I've seen that before. I think it might be some kind of glue. I've never been able to clean it off. Your best bet is to try to paint them.
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
- Thread starter greenpixie
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How neat! That is wonderful you found a way to fix this!Springlock Repair
I rescued this Chrystie Bag. I was drawn to its distressed character (because, British Tan) and was curious whether I could replace the springlock clasp (or if not, MacGuyver it back to functional status!)
I sent a picture of the bag and broken clasp to Coach and they responded:
"Unfortunately, small parts and pieces that are specific to certain items are not something we have individually available here in our warehouse. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. As your bag is older than 5 years, we are unable to send it through our repair process."
I took it to my local leather craftsman who has a large trove of miscellaneous bag parts, buckles, leather scraps, etc. in his workshop. He was very helpful and actually found a screw back that he thought would work, but before I could stop him, he had screwed it onto the clasp to see if it would fit. It was not brass, it was silver color, and although he was able to screw it on, it got stuck and could not be screwed back off.
He offered to order a replacement clasp from his wholesale supplier. I thanked him and took the bag and the now-useless clasp home with me, thinking I might be able to get the misfit screw-back off. I worked on it for a long time and finally was able to twist it off by brute force, mangling it badly but leaving the original brass clasp intact. Whew!
I searched online (Buckle Guy, Tandy, Etsy, Ohio Travel Bag) and apparently no one sells these springlock clasps anymore. I wanted to keep the original clasp, if at all possible. Installing a magnetic or turnlock clasp were options, but that would have required modifications to the bag I didn't really want to make.
Next, a trip to my local Ace Hardware store to comb through the brass screw & nut section to see if I could find a screw back that would work. I hit pay dirt when a wonderful hardware guy helped me out. He took a close look at the clasp and led me over to the LAMP PARTS department, where he rummaged around for a while and came up with a perfect-fitting flat nut -- solid brass! I thanked him profusely and paid for the part ($0.85), and returned home to finish my project. Rehab nirvana!
Before and after pics:
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Hiya! I moved your post over here to R/R. I can't quite picture your bag, maybe you could post it here and others could chime in. My bag only had leather piping trim in good condition, so all i did was put the bag in an old flannel pillow case and close it off with a hair elastic.
I've noticed a lot of used bags from recent years show a lot of wear on the handles that are falling apart. Many but not all are MFF. I see this on tote handles and rolled handles alike. Are there precautions to take to avoid this (avoiding hand lotion?) or is this inevitable? I've never had this happen on other bags and would like to avoid it if that's possible.
I bet you my degree in research that it's due to the increase in the prevalence and use of hand sanitizers. It correlates with the increase n premature breakdown of the protiens chains in the leather and cellulose fibers in the cotton. That causes the handles to degrade.
Thank you! Would baby wipes be just as bad? I use lotion and was thinking of wiping my palms with wipes after using hand cream.
I am afraid it’s the quality. I bought an MFF tote for my sister in law. It didn’t even last two years, the handles fell apart, and I know that she doesn’t use hand sanitizers. Coach sent her a replacement bag, though, all the way to Germany where she lives.
Yes the P.H. of adult human skin is more alkaline than calf/cow skin, and so hand lotions with a neutral to human skin P.H. will be more alkaline which penetrates and brakes down the above-mentioned fibers. The P.H. of cattle skin is pretty close to that of baby human skin. Thus baby wipes could protect the handles of your handbag assuming the manufacturing process does not change the natural P.H. by too much. Clearly, baby wipes are popular for a good reason.
I second whateve, I’ll bet it’s old glue. I’m not sure what cleaner to use though.
Wow! That's great she got a new bag though. I've seen this on used FP bags too. It's been eye-opening to see the wear.
Good! I love baby wipes! I prefer them if I can't wash my hands. Sometimes I use alcohol based hand sanitizer but then wipe it off with wipes. I've been careful not to have lotion residue on my hands. Thank you for your sharing your scientific expertise! I love knowing these things.
I just wanted to share that I found the way to fix or at least make better, those orangy glue stains that sometimes show up between leather and the zippers.
The suggestion of painting them was the one that "inspired" me, thanks again!
I didn't really want to use paint, but I had some Leather Refinisher, so I used that on the leather. For the zipper itself I was not going to paint the fabric, so very carefully with a toothpick I started to apply bleach, I do not know how many times, but the orange went away! Yay!
Much better now, here are the "before and after".
The suggestion of painting them was the one that "inspired" me, thanks again!
I didn't really want to use paint, but I had some Leather Refinisher, so I used that on the leather. For the zipper itself I was not going to paint the fabric, so very carefully with a toothpick I started to apply bleach, I do not know how many times, but the orange went away! Yay!
Much better now, here are the "before and after".
It looks great!I just wanted to share that I found the way to fix or at least make better, those orangy glue stains that sometimes show up between leather and the zippers.
The suggestion of painting them was the one that "inspired" me, thanks again!
I didn't really want to use paint, but I had some Leather Refinisher, so I used that on the leather. For the zipper itself I was not going to paint the fabric, so very carefully with a toothpick I started to apply bleach, I do not know how many times, but the orange went away! Yay!
Much better now, here are the "before and after".
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@Lake Effect @whateve
Just a few pictures of my rehab of my navy Court bag in progress. Of course I was shocked to see the water (sudsy bath in the sink) turn black...would that be a combination of dirt and the colour?
I’m using Leather CPR for the first time and it works a treat. What a lovely finish and sheen. My bag is just soaking it all in. When I’m using my sponge, more dirt/colour is coming off. It’s kind of slowed down now after two applications. But this bag is filthy! Either that or it’s losing all of its colour. I’m horrified as I’ve been carrying it for the past three months as my weekend bag.
Ewww....
I see my bag is more worn at the handle than I would have preferred. I didn’t notice it in the eBay photos but perhaps I wasn’t looking as carefully as I should have been. No
Matter. I love this style so much.
Last question: this is at two coats of Leather CPR. Would you recommend a third? Thank you!
Just a few pictures of my rehab of my navy Court bag in progress. Of course I was shocked to see the water (sudsy bath in the sink) turn black...would that be a combination of dirt and the colour?
I’m using Leather CPR for the first time and it works a treat. What a lovely finish and sheen. My bag is just soaking it all in. When I’m using my sponge, more dirt/colour is coming off. It’s kind of slowed down now after two applications. But this bag is filthy! Either that or it’s losing all of its colour. I’m horrified as I’ve been carrying it for the past three months as my weekend bag.
Ewww....I see my bag is more worn at the handle than I would have preferred. I didn’t notice it in the eBay photos but perhaps I wasn’t looking as carefully as I should have been. No
Matter. I love this style so much.
Last question: this is at two coats of Leather CPR. Would you recommend a third? Thank you!
I use CPR until the bag is done soaking it up. Minimum 2 coats, sometimes 3 or 4. Your bag will look even prettier if you get some Blackrock Leather n Rich for a final coat.@Lake Effect @whateve
Just a few pictures of my rehab of my navy Court bag in progress. Of course I was shocked to see the water (sudsy bath in the sink) turn black...would that be a combination of dirt and the colour?
I’m using Leather CPR for the first time and it works a treat. What a lovely finish and sheen. My bag is just soaking it all in. When I’m using my sponge, more dirt/colour is coming off. It’s kind of slowed down now after two applications. But this bag is filthy! Either that or it’s losing all of its colour. I’m horrified as I’ve been carrying it for the past three months as my weekend bag.
I see my bag is more worn at the handle than I would have preferred. I didn’t notice it in the eBay photos but perhaps I wasn’t looking as carefully as I should have been. No
Matter. I love this style so much.
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Last question: this is at two coats of Leather CPR. Would you recommend a third? Thank you!
It is normal for color to come off. The dyes Coach used weren't colorfast. No matter how much comes off, there is still plenty of dye to keep the color saturated. You can use acrylic paint to touch up the edges of the handle and strap. Coach didn't use edge coating on these earlier styles so it is common for the edges to look a little unfinished.