Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[pammbw]

I have officially been defeated by the shoe polish. Almost an entire one litre bottle of acetone, half a bottle of non-acetone nail polish remover, two thirds of Saphir Renomat, a cup of Fairy and countless other household chemicals not to mention tonnes of conditioner later, I have managed to remove maybe less than half of it. Soaking overnight twice turned out to have absolutely no effect and it's literally impossible to just budge. £££££!!!

She completely caked it up and left zero naked leather. If she had been so thorough and disciplined with literally any leather conditioner, I would instead be here singing her praises. I even called my local cobbler who said that it's most likely unfortunately all just soaked into the leather and wouldn't come out.

I may be heading to the same conclusion as you with my City Bag. I have spent the last couple days giving it another go at removing more of the shoe polish and there was still SO MUCH on there! I put mink oil on the bag hoping to loosen up the shoe polish, then I acetoned the whole thing again, then dunked it and scrubbed with a scrubby sponge. While it was wet I put more CPR on and then started scraping off- literally scraping the gooey shoe polish off with my finger nails! The rag and my hands were totally covered in black goo. I was amazed at how much more I got off after thinking I did a pretty good job the first time.

I'm going to continue with CPR and see how the leather feels.
EDIT- worst case I salvage the strap and toss the bag.

 

[katev]

Here is my latest rehab, I've been focusing on summery bags lately! It is the Legacy Straw Tote 113 in Natural/Black with Brass hardware that was released in Spring 2006 for $298. The bag also came in Natuaral/Gold, Natural/White, and Natural/Red.

I paid $10 for the bag at a local thrift store and it was kindly authenticated by @BeenBurned. It was in decent condition except that it had been squashed like a pancake and the hangtag was missing. I already knew that it's possible to reshape Coach straw bags because I had rehabbed the same (or similar) bag in Natural/Gold several years ago; but I was worried that the black leather color might bleed into the straw during bathing.

Before dunking the bag I did some spot-testing for color bleed. First I dunked the tassels in warm water and soap and looked for black coloration in the water but there was nothing. Next I tried dunking the handles but there was still no bleeding. Finally, I lifted the flap on the front pocket and spot-tested an area that wouldn't show by scrubbing both the straw and the leather with sudsy water, there was no color-bleeding so I felt comfortable moving forward to give the bag a bath.

I dunked the bag in the sink with Dawn and warm water. Even though the bag looked pretty clean the water soon turned dirty gray. I've seen this before with straw/woven bags. I think that dust collects in the woven spaces over time. I changed the water and suds and gave it a second bath, scrubbing the bottom corners and some spots on the lining. Then I rinsed it well in clean water, let it drain, and stuffed it for drying.

Proper shaping during drying is always important when rehabbing a bag, but I've learned the hard way that it is even more important with a light-weight bag like a straw bag - especially when that bag has a heavy pocket, flap, or buckle on the front. If you don't get the weighting right during shaping, the bag may fall forward on its face whenever you set it down after drying!

I overstuffed the bag with towels and used facecloths to stuff the outside pocket. I inserted a heavy pyrex glass lid inside the bag near the rear and tried to angle it a little toward the back to counterweight the front pocket. I used wooden kitchen utensils to position the handles properly during drying.

After a day of drying I removed the towels and pulled the lining outside so that it could continue drying. Next I conditioned the leather trim with leather CPR and Blackrocks and gave it a brisk brushing.

I hate to polish brass so I insist that Legacy style bags are actually supposed to have an antique gold finish. I did a little brass polishing but not a lot.

To protect this delicate bag I applied FrayChek to the 4 bottom corners and I sprayed the bag with Apple Garde Rain & Stain Repellent. I replaced the hangtag with the best option I had available. I used a black hangtag with contrast stitching, similar to the original, but I think that it is a little smaller than the original.

See below for before, during, and after rehab pictures of the Legacy Straw Tote 113 (Natural/Black, 2006). Also below is the original listing for the bag on the Coach website on April 13, 2006 as found on the Wayback Machine.

Before Rehab:

View attachment 5069783

View attachment 5069784

View attachment 5069785

During Rehab (Drying and Shaping After Bathing):

View attachment 5069786

After Rehab:

View attachment 5069788

View attachment 5069789

View attachment 5069790

View attachment 5069791

View attachment 5069796


Listing on the Coach Website (April 13, 2006):

View attachment 5069794

Wow! You are courageous and did a brilliant job! Thank you so much for the tutorial! I always learn so much from you!

Again...Its Magic!

Love your straw bag rehabs! So inspiring!

Thanks! But I've learned that although the straw Coach bags look delicate and scary they are actually pretty tough and usually rehab well.

I would never want to spend full retail on a rather impractical bag like this; but if I can get it cheap and bring it back to life then it makes a fun, frivolous occasional bag to enjoy during the summer!

 

[pammbw]

I have officially been defeated by the shoe polish. Almost an entire one litre bottle of acetone, half a bottle of non-acetone nail polish remover, two thirds of Saphir Renomat, a cup of Fairy and countless other household chemicals not to mention tonnes of conditioner later, I have managed to remove maybe less than half of it. Soaking overnight twice turned out to have absolutely no effect and it's literally impossible to just budge. £££££!!!

She completely caked it up and left zero naked leather. If she had been so thorough and disciplined with literally any leather conditioner, I would instead be here singing her praises. I even called my local cobbler who said that it's most likely unfortunately all just soaked into the leather and wouldn't come out.

This guy has a couple videos on removing shoe polish from shoes. I like the one using the heat gun! He also says you will never get all of it out of the leather. I think I will try the heat to see if I can get the conditioner to penetrate better and soften up the leather. The shoe polish has hard waxes and silicone in it that may be good for stiff shoes but bad for the softness we want in our handbags.

 

[lulu0513]

Hi, new to vintage coach and have been drowning in forums. Thanks for all the knowledge shared. I recently got this bag which I believe to be a part of the Madison bridle collection. There’s not much info on cleaning these lined bags and the hardware so I just wanted to get some input. I read some of the posts on the Gracie but the leather on this is different and it’s stiff so I don’t know if there’s some sort of material in between the lining and the leather that could get damaged. I want to dunk it since theres some dirt on the lining and there’s also a portion of the side of the bag that is misshapen. The handle also leans to one side and I’m wondering if dunking would help. As for the hardware, would brasso be ok to use on them or would it be too harsh. It doesn’t have major scratches but could use some conditioning. Would apple or leather cpr be ok to use on this bag? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[americandreaming]

If this bag is a total loss to you, I would suggest sandding, use 800 grits sand paper lightly sand the entire leather surface, pay attention not to sand any stitching threads. It won't take out any polish in the leather pores, but will remove what is on the surface. You may end up with a Nubuc bag, or the leather may be already too fragile from all the chemicals used to handle sanding, but it worth trying when all else failed. I sanded two bags in the past ,both were very dirty bone colors, they were sanded to prepare for dyeing.
ETA: you may need to repair color loss from acetone after sanding. Sapphire has good colorrant cream.

Thank you for this advice! It's pretty much a loss. I called round to other cobblers just to check and one shop has said they could remove and repaint (!) it. I'll bring it but ask if it'd be possible to redye. If they can't then I'll settle for paint as I can't expect much out of such a mess, ha.

I may be heading to the same conclusion as you with my City Bag. I have spent the last couple days giving it another go at removing more of the shoe polish and there was still SO MUCH on there! I put mink oil on the bag hoping to loosen up the shoe polish, then I acetoned the whole thing again, then dunked it and scrubbed with a scrubby sponge. While it was wet I put more CPR on and then started scraping off- literally scraping the gooey shoe polish off with my finger nails! The rag and my hands were totally covered in black goo. I was amazed at how much more I got off after thinking I did a pretty good job the first time.

I'm going to continue with CPR and see how the leather feels.
EDIT- worst case I salvage the strap and toss the bag.

Ahh, we're going through it together! Did the mink oil help loosen it up? I'm going to redunk and use the rest of the renomat and acetone on it to see it more comes off when it's wet. I'm using my 'worst' conditioners on it as I don't want to waste my good ones on it since I'm pretty certain it's headed to the trash can.

That's good that you could keep the strap though. My strap is also thoroughly shoe polished. Sigh!

I'm so traumatised from this experience that I'm absolutely paranoid when browsing any black bags, assuming they'll have been shoe polished.

 

[americandreaming]

This guy has a couple videos on removing shoe polish from shoes. I like the one using the heat gun! He also says you will never get all of it out of the leather. I think I will try the heat to see if I can get the conditioner to penetrate better and soften up the leather. The shoe polish has hard waxes and silicone in it that may be good for stiff shoes but bad for the softness we want in our handbags.

Haha, he makes it look too good to be true! Thanks for linking this. I read conflicting views on the leatherworker site - some say it 'sets' it in further, some say it just wipes off. Well hey, I have nothing to lose! I'll give it a go with my hairdryer. Good luck with your city!

ETA: I just tried it and it doesn't really work for me. I think it's because he's working on finished leather shoes. We have to deal with open pores and I'm finding it just melts the wax and has it sink even further into them.

 

[katev]

Hi, new to vintage coach and have been drowning in forums. Thanks for all the knowledge shared. I recently got this bag which I believe to be a part of the Madison bridle collection. There’s not much info on cleaning these lined bags and the hardware so I just wanted to get some input. I read some of the posts on the Gracie but the leather on this is different and it’s stiff so I don’t know if there’s some sort of material in between the lining and the leather that could get damaged. I want to dunk it since theres some dirt on the lining and there’s also a portion of the side of the bag that is misshapen. The handle also leans to one side and I’m wondering if dunking would help. As for the hardware, would brasso be ok to use on them or would it be too harsh. It doesn’t have major scratches but could use some conditioning. Would apple or leather cpr be ok to use on this bag? Any input would be greatly appreciated! View attachment 5070270View attachment 5070271View attachment 5070273View attachment 5070274View attachment 5070276View attachment 5070278View attachment 5070279

Pretty bag! I've rehabbed Italian coach Madison and Gramercy bags and I've had generally good luck, including after dunking, but I don't think that I've ever worked on a Bridle bag. @LunaSilver has rehabbed and dunked a Bridle and she had a rather negative experience, see the links below.

After reading about her experiences I would try surface cleaning first; good luck!

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Oh lord, she dropped the price on the Courier to 166.00. Please someone go buy it before I promise myself to sell other bags and make an offer...:angel: Sorry I have it in tabac and the small in navy. No help from me :)

forum.purseblog.com

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Oh lord, she dropped the price on the Courier to 166.00. Please someone go buy it before I promise myself to sell other bags and make an offer...:angel: Sorry I have it in tabac and the small in navy. No help from me :)

forum.purseblog.com

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Oh lord, she dropped the price on the Courier to 166.00. Please someone go buy it before I promise myself to sell other bags and make an offer...:angel: Sorry I have it in tabac and the small in navy. No help from me :)

forum.purseblog.com

 

[valv54]

Lengthy, not so good, buying story. Bought a bag on ebay, got the bag, it felt dry and kind of plastic like, so I put some conditioner on it, color wiped off, oh no, well, maybe a warm bath would help...no water seeped through, craaaaaappp! It's painted! Took acetone, yep painted. Mold damage underneath the paint. Upset, messaged seller, said I appreciate how fast she shipped but unfortunately while cleaning the bag I discovered the bag had been painted, I'm a collector and really don't like when I pay over $100 and things aren't as described. Never responded. Few days went by, husband decided to intervene and requested a not as described. Seller responded to that saying, well I didn't know it was painted, I bought it at an antique shop, I'm sorry but I'm not giving you a refund. Ok. I didn't respond, she sent me another message, you cleaned the bag and damaged it, so your not going to be refunded. Ok, asked eBay what to do a few days later, eBay sided with me, said to send the bag back to the seller! Ok, got a message from the seller. Thanks for ruining my bag, ebay is my only source of income since I lost my job to the pandemic, you were only going to flip it and sell it for more. Well ok then.

 

[pammbw]

Haha, he makes it look too good to be true! Thanks for linking this. I read conflicting views on the leatherworker site - some say it 'sets' it in further, some say it just wipes off. Well hey, I have nothing to lose! I'll give it a go with my hairdryer. Good luck with your city!

ETA: I just tried it and it doesn't really work for me. I think it's because he's working on finished leather shoes. We have to deal with open pores and I'm finding it just melts the wax and has it sink even further into them.

The mink oil may have helped soften up the shoe polish a bit, but I can't say for sure. I know it can't really hurt. I put it on and let it set for a couple hours then wiped off excess. Then did it again. Then let it set for a couple days. Then the acetone and dunk and scraping off the goo.

My main problem now is getting conditioner to absorb evenly. The bag looks all streaky. Time to let it rest a bit.

 

[whateve]

Lengthy, not so good, buying story. Bought a bag on ebay, got the bag, it felt dry and kind of plastic like, so I put some conditioner on it, color wiped off, oh no, well, maybe a warm bath would help...no water seeped through, craaaaaappp! It's painted! Took acetone, yep painted. Mold damage underneath the paint. Upset, messaged seller, said I appreciate how fast she shipped but unfortunately while cleaning the bag I discovered the bag had been painted, I'm a collector and really don't like when I pay over $100 and things aren't as described. Never responded. Few days went by, husband decided to intervene and requested a not as described. Seller responded to that saying, well I didn't know it was painted, I bought it at an antique shop, I'm sorry but I'm not giving you a refund. Ok. I didn't respond, she sent me another message, you cleaned the bag and damaged it, so your not going to be refunded. Ok, asked eBay what to do a few days later, eBay sided with me, said to send the bag back to the seller! Ok, got a message from the seller. Thanks for ruining my bag, ebay is my only source of income since I lost my job to the pandemic, you were only going to flip it and sell it for more. Well ok then.

is this the green bag? What's with the guilt trip she is trying to lay on you? It's her fault for not knowing her product.

 

[lulu0513]

Pretty bag! I've rehabbed Italian coach Madison and Gramercy bags and I've had generally good luck, including after dunking, but I don't think that I've ever worked on a Bridle bag. @LunaSilver has rehabbed and dunked a Bridle and she had a rather negative experience, see the links below.

After reading about her experiences I would try surface cleaning first; good luck!

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Oh lord, she dropped the price on the Courier to 166.00. Please someone go buy it before I promise myself to sell other bags and make an offer...:angel: Sorry I have it in tabac and the small in navy. No help from me :)

forum.purseblog.com

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Oh lord, she dropped the price on the Courier to 166.00. Please someone go buy it before I promise myself to sell other bags and make an offer...:angel: Sorry I have it in tabac and the small in navy. No help from me :)

forum.purseblog.com

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Oh lord, she dropped the price on the Courier to 166.00. Please someone go buy it before I promise myself to sell other bags and make an offer...:angel: Sorry I have it in tabac and the small in navy. No help from me :)

forum.purseblog.com

Thank you for your reply! no to dunking then, will do some surface cleaning instead.

 

[katev]

Thank you for your reply! no to dunking then, will do some surface cleaning instead.

I would try surface cleaning first and only dunk if you've run out of options, good luck!

 

[valv54]

is this the green bag? What's with the guilt trip she is trying to lay on you? It's her fault for not knowing her product.

Yea it was the lime green pocket purse. Lol. I guess she thought the guilt trip was going to change my mind.

 

[Lake Effect]

@whateve is absolutely correct. Rub small amounts into small areas and wipe off almost immediately. If you use it correctly then Blackrocks can be a real asset.

I find BR and Renapur to be almost identical in texture, application. Early in my rehabbing, I used BR exclusively for finishing. After seeing what Renapur did for valv’s colorful collection, and scraping bottom on my BR container, I ordered Renapur. Since I bought a lot of two! containers of R, I have been using that for the last year.
I agree with the above app of BR / R. LadaZuri has turned me on to warming the bag and the bit of R on the applicator sponge with a hair dryer as well. I did it with my project Rambler and feel like it gave me the missing piece to bring out the best in the leather and gave me the sense the rehab was complete. For now lol.
I plan to ‘warm up’ another bag today, that got lots of conditioner and buff it up.
Eta @Coachaddict4020 I just moved it over here

 

[MrsGAM]

Just finished an impulse rescue purchase rehab A Navy/Tan Sheridan Newberry Drawstring! It’s pretty rough on the inside - the pocket was all torn up, so I had to cut it off. The rest of the lining is pretty bad, too, but I just sewed up the holes and I’m calling it usable.
Before:


After:

This one got a bath in my washing machine, lots of conditioning (alternating between CPR and Leather Therapy), a little color touch-up on the blue, glueing and color touch-up of the split piping, and 2 coats of BR. I just happened to have an extra Sheridan tan hang tag sitting around; I originally used it for my Mahogany Willis before I got so many Mahogany bags.

Now I’m just waiting for my behemoth Sonoma Backpack to finish drying (was washed in the machine at the same time as the Sheridan) so I can post the rehab pics for that! I didn’t realize the large Sonoma backpack was so much larger than the small one I might have to use one or two of our old pillows as stuffing to keep it’s shape!