossible to do this on my tablet and phone. (also please note that some of my weird spelling errors are due to posting from my tablet).

Anyway, I have this shoulder flap bag from the lightweights collection that I picked up for about $16 on eBay. I have one of these in bone and I really like it, and even though I need another BT bag like I need a hole in the head, I couldn't resist picking this one up. I posted the before pictures somewhere else, probably the vintage thread. The bag was in in good, clean condition, and it only had this one issue, the piping and edging in various places around the bag was pretty worn:

I was hoping a bath and conditioning would help as it often does with British Tan bags but it came out looking about the same. So, even though I value the burnishing on my older bags, I opted to use the same leather refinisher that I had used on my Musette on this bag. I am sure this lightweights bag is British Tan, in fact I switch the hangtag that came with it on one of my other bags, and it's almost the same, it's just a teensy bit browner, there was slightly less red to the color than my other bags. If the British Tan on this lightweights bag had been n exact match with the refinisher and my other BT bags, I probably would have JUST done the edging, but I needed to do the entire bag to make this look good.



So, here it is, snuggled up with my other BT bags. The Musette in the back has been refinished using the same product, the two girls peeking on the sides are au natural:

AND, as an interesting note, I just did the top of the little gathered inside pocket. I wanted to let the rest of the bag dry, and then prop the pocket open and do the rest of the inside pocket so there wouldn't be a noticeable line. However, once the bag had dried, there really wasn't a noticeable line anyway, so I left it as is, this has only been "refinished" just about to where that stitching is about one inch from the top, but it's a good match and I can't even tell where it ends:

Here's the back of the bag. It's worth noting here that my iPhone pix all seem to be darker on the right side, not sure why. Also, I haven't done the strap on this bag yet, so you can see it's still kind of dingy looking compared to the rest of it. I hadn't decided whether it was best to do edge coat first and then use the refinisher, plus, I wanted to wait till the bag was dry because I KNEW I was going to have some sort of disaster if I didn't. It's been hanging around waiting me to finish it for a month, but I thought I'd take the pictures now while I'm thinking about it:

And while I'm at it, I might as well post pix of this one. Some of you may remember my Red/BT spectator City Bag. It was NOT in good shape, in fact I bought this one just to see what I could do. I can't find the before pix! I washed her several times, conditioned, and she looked OK, but still just a little dirty. She sat on the shelf for quite awhile. I tried acrylic paint and was happy with the appearance, but she was pretty stiff. Also, Jessi and I had talked about whether or not using Edge Kote on a bag was a good idea, so I experimented with brown Edge Kote on the piping at the same time I played with the acrylic. I do not recommend using Edge Kote on the leather, it feels like it will rub off after awhile, though it looks OK.

Anyway, after having such good luck with the Leather Refinisher on the B&T bags, I decided to try the red, not only for the city bag but also for this one, which is sitting around unfinished because I can't get her to look good:

So, in order to save this bag, I continue to use my poor lil City Bag as a guinea pig. I ran her through the washer for what is probably close to the tenth time, to get the acrylic paint off and tried the refinisher on her. The interesting thing to remember when looking at this is I only put the refinisher on the part you see here in this picture, the back and the flap, because that was the part that was stained:

So, in this picture, you can see the refinished part right up against the "natural" red, which is the area below the flap:

She's still a work in progress also, I need to decide whether to try to get the Edge Kote off the blap, or just roll with it still it starts coming off on it's own, but even though neither of these bags are finished I thought they might be helpful to other people who are making decisions.

I almost hate to push this stuff because I kind of hate the idea of people starting to use it on bags they are going to sell (and who knows who is lurking around here?). It can really make a bag look new and to me that is deceptive in a bag you re reselling. But it's great for fixing up an item you love.

I really appreciate seeing these. I have an camel lightweights shoulder bag that just looks terrible. I did a thing with acrylic paint mixed with conditioner. It covered up the stains but it seems stiff. I am wondering if the refinisher would have been a better choice. This bag has wrinkles similar to yours.

I have another lightweights shoulder bag that I swear was in almost perfect condition when I got it. It has just been sitting around and now when I look at it, the back is much darker. It is like it has become discolored just by sitting around.

I got a spectator camel court bag and all that it really needs it to redo the piping. I've been trying to do it with acrylic paint. Again, I am wondering if the refinisher would do a better job but also if there would be a color to match.

Lastly, I got a lime Emmie flap that has ink stains. This one I would really like to use the refinisher on but there isn't a color that is close except for the fluorescent and I really don't want it to glow in the dark!

 

[Jessi319]

Does this bag seem a little taller/rounder than a Musette? Is a "Swag bag " a different style?

Thanks for sharing Pittcat!

I've not heard of a swag bag. I know that the carrier bag is nearly identical to a musette but is maybe a smidge bigger? and/or has longer straps and a back slip pocket? which to me is actually more useful and I hope to someday find one. But I love the musette as is and have no complaints.

 

[Jessi319]

I almost hate to push this stuff because I kind of hate the idea of people starting to use it on bags they are going to sell (and who knows who is lurking around here?). It can really make a bag look new and to me that is deceptive in a bag you re reselling. But it's great for fixing up an item you love.

I really appreciate these photos! I've debated ordering the refinisher since I am not a huge fan of acrylic painting. I think it's great for very minimal spot touch ups or ink camouflage because it's more customizable color-matching. And I agree, it's to be used on bags you really want to keep. To re-sell would require FULL disclosure and an offer of some before and after pics or something. THANKS for taking the time to post these.