I have given it a bath, soaked in a full sink of rinse water and 2 cups vinegar, and have applied 2 coats Leather CPR. The last two pics are what it looks like now, and I'm not sure all the little black specs are fully gone. I feel like I need to apply more vinegar, but it could be just me stressing. Lol.
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
- Thread starter greenpixie
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Okay, good to know! At this point - instead of Blackrocks - I would try Obenaufs because it darkens the leather a little and that would help to even it out; but please wait to hear from the other rehabbers.
Debi has had bad experiences with Wood n Stuff because some of the bags she bought were coated in it. The Wood n Stuff leather restorer is made of acrylic. If it is put on too thick, it makes a plastic-like layer over the leather. If you only use a little, mix it with conditioner and dab it only on small areas, it should work fine.
I've recently used leather color doctor with good results. It is polyurethane but goes on really thin, so might not have the same issues as Wood n Stuff.
Do you think the black specks are mold? Vinegar kills mold. Even if the mold is dead, the spots could remain.
Got some rain on my old duffle today, and now I have small water spots, like a splash in one corner. What’s interesting is that the rain got on the whole duffle, but the spots are only in one place. Anyway, is there a way to fix it other than giving the whole bag a bath? TIA
So, I bought this courier bag thinking it’s going to be an easy rehab. The foto is from the seller, but the bag I got looked OK, even though it was very dry, at least I didn’t see anything worrisome, and I’ve seen some abused bags.
But after I dunked it some stains appeared that weren’t very visible before. Looks like something was splashed on the bag, and it did not go away as the bag dried. The scratches on the front (under the flap) did not improve much either, and the corners are still wrinkled. The evil bag is resisting dunking, Leather Therapy, Obenauf and Blackrock. I am stumped, until now I’ve always been able to improve the bags at least somewhat. Thoughts? Suggestions?
But after I dunked it some stains appeared that weren’t very visible before. Looks like something was splashed on the bag, and it did not go away as the bag dried. The scratches on the front (under the flap) did not improve much either, and the corners are still wrinkled. The evil bag is resisting dunking, Leather Therapy, Obenauf and Blackrock. I am stumped, until now I’ve always been able to improve the bags at least somewhat. Thoughts? Suggestions?
The spots may fade overnight. If not, you might try dampening a cloth with a little vinegar and wiping the area. After it dries, condition the whole bag with Leather CPR followed by a light coat of Blackrock .
I've had something like this happen after conditioning. Stains were more prominent than before. I think eventually they faded. I don't think your bag looks bad. There isn't much you can do about the wrinkles.
Thank you for your help, I will get Obenaufs and hope it works before I try something more drastic.
I will try the Obenaufs first then try leather color doctor. I'm thinking the black spots may be mold, but does mold cause the discoloration that happened? The places where the color faded had black spots there.
I really like this bag. You can tell the quality of the bag--they don't make them like that anymore.
Thank you for your help.
It might have. Mold changes the texture of the leather. It might have made it drier in those spots, less able to absorb conditioner, making it look more faded.
I think it takes a good week for Obenauf's to sink in. Then you may want to give it another appication. It looks great to me. I'm a real sucker for Couriers! I love the leather.. Sometimes if this happens to me I give it a second dunk and focus more on the spots that have appeared with a little scrub of dawn or castille soap or something. As for the scratches, I've got a few oldies on which the scratches won't go away much. I do think washing the bag in warmest water and giving it a long time to soak it up is helpful.
Obenaufs is a bit difficult to work with, and it is always better to apply products sparingly. You can always apply another coat later, and it doesn't hurt to test products in obscure spots first, either. @Belicious has used it more often than me so she can better advise you. I've only used it a few times when I wanted to darken a bag a little - but I don't know how it would react with those damaged areas on your bag.
There may be another option. A good professional leather worker/shoe repair/cobbler can spot-dye a bag. I've only done that once. I picked up a mahogany Patricia's Legacy bag cheap but it was in bad shape. There was a rip where the flap attached to the bag and the finish was damaged right on the front flap.
I took it to a good local cobbler and he repaired the rip and fixed the finish and spot-dyed the area, see pics below. I don't remember how much it cost but it wasn't bad, maybe $20 or $25, and I was pleased with the repairs.
Nowadays I would probably have left this one on the shelf, but I am glad that I was able to save this lovely bag!
Before Repair:
After Professional Repair:
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I looked it up and the shoe repair guy charged $28 to repair the rip and the surface for the Patricia's Legacy bag, but I only spent $5 on the bag so the total cost wasn't bad at all, but labor prices may have gone up since then!
Somebody got this NYC briefbag very, very cheap! Was it a tpfer? It is worn but it look will much, much better after rehab.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Bonn...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Bonn...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720