Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[mpd]

I put the balm on the piping and on one half of the bottom of the bag yesterday afternoon. On the leather itself, I see no difference in color. The piping is still darker where I applied balm, but it also still feels like it is drying. The bag was really dry to begin with. You can see in this picture what the leather looked like, balm is on the piping on the right side and along the top where the zipper is.
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On the bottom where I applied the balm to the leather on the bottom panel (not the panel with the dark spot)
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And a comparison of the side piping (left photo has balm on the leather and on the piping)
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Chamberlains update. I applied it Friday afternoon. No change in color to the leather on the bag itself but the piping seemed to darken. It has since lightened some but is not back to the preapplication color. I applied CPR to the piping on the other side two days ago and it did not darken as much, but the piping is still darker overall than when it arrived. May just be a symptom of a dry bag. Still, I liked CPR better on the piping on this one, but I would not hesitate to use Chamberlains healing balm on dry parts of the bag and anywhere on a dark bag. It made the leather look healthy and did a good job minimizing the surface scuffs. Experiment over, time for a dunk!

In this photo, the chamberlains is on the right side piping and CPR is on the left

 

[FrecklesRock]

I can't wait to see what it looks like once you have rehabbed this!

 

[Nataluccia3]

Hi everyone. Quick question... I’m still waiting for my CPR to arrive. Expected here on the 27th, three weeks in transit! I’ve applied three coats of honey to this bag and the color darkens and then lightens again quickly but The leather goes very stiff. I put a LOT of Cadillac on it last night but I’m thinking I’d have to use a whole bottle to keep it soft! Is there anything I can do while I’m waiting for the CPR to arrive? Or maybe I’ll need to wet it again a bit to get the CPR to absorb much when it arrives? Thanks!

 

[Nataluccia3]

Hi everyone. Quick question... I’m still waiting for my CPR to arrive. Expected here on the 27th, three weeks in transit! I’ve applied three coats of honey to this bag and the color darkens and then lightens again quickly but The leather goes very stiff. I put a LOT of Cadillac on it last night but I’m thinking I’d have to use a whole bottle to keep it soft! Is there anything I can do while I’m waiting for the CPR to arrive? Or maybe I’ll need to wet it again a bit to get the CPR to absorb much when it arrives? Thanks!

Ha!!!! Never mind!! Yippee!!

 

[Mia9798]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone can offer some advice on rehabbing this Regina bag. I purchased this bag at a thrift store near me.

The purse lost most of it’s (glossy?) finish (as seen on the flap of the purse). The flap part of the purse feels like the natural leather interior and not like the rest of the bag, if that makes sense. I purchased leather CPR and blackrocks leather conditioner in hopes of rehabbing this bag but I’m discouraged because of the different textures.

Thank you for the help and I appreciate any advice!

 

[seekingvintage]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone can offer some advice on rehabbing this Regina bag. I purchased this bag at a thrift store near me.

The purse lost most of it’s (glossy?) finish (as seen on the flap of the purse). The flap part of the purse feels like the natural leather interior and not like the rest of the bag, if that makes sense. I purchased leather CPR and blackrocks leather conditioner in hopes of rehabbing this bag but I’m discouraged because of the different textures.

Thank you for the help and I appreciate any advice!

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Congratulations on finding a Regina in a thrift shop!

I understand what you mean when you describe the dry outside surface leather being like the inside suede.

When I purchased this NYC burgundy courier, the binding on the edges was lighter, and looked and felt like suede, rather than the smooth top leather surface it originally had. I used a very slow (but not difficult) process on this bag, which was to apply a light coat of Leather Therapy with a cloth, and then allow the bag to rest for a week. After a few passes and a few weeks, the leather surface on the binding was smooth. Like slow food and slow fashion, I am thinking that slow restoration has its merits. I'm sorry that I don't have a before photo, as I tend to dive in, never thinking that I'd have anything to share later.

 

[Yrelle]

I couldn’t keep track of where I read stuff. LOL! Somebody suggested that a thread for bag review and how much it holds (no chat) should be started. Anybody started that yet? If not, I’m waiting on someone who will. Specially interested on how much a Derby can fit.

 

[Lake Effect]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone can offer some advice on rehabbing this Regina bag. I purchased this bag at a thrift store near me.

The purse lost most of it’s (glossy?) finish (as seen on the flap of the purse). The flap part of the purse feels like the natural leather interior and not like the rest of the bag, if that makes sense. I purchased leather CPR and blackrocks leather conditioner in hopes of rehabbing this bag but I’m discouraged because of the different textures.

Thank you for the help and I appreciate any advice!

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Well, the bag is in rough shape, stating the obvious! But who doesn’t like to roll up their sleeves and get busy? Right ? So I would put aside the texture for now, it has been known to improve with CPR and BR. Assuming you didn’t break the bank here, you have an excellent opportunity to see what you can do for and good ole Regina who was rode hard and put away wet. At the minimum it’s a great lesson. My disclaimer, I love a BT mess and you should see what is in my rehab pile.
And I have worked on rough bags so I feel this bag . If this were my bag, I would dunk it in warm water and give it a gentle but thorough going over with a soft tooth brush, 20 minutes. Some of the water stains will lift, but some residual staining is possible/probable. I use Lexol Cleaner but would def add a generous squirt of Dawn to the water. Dawn alone is fine. Then I would do a thorough rinse, adding a cup of vinegar to warm water. After it was completely done dripping, I would start an app of CPR. And do at least an app every 24 hours as it’s drying. I buff in between. And then BR. If it came with a strap or hangtag, throw them in too.
Other opinions are welcome.
ETA would love to see pics in progress . . .

 

[Mia9798]

View attachment 4823164
Congratulations on finding a Regina in a thrift shop!

I understand what you mean when you describe the dry outside surface leather being like the inside suede.

When I purchased this NYC burgundy courier, the binding on the edges was lighter, and looked and felt like suede, rather than the smooth top leather surface it originally had. I used a very slow (but not difficult) process on this bag, which was to apply a light coat of Leather Therapy with a cloth, and then allow the bag to rest for a week. After a few passes and a few weeks, the leather surface on the binding was smooth. Like slow food and slow fashion, I am thinking that slow restoration has its merits. I'm sorry that I don't have a before photo, as I tend to dive in, never thinking that I'd have anything to share later.

Well, the bag is in rough shape, stating the obvious! But who doesn’t like to roll up their sleeves and get busy? Right ? So I would put aside the texture for now, it has been known to improve with CPR and BR. Assuming you didn’t break the bank here, you have an excellent opportunity to see what you can do for and good ole Regina who was rode hard and put away wet. At the minimum it’s a great lesson. My disclaimer, I love a BT mess and you should see what is in my rehab pile.
And I have worked on rough bags so I feel this bag . If this were my bag, I would dunk it in warm water and give it a gentle but thorough going over with a soft tooth brush, 20 minutes. Some of the water stains will lift, but some residual staining is possible/probable. I use Lexol Cleaner but would def add a generous squirt of Dawn to the water. Dawn alone is fine. Then I would do a thorough rinse, adding a cup of vinegar to warm water. After it was completely done dripping, I would start an app of CPR. And do at least an app every 24 hours as it’s drying. I buff in between. And then BR. If it came with a strap or hangtag, throw them in too.
Other opinions are welcome.
ETA would love to see pics in progress . . .

Thank you for the helpful tips! I think I’m going to go with the slower route of conditioning as this bag needs a lot of TLC. I’m hopeful the bag will come out amazing as it’s still super soft and structured. I’m going to dunk the bag most likely tomorrow and I will post pictures of my progress! Thank you again!

 

[Lake Effect]

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Congratulations on finding a Regina in a thrift shop!

I understand what you mean when you describe the dry outside surface leather being like the inside suede.

When I purchased this NYC burgundy courier, the binding on the edges was lighter, and looked and felt like suede, rather than the smooth top leather surface it originally had. I used a very slow (but not difficult) process on this bag, which was to apply a light coat of Leather Therapy with a cloth, and then allow the bag to rest for a week. After a few passes and a few weeks, the leather surface on the binding was smooth. Like slow food and slow fashion, I am thinking that slow restoration has its merits. I'm sorry that I don't have a before photo, as I tend to dive in, never thinking that I'd have anything to share later.

I meant to respond earlier to this post. This is a very interesting precess. I had used LT early on in refurbishing and when I finished the bottle, I picked up CPR.
I am curious, when you say the binding felt like suede, was it like the smooth surface of the leather had worn down? I have to find a Basic Bag I have in navy where the piping is worn and see if it is the same.
BTW gorgeous burgundy!

 

[seekingvintage]

I meant to respond earlier to this post. This is a very interesting precess. I had used LT early on in refurbishing and when I finished the bottle, I picked up CPR.
I am curious, when you say the binding felt like suede, was it like the smooth surface of the leather had worn down? I have to find a Basic Bag I have in navy where the piping is worn and see if it is the same.
BTW gorgeous burgundy!

The texture of the binding leather was sort of velvety, if you can picture that.

 

[maclreef]

Hello,
I'm reposting this here to hopefully catch the right attention.

Took me a while to find this thread or I would have posted here too start with.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you!

Hello,
I am hoping one of you brilliant people might be able to give some advice regarding this bag.

This is my poor dusty rose Coach large bandit that has unfortunately gone through some pretty rough treatment.

As you can see there are scrapes, damage from an unknown liquid, and unknown black marks.

I have tried the Coach leather cleaner/conditioner. This did nothing for the scrapes and water stain, and seemed to make the black marks even darker. Kind of at my wits end with it as Coach is not taking bags for repair and the stores in my area are either closed, or if open, are not offering any cleaning & conditioning services due to Covid-19.

Any suggestions as to what I could do myself would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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[MrsGAM]

I finally finished my Mahogany Plaza! I got her over a week ago, but we’ve been out of town the past 4 days so she sat around absorbing 2 coats of Blackrocks while we were gone. Just put the hardware back on today!
Before:

After:


Now I just have to rehab my Mahogany Beaumont Satchel and I’ll have a strap for the Plaza

 

[whateve]

Hello,
I'm reposting this here to hopefully catch the right attention.

Took me a while to find this thread or I would have posted here too start with.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you!



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Usually the only way to get rid of water stains is to get the bag evenly saturated with water. Warm water is best but it melts edgecoating, which causes more stains, so I don't know if I would try it. We don't really know how newer bags are constructed and what will work as most of the rehabbing we do is on vintage unlined bags. You could try cleaning the entire bag with vinegar. I don't know if you'll get any better results than leather cleaner. Sometimes dishwashing liquid can help with those spots but then you run into the problem of rinsing and not causing more water stains. After that, you'll need to condition it with a good conditioner, like Leather CPR. As a last resort, you might have to try to paint over the stains.

 

[artax two]

I finally finished my Mahogany Plaza! I got her over a week ago, but we’ve been out of town the past 4 days so she sat around absorbing 2 coats of Blackrocks while we were gone. Just put the hardware back on today!
Before:
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After:
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Now I just have to rehab my Mahogany Beaumont Satchel and I’ll have a strap for the Plaza

SO much improved!! I am really starting to love this color and have found myself looking for mahogany. It's gawgess, dahhhling!