I want to do something similar to an old bag of mine so I Am keeping an eye on this post .. Is deglazer always necessary and have you used resolene before? I saw on some leather sight that polish remover can be used as deglazer and unless u want high gloss resolene should be mixed with tons of water . I haven't done either of these so I can't endorse.. I'm thinking of doing a dry run on a bag I don't care about. Have you guys been able to remove ink when giving a bath? On an old coach that is unlined?
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
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I haven't had much luck with ink. You should work on it immediately before putting it in the bath. The ink can spread once it hits the water and bleed through the leather.
The deglazer bottle says it is ethyl acetate. Nail polish removers will typically contain acetone, which if I am remembering my organic chemistry, is not quite the same thing. I just looked at my nail polish remover, and it has several other ingredients in it also.
I also read something similar about the resolene. I haven't yet decided how I'm going to apply it. I had also planned to do a dry run on a bag I didn't really care about, but I decided to go for it on the Stewardess on impulse. The bag had several stains that didn't come out during the wash, and the color was much worse in real life than I had expected when I purchased it. I'd definitely recommend a trial run. When you apply the dye, be sure to use gloves. It is very messy. I got a little on my finger just opening the bottle, and it was difficult to get off. I applied with an old rag, which worked pretty well.
I've also had mixed results with ink. I've been using rubbing alcohol. I think it depends on the type of ink and how big the stain is. I've gotten several pen marks off by wiping down with rubbing alcohol before I washed then again during the wash. I had one bag with a huge ink stain on the bottom that I worked on before the wash using cotton balls and rubbing alcohol, then dunked it and kept working on it. I got the stain to lighten up significantly. There was another smaller ink stain on the side of the bag, however, that wouldn't budge. It's my badly cat scratched bag (which is actually looking better and I'm starting to really like it), so I'm not sure what I'm going to ultimately do with it.
I have another bag that I'm almost finished with that had a dark, old ink stain on the bottom. I couldn't get the ink stain to come out at all. I painted over it using EdgeKote mixed with conditioner, then have been applying conditioner over the top of it. It looks great. You can barely tell where the ink stain was. I'll post pictures when I finish it.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your buyers are lucky
It's always good when a resolution can be found that makes everyone happy.Ah, thanks for sharing your experience from both sides. Now if I can stop procrastinating and make a decision....
Fantastic! I'm really liking EdgeKote. I bought initially to put over the damaged piping of one of my bags after I sewed it. It worked very well for that. I've now been experimenting with it, and so far I really like the results. I used it last night on my cat scratched bag to work on the ink stain on the bottom. I blended with a little Lexol and applied right after conditioning the bag with Skidmore's. I let it dry a little, blotted with a paper towel, let it dry a little more, then conditioned over it, and seems to blend right into the leather. I then waited a little bit and did another coat. It really helped the stain. I'll probably do another coat to see if I can get even better coverage.
I rehabbed a sapphire blue casey bag that was very faded. The process of bathing, conditioning, and treating with black rocks really helped to restore the color a lot. The outside is still not quite as "bright blue" as the under-flap area, but it is a nice deep blue color and I don't feel the need to attempt dying it - see the pics at the link below:
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-clubhouse/coach-rehab-and-rescue-club-624452-363.html#post22660759
I would try giving your bag a bath, conditioning, black rocks, and hardware polish before attempting to recolor it.
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Thanks katev, I will start with those.
Good luck! If that doesn't work you could rewash in soap and warm water to remove the products and then dye it.
I was just examining my sapphire casey and it isn't perfect, I can still see the color difference between the outside faded areas and the inside protected areas. See the before and after pics below. The outside is more blue gray and the inside is bright blue.
I may change my mind later and attempt to color it, but right now I am okay and it and it is such a pretty color I would hate to ruin it.
I you do decide to dye the bag I think that navy will be easier to work with. The navy color that coach used for vintage glove-tanned leather bags is a very dark blue.
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I finished the saddlery bag with the ink stain I've been working on. I couldn't get the ink to come out, so I covered it the best I could. It's still visible in these pictures, but much less so in real life. There are still a couple very small spots above the turnlock I just can't make blend perfectly. Something happened to the leather to damage it.
Here are before and afters. More after pictures here: http://imwithleathercoach.blogspot.com/2013/06/vintage-coach-saddlery-bag-restoration.html
Here are before and afters. More after pictures here: http://imwithleathercoach.blogspot.com/2013/06/vintage-coach-saddlery-bag-restoration.html
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I was checking out at a thrift store today and spied a well worn leather bag behind the counter. It was messenger style and looked authentic, but it definitely needed some tlc. I decided to pass on it but after reading all of these posts I felt a little bad like I should've rescued it. Lol
Beautiful job! Do you think the Edgekote works as well as paint would for covering spots?
I have a pink Coach Alexandria Chain Tote and my husband and I noticed a stain on the bottom recently. I tried everything to get the stain out but it would not budge. Then my husband suggested rubbing alcohol as he read that many people with coach leather bags have had success with it removing difficult stains. I tried it and it removed the stain! However I woke up this morning and noticed that the area where we used the rubbing alcohol was faded 
Is there anything I can do? Will leather cleaner or moisterizer help? I'm so upset because my husband bought me this bag for our anniversary and it looks like it might be ruined permanently. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Here is a photo
Is there anything I can do? Will leather cleaner or moisterizer help? I'm so upset because my husband bought me this bag for our anniversary and it looks like it might be ruined permanently. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Here is a photo
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I am a little behind on this conversation but I agree that when dealing with a vintage type bag, the condition can be subjective for some reason. I think thorough photos are a must when I am buying a bag. If I buy a bag with insufficient photos, and I didn't try to ask for more photos, I then just consider myself partly to blame if the bag arrives less than expected. And, a seller who is willing to refund, should not get neutral or negative feedback-Feedback is not the area to resolve problems unless NOTHING ELSE has been done to resolve it for you. British Tan is a very desirable color, it may very well wash back out if you try to rehab it, and at the very least, it would be easy to re-sell it for what you paid and you would not be out any cost or shipping money that way. If you can get a partial refund, that is also a way to go and solves the shipping fee thing, etc. Very nice bag
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