Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[angelaira]

Oh wow, what a pretty Cashin bag!! And $2?? What a fabulous find! It looks beautiful just the way it is right now, I am not sure I would do much to it, does it have an odor or something? I think if it were my bag and it was odor-free, I would not dunk it, I would simply moisturize it, possibly with an oil to darken the leather a little bit if there were any marks that were bothering me, but that would be all. Sometimes it is best to keep it simple!
Again, what a gorgeous bag!!

And my previous projects have included a couple of black bags, one navy, a red wristlet, a tan wristlet, but no light colored ones. Both of the new ones I ordered are light colored because the summer is coming, and I really want a light colored bag to actually be able to carry (I have a peachy colored Audrey that I carried last summer, messed up the handle on and took back, and the Coach store gave me a new one with tags on it, so I really don't want to carry it!!) and if they fail on rehab I can use it as an excuse to experiment with vinegaroon or something, lol! I am going tro just do a quick blogspot blog about my bags, and post pics there today, that way I can share my work so far. I love this forum, it is so inspiring!!

 

[whateve]

I have successfully rehabbed one unlined Bonnie Cashin For Meyers pebbled leather bag and I was very excited to recently find a 1960s tan Small Shopper that DemRam has confirmed as an early Cashin design for Coach. I got it for only $2 at the Salvation Army store! But the bag is dirty, smells very musty, and the leather/lining are slipping out of the metal frame of the kisslock compartment.

I took it to the cobbler and he is trying to get the leather and lining securely back inside of the frame, but he warned me that the process may bend or dent the metal! He said that this is "more likely to happen with thin, soft metal but this bag has strong metal, so it should be okay but no guarantees!"

I will pick it up tomorrow and I am very nervous. I really hope that the frame isn't bent, but what choice did I have?!

I am really scared at the thought of giving it a bath because I don't want to ruin the bag or the pretty striped lining; but I think that I will have to dunk it because it is very dirty and the musty smell is quite strong.

Here are a few pics of my $2 find, any suggestions for ways to approach this special little rehab?

This is gorgeous! I am anxiously awaiting to see the final results!

 

[ladyraven65]

I have successfully rehabbed one unlined Bonnie Cashin For Meyers pebbled leather bag and I was very excited to recently find a 1960s tan Small Shopper that DemRam has confirmed as an early Cashin design for Coach. I got it for only $2 at the Salvation Army store! But the bag is dirty, smells very musty, and the leather/lining are slipping out of the metal frame of the kisslock compartment.

I took it to the cobbler and he is trying to get the leather and lining securely back inside of the frame, but he warned me that the process may bend or dent the metal! He said that this is "more likely to happen with thin, soft metal but this bag has strong metal, so it should be okay but no guarantees!"

I will pick it up tomorrow and I am very nervous. I really hope that the frame isn't bent, but what choice did I have?!

I am really scared at the thought of giving it a bath because I don't want to ruin the bag or the pretty striped lining; but I think that I will have to dunk it because it is very dirty and the musty smell is quite strong.

Here are a few pics of my $2 find, any suggestions for ways to approach this special little rehab?

I just have to say again-I love that little bag! I am always scouring eBay for something like that and the prices sure aren't as good as the $2 that you paid!
We don't have any thrift stores in my neighborhood with great goodies like you have access to. I guess that's probably a good thing or else I would have 20 rehab projects going at once

 

[katev]

I just have to say again-I love that little bag! I am always scouring eBay for something like that and the prices sure aren't as good as the $2 that you paid!
We don't have any thrift stores in my neighborhood with great goodies like you have access to. I guess that's probably a good thing or else I would have 20 rehab projects going at once

That's my problem, I actually do have multiple projects going at once and yet I have a whole bunch more waiting for me but I keep buying more!

I periodically stalk ebay and bonz for Cashin bags and most of the time the vendors are mis-using the Cashin name for bags that were produced after she left Coach. Or the bags are in terrible shape or they are asking extremely high prices (or both!)

I was thrilled to find this little gem for only $2 (actually she was $2.06!) I could hardly believe my luck! I am nervous about rehabbing and ruining her because she is so special.

DemRam helped me find a picture of the small shopper in black on the Cashin Foundation's website, see below. The picture is small and blurry but it confirms that my bag is an early Cashin-designed Coach bag!

 

[katev]

Oh wow, what a pretty Cashin bag!! And $2?? What a fabulous find! It looks beautiful just the way it is right now, I am not sure I would do much to it, does it have an odor or something? I think if it were my bag and it was odor-free, I would not dunk it, I would simply moisturize it, possibly with an oil to darken the leather a little bit if there were any marks that were bothering me, but that would be all. Sometimes it is best to keep it simple!
Again, what a gorgeous bag!!

And my previous projects have included a couple of black bags, one navy, a red wristlet, a tan wristlet, but no light colored ones. Both of the new ones I ordered are light colored because the summer is coming, and I really want a light colored bag to actually be able to carry (I have a peachy colored Audrey that I carried last summer, messed up the handle on and took back, and the Coach store gave me a new one with tags on it, so I really don't want to carry it!!) and if they fail on rehab I can use it as an excuse to experiment with vinegaroon or something, lol! I am going tro just do a quick blogspot blog about my bags, and post pics there today, that way I can share my work so far. I love this forum, it is so inspiring!!

Thanks, the bag has a strong musty odor and it is dirtier than it appears in the pictures. The picture below is dark but it shows up the flaws a little better. I may try surface cleaning and conditioning first before I resort to giving her a bath, but the odor may force me to submerge her!

I am looking forward to seeing your rehab photos, good luck!

 

[katev]

This is gorgeous! I am anxiously awaiting to see the final results!

Thank you, I really hope that the cobbler was able to fix the frame without damage!

 

[irr_actor]

I used a surface leather cleaner (from a saddlery) applied using a wet face washer. The cleaner has a texture a bit like a thick liquid soap and it lathers up on the leather. Then I let it dry for 24 hours and applied a beeswax/ emu oil/ eucalyptus oil/ tea tree oil leather conditioner. The leather had seemed a little dry before and it drank the conditioner in. I applied two lots of conditioner.

The colour is definitely darker than before, and the leather has a slightly waxy feel to it, but I am hoping that will help protect against water marks.

I think the colour looks really classy against the brass hardware!

The revived color is great!

 

[irr_actor]

That's my problem, I actually do have multiple projects going at once and yet I have a whole bunch more waiting for me but I keep buying more!

I periodically stalk ebay and bonz for Cashin bags and most of the time the vendors are mis-using the Cashin name for bags that were produced after she left Coach. Or the bags are in terrible shape or they are asking extremely high prices (or both!)

I was thrilled to find this little gem for only $2 (actually she was $2.06!) I could hardly believe my luck! I am nervous about rehabbing and ruining her because she is so special.

DemRam helped me find a picture of the small shopper in black on the Cashin Foundation's website, see below. The picture is small and blurry but it confirms that my bag is an early Cashin-designed Coach bag!

Such a super cute bag , fingers crossed for you the cobbler does his magic - I know you will do yours

 

[angelaira]

Ok, this took me all afternoon, and I have absolutely no before pictures or process pictures because I think they were on my old phone and my husband formatted it when he needed to use it after his phone broke! Ugh!!!

You can see all my current projects and past ones, except the Court bag that I sold.
http://coachbagrehab.blogspot.com/

Oh, and I don't usually bother with the authentication thread because I can usually pick out a fake from miles away, and if I have a question my local store is a fantastic resource.

 

[Jessi319]

Ok, this took me all afternoon, and I have absolutely no before pictures or process pictures because I think they were on my old phone and my husband formatted it when he needed to use it after his phone broke! Ugh!!!

You can see all my current projects and past ones, except the Court bag that I sold.
http://coachbagrehab.blogspot.com/

Oh, and I don't usually bother with the authentication thread because I can usually pick out a fake from miles away, and if I have a question my local store is a fantastic resource.

Good job! Based on your descriptions I can tell you've worked hard and it shows! They look really great! Saving old Coach bags is so cool

 

[angelaira]

Bored tonight, so bought these for rehab purposes, went over my usual price per bag limit, but not by much, and the British Tan Court bag is something I have been wanting for a long time:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290691645749?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_911wt_785

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28085459387...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_1019

http://www.ebay.com/itm/23077000920...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_2384wt_1002

And this one, which is going to require some kind of repair to the piping on the bottom, but it was a good price for a briefcase, hopefully I can restore it to useable condition!
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/77139860

So now I have 6 bags to work on in the coming weeks... I am so excited!!

 

[angelaira]

Thank you for your response! I got all distracted with our travel season (we have three kids during the summer months, and I travel with my husband for his work during the rest of the year, so really a lot of time away from home). I am home now because I needed dental work and am getting braces this coming week... can't go anywhere until everything is done, so back to my fun Coach hobby until the week after next!

Anyway, that bag is still in the same condition, I just pulled all my bags out and moisturized them tonight. I carried my black rehabbed Coach City bag into my favorite Coach store this week, not even considering where I was taking it, and all the sales ladies in the store went crazy over it. I think the Black Rocks sounds like a good choice, it needs darkening and moisturizing, and the leather moisturizer doesn't do the necessary job!
As far as the rat mark on the handle, I covered it over with a little acrylic paint, and it doesn't bother me anymore, so I think it is fine. I need to figure out how to post some pics in here as I am on my 5tyh or 6th rehab project, and just ordered two more tonight, one from Etsy and one from E-Bay. My rule is I won't pay more than $20 shipped for a bag, so I take whatever I can find at that price and just try to do the best job possible. So far I have a nice black Patricia Legacy, the City, I did a Court bag and re-sold it on E-Bay because I wanted the other strap and figured I would just find another one to rehab, the one mentioned here, and three little pochettes. Tonight I ordered two bags, both cream colored or possibly tan, both ancient and in pretty ugly shape from the pictures. I love the challenge, so hopefully I can make them pretty again!
Here are links to what I ordered:

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/77045799

http://www.ebay.com/itm/23076944930...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_1315

If anybody has any idea what they are, I would love to know!

After doing my won research, I realized the bag from Etsy is a classic fake. I wrote to the seller to see if she will stop the shipment and give me a refund instead. Ack! It is hard to tell online sometimes!! Thank you to the person who answered and told me to take it to the authentication forum, you tipped me off that something might not be right!!

 

[4213jen]

Wow! Your bags look great. I love the small legacy one

Ok, this took me all afternoon, and I have absolutely no before pictures or process pictures because I think they were on my old phone and my husband formatted it when he needed to use it after his phone broke! Ugh!!!

You can see all my current projects and past ones, except the Court bag that I sold.
http://coachbagrehab.blogspot.com/

Oh, and I don't usually bother with the authentication thread because I can usually pick out a fake from miles away, and if I have a question my local store is a fantastic resource.

 

[4213jen]

What a great find, and a piece of history too.

I know you have way more experience than me, and this may be a silly suggestion, but I wonder if you could get rid of the smell inside your bag by wiping the lining down with lavender oil or something like that? Something to neutralise the smell without damaging the material. I wonder if a dry cleaner might have some suggestions? Just a thought.

I have successfully rehabbed one unlined Bonnie Cashin For Meyers pebbled leather bag and I was very excited to recently find a 1960s tan Small Shopper that DemRam has confirmed as an early Cashin design for Coach. I got it for only $2 at the Salvation Army store! But the bag is dirty, smells very musty, and the leather/lining are slipping out of the metal frame of the kisslock compartment.

I took it to the cobbler and he is trying to get the leather and lining securely back inside of the frame, but he warned me that the process may bend or dent the metal! He said that this is "more likely to happen with thin, soft metal but this bag has strong metal, so it should be okay but no guarantees!"

I will pick it up tomorrow and I am very nervous. I really hope that the frame isn't bent, but what choice did I have?!

I am really scared at the thought of giving it a bath because I don't want to ruin the bag or the pretty striped lining; but I think that I will have to dunk it because it is very dirty and the musty smell is quite strong.

Here are a few pics of my $2 find, any suggestions for ways to approach this special little rehab?

 

[4213jen]

Looks like you are going to have some fun! I'd like to see how the second ebay bag turns out - it has great shape. Enjoy

Bored tonight, so bought these for rehab purposes, went over my usual price per bag limit, but not by much, and the British Tan Court bag is something I have been wanting for a long time:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290691645749?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_911wt_785

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28085459387...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_1019

http://www.ebay.com/itm/23077000920...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_2384wt_1002

And this one, which is going to require some kind of repair to the piping on the bottom, but it was a good price for a briefcase, hopefully I can restore it to useable condition!
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/77139860

So now I have 6 bags to work on in the coming weeks... I am so excited!!