Sigh. I didn't dunk because I was trying to take a conservative approach.
The sides of the bag were very dry, and I was a bit weary that the bag could crack after a bath.
In retrospect, I doubt that I should have been concerned.
The bag was in good condition, so I wasn't sure whether I wanted to dunk it at all. I'd been debating about to dunk or not to dunk. When I'd look at it, I'd basically think, "It's so pretty, as-is."
It had some signs of a bag that should be dunked, and I should have done that from the get go.
So now it's been dunked.
ETA: @coach943 Saw the edits to your post. Hahaha, yes. I won't condition before dunking again!
With this bag, I wasn't necessarily planning to dunk the bag anytime in the near future. I figured that I'd surface clean it, and condition it. Then, I figured that most likely, I'd wear the bag for a while, and maybe dunk it at some point down the road.
In this case, I didn't dunk the bag, and things went awry with conditioning.
I also used CPR first, and then Leather Therapy, which I probably shouldn't have. It seems that Leather Therapy, then CPR is the way to go?
You've mentioned that you use Leather Therapy. May I ask, ever experience this kind of darkening from Leather Therapy?
It darkened to almost black in some areas, but not in others.
My guess is that the conditioner may have reacted with dirt or oils that were already in the leather.
Or that the conditioner touched the suede areas on the back of the leather, and discoloured the leather.
Those are simply guesses.
(It happened on the strap of the bag too, mostly around the holes. I'd dunked the strap before conditioning.)
I'm curious if it's the way I used the product (rather than the product itself), which is what I suspect.
I think it is the way you used Leather Therapy that gave you those results. When I use Leather Therapy (or something like it, like Montana Oil or Obenauf's Oil), I use it first after dunking a bag. I typically wait 24 hours before I apply a second coat. (Though sometimes I only wait 12 if the bag is super dry.) You will get a sense of when the bag has had enough. It starts absorbing less conditioner.
I sometimes will apply Leather CPR or Skidmore's Leather Cream next if I think it still will take some conditioning. Then I finish with Blackrocks.
I think Leather Therapy darkens, but often it is because the bag needs conditioning and it is going back to its original color. I'll post some before/after of a bag I've been working on tomorrow so you can see the change for a really dry bag.
I honestly don't think I've ever used Leather Therapy or an oily conditioner to a bag I haven't dunked. If I don't think it needs dunked, then it doesn't need a conditioner like LT.
