Well this worked today since I was too lazy to go to my basement for the car panel remover.
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
- Thread starter greenpixie
- Start date
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Here it is before dunking
Here it is after
It improved some on top, more underneath. But not as much as I hoped
That's good to know. I have some of those!
Personally I think it is not bad at all, just character.lol...but if it bothers you and you have same color Willis, maybe a cobbler can do the switch for you, he may have a way to unscrew the D Ring. But it adds to the cost.
The rings should just unscrew, it is like someone torqued them in. I can live with it as is, for the price I paid for it, I don’t want to do anything to invasive. I am going to watch for BT Willis bags with clean handles at a good price and see about swapping handles. If I could get a Willis and its rings unscrew, I might get the Sherbourne rings cut to make the swap.
I had 3 rehabs going at once. First finished is my black Winnie. Before rehab she was a little dull, had scuffed corners, a brown mark on her back, a split hang tag and edging scuff on the strap
She was washed, conditioned, had her tag glued,had her strap edges painted and everything was brushed. As you see, the brown mark vanished.
So I am preparing to dye a bag this week. A few questions for the experts before I begin.
1. Do I need to dunk the bag or anything, it has several coats of CPR and some Blackrock applied to it from previous dunks.
2. I have rubbing alcohol to use to prepare the leather, I read that is an ok product to use for prep. How heavy do I need to be with the alcohol application (will q-tips using a light application be enough or would a sponge with a heavier alcohol amount be better)?What should the leather feel like when it is properly prepared? Like really dried out leather? I assume I wait for the leather to completely dry from this before the first coat of dye?
3. Do I let the dye coat completely dry to the touch before applying conditioner? Do I let that conditioner coat completely dry to the touch before starting the next coat of dye? I assume I alternate dye and conditioner for however many coats of dye I need?
4. Same question for resolene, do I just condition between each coat and let everything dry completely before moving to the next application? I intend to follow @MrsGAM example and do about a 3:1 resolene mixture.
Got an adorable little prairie bag in the mail and she was wrapped like a treasure. I love how thoughtful the seller was! I put her right into the sink and now I can't wait till she's all done so I can move my stuff in because that is one adorable crossbody bag! I wasn't expecting to like it so much lol
1. I didn't need to dunk. I think preparing the leather will be enough to take off the blackrocks and anything else that would cause the dye to not take.
2. I ended up doing a heavier application of preparer. I soaked a cotton ball and scrubbed - there were parts that were coated with something, and I needed to completely get that off or the dye wouldn't take. The prepared leather was dry and kind of clean feeling, I guess? I could tell when the coat of paint or whatever was completely off. I actually started the dye while the last application of the preparer was still wet - I read that that helps that first layer penetrate the leather. That last application of preparer and first application of dye, I did the bag panel by panel so the preparer was still wet when I used the dye.
3. Definitely let the dye dry completely between applications! I think I did 2 or 3 application of dye before an application of conditioner. I let the dye dry for at least 6 hours between coats.
4. I did all the coats of resolene, letting it dry completely between applications, before I conditioned.
So I just dunked my new to me "black" Prairie and I think it's actually navy! I'm excited because I only have one navy bag and I don't carry it. Was the 1995 navy really dark? Going to go search for past posts. 
Right now I am working on a lime green buckle bag 4157 and I would like to touch up the strap edging but I don't have any suitable paint colors in my stock to do the job, not even mixing colors.
In the past my usual practice was to take the hangtag with me to a hobby store like JoAnn's, Michael's, or Hobby Lobby to try to match the paint as close as possible.
Those stores are now closed in my area and they only offer online purchases and curbside pickup, so no chance to browse and color match - and I am not brave enough to try and match lime green online.
I don't usually shop at Meijers or Walmart but they do have stores in my area and they are open. They advertise hobby supplies online but I don't know if they usually stock a wide supply on the store shelves.
Are any of you familiar with the typical hobby paint departments in either/both of those stores? Which one would you try first? Is there another store that I should check to see if they are located in my area and open?
Have you ever tried to paint match Coach Lime Green, what color/brand did you use?
Thanks!
In the past my usual practice was to take the hangtag with me to a hobby store like JoAnn's, Michael's, or Hobby Lobby to try to match the paint as close as possible.
Those stores are now closed in my area and they only offer online purchases and curbside pickup, so no chance to browse and color match - and I am not brave enough to try and match lime green online.
I don't usually shop at Meijers or Walmart but they do have stores in my area and they are open. They advertise hobby supplies online but I don't know if they usually stock a wide supply on the store shelves.
Are any of you familiar with the typical hobby paint departments in either/both of those stores? Which one would you try first? Is there another store that I should check to see if they are located in my area and open?
Have you ever tried to paint match Coach Lime Green, what color/brand did you use?
Thanks!
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I was able to go into a Michael's in my city but there was only one store that remained open and they had a limit on how many people they allowed in so I had to wait outside the door until my turn. I found the Folk Art brand acrylic paint but they had a decent selection of colors and they had multiple finishes. Matte vs gloss vs outdoor and so on. A week or so later I discovered the Hobby Lobby nearest to me was open normal hours only Fridays and Saturdays. They had about 3 or 4 different acrylic brands and large selection of colors for each brand. I think personally I'll stick with Hobby Lobby because of selection plus prices were a little better. Sorry I can't advise on the kiwi color.
My red Regina arrived (waiting on the replacement strap) boy is she dirt and dry. So dry that I slathered a couple sections in CPR to hopefully they insure she survives her eventual dunk which is waiting so the strap can be done at the same time.