Yes! I bought my first vintage Coach, a camel Willis in mint condition, Sept 29, 2019! I’m one of those people who sets a goal and then everyone better get out of my way. Lol! I immerse myself in anything I want to learn how to do too.
Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
- Thread starter greenpixie
- Start date
I think the Meltonian Cream is quite forgiving in terms of what colour you choose for the refreshing and I would go with the colour most closely matching your bag. It hasn't darkened the leather in my experience. I used the London Tan on 2 very different lots of BT and it worked beautifully with both. I did several conditioning coats all over and then dabbed it on on the problem spots using the tiny tip of a wooden skewer:
Legacy Zip BT USA D plant 2000
Rambler's Legacy BT USA C plant 1998
And the 3 bags I've colour refreshed with Meltonian/CPR
Leather CPR seems to be an integral first step after dunking vintage bags, so I really never considered not using it. I've colour refreshed dozens of bags and always mixed the pigment (acrylic paint or Meltonian) with it. (I use only a tiny amount of acrylic paint, while the Meltonian mixture is about 1/3 cream to 2/3 CPR). I guess I feel CPR is safe and very nourishing/beneficial for the leather and the mixture produces a very natural looking and feeling result.
Has anyone used Meltonian without mixing it? Please let us know how it went.
All opinions welcome... we are all learning. 
I've just ordered the Meltonian cream! Thanks for the color suggestion @LadaZuri . I will see how it goes!I think the Meltonian Cream is quite forgiving in terms of what colour you choose for the refreshing and I would go with the colour most closely matching your bag. It hasn't darkened the leather in my experience. I used the London Tan on 2 very different lots of BT and it worked beautifully with both. I did several conditioning coats all over and then dabbed it on on the problem spots using the tiny tip of a wooden skewer:
Legacy Zip BT USA D plant 2000
View attachment 5257765
Rambler's Legacy BT USA C plant 1998
View attachment 5257766
And the 3 bags I've colour refreshed with Meltonian/CPR
View attachment 5257767
Leather CPR seems to be an integral first step after dunking vintage bags, so I really never considered not using it. I've colour refreshed dozens of bags and always mixed the pigment (acrylic paint or Meltonian) with it. (I use only a tiny amount of acrylic paint, while the Meltonian mixture is about 1/3 cream to 2/3 CPR). I guess I feel CPR is safe and very nourishing/beneficial for the leather and the mixture produces a very natural looking and feeling result.
Has anyone used Meltonian without mixing it? Please let us know how it went.
I see a lot of people here using acrylic paint to help restore colour to their bags, mixed with Leather CPR.
Is this artist acrylic which comes in a tube, or craft paint which come in small plastic squeeze bottles from Michael’s.
Thanks, lots of knowledge here.
Is this artist acrylic which comes in a tube, or craft paint which come in small plastic squeeze bottles from Michael’s.
Thanks, lots of knowledge here.
Since I cannot speak for others, I'd say I have only used Angelus leather paint on leathers. I believe those leather dye/paints are formulated for leather and slightly different (hopefully it's not just the marketing) from the general acrylic paints for paintings. Though I have to say that the feel of the paint feels similar to regular acrylics (I used to paint a lot with oil and acrylics). Maybe it's formulated to be more 'elastic' than the regular acrylics so that it doesn't crack over time. Angelus leather paint are also pretty runny from the beginning so I have not added too much water or CPR to create an appropriate consistency in the past. I honestly don't know whether mixing the CPR is any better than thinning with water. Maybe only pros is that CPR is thick so the paint will not become too thin and maybe easier to apply (just like those food dyes where gel forms are now more popular than the liquid form for the same reason).
You can use any kind of acrylic paint including house paint. Just be sure to add only a tiny bit of paint to a lot of CPR. The goal is not to paint your bag and change the appearance or the texture, but to have the pigment be absorbed into the leather along with the Leather CPR.
As an example for the navy Chester I was working on I used this much acrylic paint:
and then filled the container with this much CPR:
End result:
Here's the white Legacy Zip I used white acrylic, eggshell, house paint mixed with the CPR:
I hope that helps! Other opinions are welcome.
Last edited:
Great! Thanks for the example of proportion of paint to CPR.You can use any kind of acrylic paint including house paint. Just be sure to add only a tiny bit of paint to a lot of CPR. The goal is not to paint your bag and change the appearance or the texture, but to have the pigment be absorbed into the leather along with the Leather CPR.
As an example for the navy Chester I was working on I used this much acrylic paint:
View attachment 5257857
and then filled the container with this much CPR:
View attachment 5257871
End result:
View attachment 5257879
Here's the white Legacy Zip I used white acrylic, eggshell, house paint on mixed the CPR:
View attachment 5257880
I hope that helps! Other opinions are welcome.
edited to move it to the vintage thread
Oh the patina on that bag when all is said and done is going to be beautiful!
My thought is to wait.. Just wait until it is completely and thoroughly dry and apply another conditioner.. Let it absorb.. Take your time! She is so beautiful!
I have so many rehabs where I became impatient with the process and if I would just stop and.. wait.. and then decide the next steps, so many of my rehabs would have been better.
I store my bag on its side. Lol! You can see her rust butt on the top shelf in the middle.This is where mine lives.With the appendage sliding along the wainscoting. Lolz
View attachment 5257828
View attachment 5257829
Hi, Lake Effect. I posted photos below. From what I've seen rubbing off there doesn't appear to be polish left on the sides and bottom of the bag, but there's still some residue on the front and back.
Thanks for the advice, Katev! Thing is I think the bag looks pretty good now with most of the polish rubbed off. But I'm concerned that some remains and might rub off on clothes or rot the bag. Would Dawn and scrubbing remove the remaining polish and residue, or would some still remain?
I applied the polish 15 years ago, with two coats of Wilson's Leather Protector, so it's had years to dry and harden.
Yes, the prospect of dunking is really scary to me.
But I think of time I got caught in a drenching storm with a vintage Coach Patricia, in red no less. By the time I got in the house the Patricia was sopped and streaked and speckled and looked horrible. I thought the bag was a goner. But by the time it dried the next day it looked perfectly fine with not a raindrop or streak in sight. Incredible.Thanks, Coachaddict! How much scrubbing did you have to do with the alcohol to get the polish off? And did it pull off any of the bag's color?
Never thought about rot to the stitching. Ouch! Now I want that polish off.
Below are photos:
Hi, Lake Effect. I posted photos below. From what I've seen rubbing off there doesn't appear to be polish left on the sides and bottom of the bag, but there's still some residue on the front and back.
Thanks for the advice, Katev! Thing is I think the bag looks pretty good now with most of the polish rubbed off. But I'm concerned that some remains and might rub off on clothes or rot the bag. Would Dawn and scrubbing remove the remaining polish and residue, or would some still remain?
I applied the polish 15 years ago, with two coats of Wilson's Leather Protector, so it's had years to dry and harden.
Yes, the prospect of dunking is really scary to me.
Thanks, Coachaddict! How much scrubbing did you have to do with the alcohol to get the polish off? And did it pull off any of the bag's color?
Never thought about rot to the stitching. Ouch! Now I want that polish off.
Below are photos:
View attachment 5258182View attachment 5258183View attachment 5258184
I've had mixed luck removing polish, sorry to hear that it's been on the bag a long time. I think giving it a bath would probably get more of it off.
Love the colorways! I store my Willis on their sides as well to keep the hardware on the dowel from making dents on the back of the bag.