Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[Alasselina]

Well, I think I've done all I can for my hippie. It's not perfect by any means. The crease on the flap is making me a little crazy, but the upper corner of pocket underneath is very stiff and causing the flap to keep bending. There are some stains on the leather, some unevenness to the color throughout, and, of course, my cracked corners. But it's got that distressed look I wanted and the leather is in much better shape, so I'm a happy camper.

I did probably a 20 minute soak with dawn and hot water, scrubbed with a tooth brush, then rinsed. When it was still damp, I did two coats of leather therapy (maybe 4 on the corner cracks). I then did an unknown number of coats of CPR (it was a lot), again with extras on the corners. I touched up the areas where the edge coating was cracked/missing the best I could with leather paint, and then did one coat of blackrocks.

I forgot to take my own before photos, so I'm just going to take them from the listing.

Before:



After:



Thanks for all the advice throughout this process!

 

[BookwormSally]

Well, I think I've done all I can for my hippie. It's not perfect by any means. The crease on the flap is making me a little crazy, but the upper corner of pocket underneath is very stiff and causing the flap to keep bending. There are some stains on the leather, some unevenness to the color throughout, and, of course, my cracked corners. But it's got that distressed look I wanted and the leather is in much better shape, so I'm a happy camper.

I did probably a 20 minute soak with dawn and hot water, scrubbed with a tooth brush, then rinsed. When it was still damp, I did two coats of leather therapy (maybe 4 on the corner cracks). I then did an unknown number of coats of CPR (it was a lot), again with extras on the corners. I touched up the areas where the edge coating was cracked/missing the best I could with leather paint, and then did one coat of blackrocks.

I forgot to take my own before photos, so I'm just going to take them from the listing.

Before:
View attachment 5090282
View attachment 5090284

After:
View attachment 5090290
View attachment 5090291

Thanks for all the advice throughout this process!

You did an incredible job! She looks beautiful!

 

[Narnanz]

Well, I think I've done all I can for my hippie. It's not perfect by any means. The crease on the flap is making me a little crazy, but the upper corner of pocket underneath is very stiff and causing the flap to keep bending. There are some stains on the leather, some unevenness to the color throughout, and, of course, my cracked corners. But it's got that distressed look I wanted and the leather is in much better shape, so I'm a happy camper.

I did probably a 20 minute soak with dawn and hot water, scrubbed with a tooth brush, then rinsed. When it was still damp, I did two coats of leather therapy (maybe 4 on the corner cracks). I then did an unknown number of coats of CPR (it was a lot), again with extras on the corners. I touched up the areas where the edge coating was cracked/missing the best I could with leather paint, and then did one coat of blackrocks.

I forgot to take my own before photos, so I'm just going to take them from the listing.

Before:
View attachment 5090282
View attachment 5090284

After:
View attachment 5090290
View attachment 5090291

Thanks for all the advice throughout this process!

Looks good..now you got me looking.

 

[americandreaming]

Well, I think I've done all I can for my hippie. It's not perfect by any means. The crease on the flap is making me a little crazy, but the upper corner of pocket underneath is very stiff and causing the flap to keep bending. There are some stains on the leather, some unevenness to the color throughout, and, of course, my cracked corners. But it's got that distressed look I wanted and the leather is in much better shape, so I'm a happy camper.

I did probably a 20 minute soak with dawn and hot water, scrubbed with a tooth brush, then rinsed. When it was still damp, I did two coats of leather therapy (maybe 4 on the corner cracks). I then did an unknown number of coats of CPR (it was a lot), again with extras on the corners. I touched up the areas where the edge coating was cracked/missing the best I could with leather paint, and then did one coat of blackrocks.

I forgot to take my own before photos, so I'm just going to take them from the listing.

Before:
View attachment 5090282
View attachment 5090284

After:
View attachment 5090290
View attachment 5090291

Thanks for all the advice throughout this process!

Beautiful! Bet you can't wait to carry her!

 

[Alasselina]

Thank you for the kind words!

 

[valv54]

I found a pristine basic bag at an antique mall last week, the seller said I can have it for $25! I was like whaaaa, sold! As soon as I get to my car I noticed a big chunk taken out of the one corner, well crap. So I cleaned it up and got puff paint, matching the dreaded camel is tough, however, we still need more coats, but it's working out better than expected. Of course forgot before pictures.

 

[americandreaming]

I found a pristine basic bag at an antique mall last week, the seller said I can have it for $25! I was like whaaaa, sold! As soon as I get to my car I noticed a big chunk taken out of the one corner, well crap. So I cleaned it up and got puff paint, matching the dreaded camel is tough, however, we still need more coats, but it's working out better than expected. Of course forgot before pictures.View attachment 5090468View attachment 5090469

CAMEL I feel like it goes with everything!

 

[shannastory]

I found a pristine basic bag at an antique mall last week, the seller said I can have it for $25! I was like whaaaa, sold! As soon as I get to my car I noticed a big chunk taken out of the one corner, well crap. So I cleaned it up and got puff paint, matching the dreaded camel is tough, however, we still need more coats, but it's working out better than expected. Of course forgot before pictures.View attachment 5090468View attachment 5090469

Love it, and looking good!
I feel like I’ve seen a lot of of really affordable Basic bags listed in the last week. None this lovely color But if anyone is looking, say the word!

 

[katev]

Well, I think I've done all I can for my hippie. It's not perfect by any means. The crease on the flap is making me a little crazy, but the upper corner of pocket underneath is very stiff and causing the flap to keep bending. There are some stains on the leather, some unevenness to the color throughout, and, of course, my cracked corners. But it's got that distressed look I wanted and the leather is in much better shape, so I'm a happy camper.

I did probably a 20 minute soak with dawn and hot water, scrubbed with a tooth brush, then rinsed. When it was still damp, I did two coats of leather therapy (maybe 4 on the corner cracks). I then did an unknown number of coats of CPR (it was a lot), again with extras on the corners. I touched up the areas where the edge coating was cracked/missing the best I could with leather paint, and then did one coat of blackrocks.

I forgot to take my own before photos, so I'm just going to take them from the listing.

Before:
View attachment 5090282
View attachment 5090284

After:
View attachment 5090290
View attachment 5090291

Thanks for all the advice throughout this process!

Great job and beautiful bag!

 

[Vb345]

Hello,

I am considering purchasing Wilis bag from Ebay however from the picture it looks like it has a big wear stain in front of the bag. Do you guys think dunking and little bit (or a lot lol) leather CPR would fix this? I saw you guys performing almost magic on some of the bags showcased here on this forum.

Thank you

 

[katev]

How would you repair the stitching on this bag?

I recently picked up a black Willis that was made in Turkey in 1998 at a good price and it is in pretty good shape except for one major issue.

The stitching is ripped on both sides where the flap attaches to the dowel rod, see picture below. I have occasionally sewn up a couple of loose/missing stitches on a few bags and it worked okay, but it was hard work and I don't know if my limited skills are up to this major challenge.

What do you think? Should I take it straight to the Cobbler and ask to have it sewn professionally or should I first try to repair it myself?

If you've ever done a major sewing rehab on a leather bag, how would you advise me to proceed? Please be specific - what type of thread, needle, and tools would you use? Would you start at the ends and work toward the middle or vice versa? Would you try to glue it before you start stictching to hold it in place?

Help! And thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[katev]

Hello,

I am considering purchasing Wilis bag from Ebay however from the picture it looks like it has a big wear stain in front of the bag. Do you guys think dunking and little bit (or a lot lol) leather CPR would fix this? I saw you guys performing almost magic on some of the bags showcased here on this forum.

Thank you

Giving the bag a bath and then conditioning it with Leather CPR and Blackrocks will probably help blend the spot in and make it less noticeable, but I don't know if it will disappear completely.

The link below is for an old thread but it includes before and after rehab photos of 5 British Tan bags. Some of them came out better than others but they were all improved by the rehabbing process.

Good luck!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! 5 Tan Bags-Rehab Reveal!

I have been working on rehabbing these tan bags off-and-on for over a month. I cant know what I was thinking when I decided to tackle 5 light-colored bags at one time! But this challenge has finally taught me the secret of successfully rehabbing light-colored bags. Its more "common sense" than...

forum.purseblog.com

 

[Vb345]

Giving the bag a bath and then conditioning it with Leather CPR and Blackrocks will probably help blend the spot in and make it less noticeable, but I don't know if it will disappear completely.

The link below is for an old thread but it includes before and after rehab photos of 5 British Tan bags. Some of them came out better than others but they were all improved by the rehabbing process.

Good luck!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! 5 Tan Bags-Rehab Reveal!

I have been working on rehabbing these tan bags off-and-on for over a month. I cant know what I was thinking when I decided to tackle 5 light-colored bags at one time! But this challenge has finally taught me the secret of successfully rehabbing light-colored bags. Its more "common sense" than...

forum.purseblog.com

Thank you so much for the answer. The list you provided will definitely help me out in the future since unfortunately Ebay listing for that bag disappeared for some reason. At least my wallet is safe

 

[Birdie13]

To me, I feel that these types of imperfections are part of the beauty and age of the bag. I'm sure it would be more noticeable to you than to someone who looks at it in passing. I really embrace the imperfections as part of its history and I think they are lovely. I don't think the handle looks bad at all. I think you've done a really good job with it.

Thank you. I agree with you about embracing it’s history, that’s why I love vintage! Every once in a while though I just get a little too focused on “fixing” a bag. I’m already over it and on to the next challenge. It is nice to have a place to come to where everyone gets it.

 

[Birdie13]

So I discovered I despise polishing hardware.

I used 0000 steel wool and brasso, and it turned out OK, I guess. I can still see the swirls/microscratches from the steel wool. I'd like to do better, if I can (not sure if my expectations are in the realm of reality).

I've seen a few recommendations for Mother's polish and Wenol. Are either of those any better than Brasso at getting rid of the steel wool marks?

And for those of you that use a Dremel, what bits do you recommend, both for removing the coating on the hardware and for polishing it up?

I’m coming from a jewelry background so I might approach it differently. First I clean it with vinegar to remove any verdigris, then a quick polish with Brasso. I use a jeweler’s drill (similar to a Dremel). I use a small section of a knitting needle (3”) and wrap some sandpaper around it secured with tape. I use various grits of waterproof sandpaper 180, 220, 400 & 600. Start with the 180 and end with the 600. Each time you change the grit, change the direction you are sanding in. Before you move on to the next finest grit, make sure you can’t see scratches. It actually goes pretty fast once you get the hang of it. You’ll end up with a not quite mirror finish.