No, it’s the Creme Surfine. I’ve been wanting to try the Juvacuir, but I don’t see it on Amazon in any colors I need!
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
- Thread starter greenpixie
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Red bags can be tricky and I don't give them a bath unless they need it - but when they really need it then I go ahead and dunk them! For a bag that only cost $12, I think that it would be worth the risk of giving it a bath. Hopefully it will turn out clean, bright, and properly shaped.
This link was for a red Murphy bag that was so dirty after a sink bath that I actually cycled it through the washer and it worked out well:
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
Now that I am retired and quarantined I have plenty of time to work on my huge rehab piles! Here is a group After Picture of the 5 vintage bags that I have recently rehabbed. I had posted pics of the camel Willis previously and I rehabbed the BT Scooter bag years ago, but it just needed some...
forum.purseblog.com
Here's a red scooter bag that got 2 sink baths before it was finally clean and that worked out well:
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
I have the rest of the day off so Im gonna be doing 3 rehabs at once, plus polishing some extra straps! I finally feel some motivation but I might be biting off more than I can chew here lol.
forum.purseblog.com
And the link below shows pics of 3 vintage bags in the red family that were all made in NYC in the 1980s. I gave them all baths and they came out just fine:
Red hot in NYC! Three bag rehab reveal!
I have been enjoying bags in various shades of pink/red lately, including both new bags and vintage rehab projects. Here are pics of 3 bags that were "Made in New York City" in the 1980s. I will show before and after pics of the 3 bags firsts and then post photos of the rehab process. I...
forum.purseblog.com
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I have dunked all of my red bags (7) and only had a problem with one... and it had the problem before dunking. I even use hot water to bring the colour out as that is what I had read here somewhere.
I start conditioning immediately after the bag is out of the water, patted dry and lightly packed to its intended shape. It works like a charm.Good luck and have fun!
Thanks to all of you for the advice on the red bag. @katev You really worked wonders with those bags! Amazing!
Given what you all have said, I think I might go ahead and dunk it. It's so squished in on the sides that maybe it'll be worth it just to reshape.
Given what you all have said, I think I might go ahead and dunk it. It's so squished in on the sides that maybe it'll be worth it just to reshape.
I would definitely dunk. It will most likely make the color more vibrant.
I have one more question (so sorry to seem so helpless): the 65th Anniversary Hippie I mentioned before came in today, and boy howdy is she a wreck. I was anticipating most of the mess, but the one thing I didn't expect is that some of the scratches on the back have actual gouges in them where the surface of the leather is actually perforated to the untreated leather beneath. Will that be a problem when I dunk, and what do you suggest to stabilize the scratch so it doesn't get worse? I looked up some products online, but I'm really not sure about any of them.
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I don't think it will be problem with dunking. What will happen is that when you condition, those scratches will end up darker than the rest as they absorb the conditioner. You may have to color them to get them to blend in. I don't know about any products that fix scratches.
Ah, ok. I saw some leather repair/filler kits online, but that's about all. I'm really not fussed about the aesthetics since it's on the back - my main concern is it compromising the integrity of the leather in some way. I was worried the moisture might get into the fibers of the leather and make them warp or something (is that even a thing?).
I don't think that is a thing. Water is going to get into the fibers when you dunk. We want it to. That is what plumps up the leather and opens the pores so the conditioner will soak it better.
Ah, ok, that makes sense. I understand.
Thank you, everyone, for your patience. You are all so wonderfully helpful, and I'm really learning a lot. I'm going to go back to reading this thread from the beginning so I can hopefully not be so needy.
That looks like cat scratches; if they weren't disclosed in the auction you could ask to return (or at least ask for a discount).
Don't apologize for asking for advice - we all help each other out - that's how we learn!
One thing that I should have mentioned about rehabbing red bags. There is a phenomenon that I have seen with a few red bags, including one that I only cleaned and conditioned without giving it a bath.
Sometimes the red bag actually looked worse when I was done cleaning and conditioning! It seemed like the dark spots and flaws were more noticeable after I had worked on the bag!
The first time it happened, I put the bag away in disgust and was surprised to see how good it looked when I came upon it later. Sometimes it just seems to take awhile for the conditioner to fully absorb into a red leather coach bag - but eventually it does absorb - and then it looks much better!
So if you are planning to rehab a red bag for a special occasion or to give as a gift, then you should start sooner rather than later because it may need some time to "cure" before the rehab is complete!
Something I would like to offer to anyone new to this is this. When I started to seek out more information on conditioning vintage bags, it was mainly so I could do the best for the handful of bags I already had. When I found all this info on giving bags a real deep cleaning and refurbishing I was really blown away by all the information and transformations. Since lol at my core I am science based and a bit of a researcher, I found two worn, water stained ‘would you rehab this’ bags at a flea market for $10 each and thought great! Here are two test bags and I just want to see what I can do with them, without being invested in how they turn out.
So it helps me when I purchase a bag, to ask myself, how would I feel if I spent this amount of money and this -fill in the blank- did not improve? I was lucky that I started this journey with a, Well let’s see what this can do attitude.
Have fun and would like to see your before and afters!
I have dunked all of my red bags (7) and only had a problem with one... and it had the problem before dunking. I even use hot water to bring the colour out as that is what I had read here somewhere.
Good luck and have fun!
I use hot water too!