Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
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I have a couple of bags that came out stiff after rehabbing. I don't know what I did to cause this. I thought maybe I didn't wash out the soap good enough.
Katev - I am finally ready to apply emu oil to my pink suede bag....I did look over your detailed post about how you did your brown bag, but I still have a ?. Did you apply the emu oil when it was slightly damp or altogether dry? My pink suede bag was washed last month so it is dry....also, I usually apply condiitoning treatments with my fingertips (gloves on)...would I do the same with emu oil? Thanks so much!
yeah, bag use, and warmth are good for softening and absorption. I've even used a low, mild setting on the blow dryer to warm up a bag as I am conditioning it and massaging it. I wouldn't use Lexol at all at this point. I am noticing that too much Lexol results in a fine white residue that I am not liking. It's great on super dry bags, (first couple of coats), but I switch to the other big guns after that.
My bag was dry, I let it dry completely and then brushed it but it was still rough and faded.
I usually use my fingers, the emu oil makes my hands feel soft and smooth!
I have a legacy duffle, and my plan in case it every develops that kind of wear is to use a colored Meltonian cream polish, plus Bick (which is like Lexol, but nicer and with less residue). If that doesn't work I believe people sometimes recommend an acrylic paint (?) but Meltonian is much less scary.
That's what I've been using to restore a vintage bag and it works wonders in restoring color slowly and gently. One of these days I will post that project
Here's the Janice's Legacy I found at Goodwill last week. I think it came out pretty well, considering. It was filthy and dry, and had an ink stain that I only knew about because the blue leeched out on a towel. If this bag were light I don't think it would look very good. Plus it had some dried stuff inside that looked a bit like vomit. What a loser this bag was! However, a long bubble bath and 2 coats of Lexol and 2 of Backrocks did a great job:
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Hi ladies! I'm new here and undertaking the rehab of a vintage mahogany brown city bag. I'm not sure how old she is exactly, but based on the creed she must be prior to 1994. The creed has the small block "leatherware" under the Coach logo and "made in new york city, u.s.a." separate from the creed paragraph.
It smelled a little funky when I received her off ebay so I just gave her a bath. I purchased some brasso and leather honey from Amazon to condition her well and shine up the brass as soon as she's dry.
What is the best way to properly dry her? Right now she's sitting on an old towel and stuffed (but not misshapen) with paper towels. I'm planning to change out the paper towels in a bit. I have the strap unbuckled and laying on the towel. The smell seems to have gotten worse now that she's wet, but I believe I read that was normal. I used blue dawn and warm water to soak her for 45 min and then rinsed and re-soaked for 15 min in fresh water.
I'm so excited but nervous! I almost had a heart attack putting her in the water, and then seeing the water turn brown and gross!
It smelled a little funky when I received her off ebay so I just gave her a bath. I purchased some brasso and leather honey from Amazon to condition her well and shine up the brass as soon as she's dry.
What is the best way to properly dry her? Right now she's sitting on an old towel and stuffed (but not misshapen) with paper towels. I'm planning to change out the paper towels in a bit. I have the strap unbuckled and laying on the towel. The smell seems to have gotten worse now that she's wet, but I believe I read that was normal. I used blue dawn and warm water to soak her for 45 min and then rinsed and re-soaked for 15 min in fresh water.
I'm so excited but nervous! I almost had a heart attack putting her in the water, and then seeing the water turn brown and gross!
You're doing fine. I usually use terry towels rather than paper, but I think some people use paper. If she still smells bad, you may need to do something else to fix that. It could take a few days to dry. You can turn her over if necessary. If the strap is bent you can weigh it down under a towel and books to flatten it out.
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