Hi ladies, appreciate any advice on how to reduce the marks on the madison caviar leather. I’ve already dunked and applied a layer of CPR but the marks are a bit too pronounced for my liking 
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So beautiful, amazing job as always! I really want a camel ergo or kisslock ergo but I'm going to wait until one pops up in the uk
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Hi ladies, appreciate any advice on how to reduce the marks on the madison caviar leather. I’ve already dunked and applied a layer of CPR but the marks are a bit too pronounced for my liking
If you're sure that they are stains then you can try scrubbing the spots with Dawn and a soft nail brush, but be cautious and keep in mind that Italian Caviar bags take a very long time to dry completely - sometimes they take several days but a hair dryer on the "air" setting can be helpful. Once it is completely dry the stains may fade somewhat.
When I have had an Italian Coach bag that has had a rough life I find that finishing the rehab with Leather Therapy Restorer & Conditioner helps to bring the surface back to life. It gives luster and helps to camouflage some flaws.
Here's the rehab of an Italian Gramercy Zip from that era that had had a rough life:
Now a cousin has come over from Italy to join the family!
As some of you know I've recently had the luck to find some “Made in Italy” Coach bags at thrift stores at low prices. The bags have cleaned up very well and I have become a big fan of Italian Coach leather bags. The 3 bags I previously acquired were all part of the Madison Line...
forum.purseblog.com
Good luck and let us know how it all turns out!
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It can be a scary thing to do, especially if the bag is rare or was expensive, but I always ask myself "would you carry this bag in this condition?" and it the answer is "no" then I usually decide to go for it, good luck!
Thank you! Appreciate the well-documented rehab process. I agree the Italian bags do take close to forever to dry down properly but it's worth it. I'm also not sure if those are stains but I do want to lighten them. I would probably end up purchasing Leather Therapy to give the caviar leather some va-va-voom. It looks a bit dull right now. Fingers crossed I get a satisfactory outcome to report back onIf you're sure that they are stains then you can try scrubbing the spots with Dawn and a soft nail brush, but be cautious and keep in mind that Italian Caviar bags take a very long time to dry completely - sometimes they take several days but a hair dryer on the "air" setting can be helpful. Once it is completely dry the stains may fade somewhat.
When I have had an Italian Coach bag that has had a rough life I find that finishing the rehab with Leather Therapy Restorer & Conditioner helps to bring the surface back to life. It gives luster and helps to camouflage some flaws.
Here's the rehab of an Italian Gramercy Zip from that era that had had a rough life:
Now a cousin has come over from Italy to join the family!
As some of you know I've recently had the luck to find some “Made in Italy” Coach bags at thrift stores at low prices. The bags have cleaned up very well and I have become a big fan of Italian Coach leather bags. The 3 bags I previously acquired were all part of the Madison Line...
Good luck and let us know how it all turns out!
I’ve been posting this bag on a couple different threads today and realized I never posted it here! I got this Bonnie Cashin for Coach Skinny Tote in March, and it’s been hanging in my room since I finished the rehab! Using it for the first time today. I didn’t dunk this one since it’s lined with the striped Mexican fabric. Just gave the handles and some darkened spots a little color refresh, reapplied the edge coating on the handles, and added some reinforcing thread to the handle ends to keep it from coming apart.
From the seller listing:
Pic from today:
She came with the new Bonnie Cashin charm!
From the seller listing:
Pic from today:
She came with the new Bonnie Cashin charm!
Speaking of leather therapy, I just applied it to the Basics. I regret preconditioning those now as I don't know how they'll turn out with the LT in addition to it. Oh well, more dunks exist if it turns out poorly, lol!If you're sure that they are stains then you can try scrubbing the spots with Dawn and a soft nail brush, but be cautious and keep in mind that Italian Caviar bags take a very long time to dry completely - sometimes they take several days but a hair dryer on the "air" setting can be helpful. Once it is completely dry the stains may fade somewhat.
When I have had an Italian Coach bag that has had a rough life I find that finishing the rehab with Leather Therapy Restorer & Conditioner helps to bring the surface back to life. It gives luster and helps to camouflage some flaws.
Here's the rehab of an Italian Gramercy Zip from that era that had had a rough life:
Now a cousin has come over from Italy to join the family!
As some of you know I've recently had the luck to find some “Made in Italy” Coach bags at thrift stores at low prices. The bags have cleaned up very well and I have become a big fan of Italian Coach leather bags. The 3 bags I previously acquired were all part of the Madison Line...
Good luck and let us know how it all turns out!
Current state of things:
Nice haul! They will probably be just fine!
Wow! That's a gorgeous bag and it looks fabulous!
Just for future reference, I have given a bath to a vintage Bonnie Cashin bag with the Mexican striped lining and it came out great. I was afraid to dunk it because of the age and rarity of the bag and also because of the lining, but it really needed a bath! See link below:
Proof that a 50 yr old lady can still be beautiful! Rehab reveal!
I've always wanted to add an early Coach Bonnie Cashin designed bag to my vintage collection, but I never had any luck finding one. I would occassinally search ebay or bonz but most of the bags proclaimed to be "Cashin Bags" were older style bags made in the late 1970s and 1980s, after Bonnie...
forum.purseblog.com
I don't think you'll ever need to regret pre-conditioning a bag.
What a beautiful collection! 
That's wonderful! What an amazing change. Did you do a color refresh, or was the bag that dry?
I just dunked as usual and several coats of CPR and 3 of Renapur and some buffing...no colour refresh at all
I’m hanging my head in shame…I made it worse!
I can no longer bear to work on this bag (imminent new job means I have less time to spare), I even bought a leather “Happy” patch to cover up that awful front damage but have lost my mojo completely.
Proof that my learning journey continues…
Zoe xx
