Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[whateve]

Quick terminology question: when you all say “dunking” a bag, do you mean washing? Full-on soap and water, etc.? Thanks.

Yep, washing in a sink of soapy water. Make sure you rinse well. Soap can dry out the leather and make it stiff. Start conditioning when the bag is nearly dry. Make sure you have the right conditioners on hand before you dunk. There are detailed instructions for dunking scattered throughout this thread. Someone should find the best and have them pinned to the top of the page.

 

[whateve]

My small Courier has turned out fantastic! The original strap is too short for a crossbody and there's no way I'm going to find that match, so I picked up a #9816 (great condition but it stinks like cigarettes!!!) in mahogany for $30. I looked at replacement straps alone and they were outrageously priced!

I love the contrast the strap brings. It looks somewhat goofy in pics but in person, it's a gorgeous compliment!

Before and after:

Gorgeous!

 

[Hoku44]

hi all,
i bought a non-returnable vintage coach bag. it is in very bad condition. It is natural cowhide leather.
i have used the saddle soap cleaning it and applied mink oil on it. the stains are too much for me. and the cracks are not acceptable for me.
what can i do with it? T_T
is it ok to dye it? i have never dyed a bag.
thank you for any advice in advance!

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EDIT!!

Yes, you can dye a bag.. This was my BT Willis that had spots and other marks that I could not get rid of. I worked for months on rectifying the marks and spots to no avail. I finally succumbed to dyeing. I haaaaate those spots and I have lots of empathy for you! I just added pics of my legacy backpack that was a BT as well with a before!

I am literally finishing the second round of dyeing because I want a more deeper purple color so this pic is not the finished look. I'm going slow but so far I'm really happy with it. It is not as blotchy as it seems to look in the pic..

Black Cherryish is what I'm shooting for. I know there are people who will balk at dyeing but please believe me, if I could have avoided it, I would have.

 

[RadhaDB]

My small Courier has turned out fantastic! The original strap is too short for a crossbody and there's no way I'm going to find that match, so I picked up a #9816 (great condition but it stinks like cigarettes!!!) in mahogany for $30. I looked at replacement straps alone and they were outrageously priced!

I love the contrast the strap brings. It looks somewhat goofy in pics but in person, it's a gorgeous compliment!

Before and after:

I love it! She looks beautiful.

 

[Hoku44]

I love it! She looks beautiful.

Thank you so much! Even my DH comments on how great she looks. If a man says something, well, *that* says something.

 

[whateve]

EDIT!!

Yes, you can dye a bag.. This was my BT Willis that had spots and other marks that I could not get rid of. I worked for months on rectifying the marks and spots to no avail. I finally succumbed to dyeing. I haaaaate those spots and I have lots of empathy for you! I just added pics of my legacy backpack that was a BT as well with a before!

I am literally finishing the second round of dying because I want a more deeper purple color so this pic is not the finished look. I'm going slow but so far I'm really happy with it. It is not as blotchy as it seems to look in the pic..

Black Cherryish is what I'm shooting for. I know people there are people who will balk at dying but please believe me, if I could have avoided it, I would have.

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The Willis color is gorgeous!

 

[Hoku44]

nm

 

[ukonvasara]

EDIT!!

Yes, you can dye a bag.. This was my BT Willis that had spots and other marks that I could not get rid of. I worked for months on rectifying the marks and spots to no avail. I finally succumbed to dyeing. I haaaaate those spots and I have lots of empathy for you! I just added pics of my legacy backpack that was a BT as well with a before!

I am literally finishing the second round of dying because I want a more deeper purple color so this pic is not the finished look. I'm going slow but so far I'm really happy with it. It is not as blotchy as it seems to look in the pic..

Black Cherryish is what I'm shooting for. I know people there are people who will balk at dying but please believe me, if I could have avoided it, I would have.

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marvelous work! please give me some tips if it is convenient for you.

 

[ukonvasara]

I see whateve has responded so that is great.
I re-read the Creed and further on it does say full-grain leather. So cowhide and full-grain leather in Coach terms and regarding leather used for handbags, indicate the entire hide/piece of leather was used. In older Coach bags, the give-away is the suede interior. This bag is in the timeframe, in my opinion, that Coach began to move away from using the entire hide and started more processing of the leather. I am glad you included the Creed, as it indicates it is full-grain leather. Soaking bags made from the entire hide/gull grain leather (as opposed to using a layer of it) can enhance the cleaning, conditioning process. I hope this isn't too confusing. It's just background info.

thank you for the reading of the creed! i was hoping the creed including infos that is needed for rescuing.
others suggest the stains are mold. is it ok to dunk it in vinegar water before the soak water?

 

[Narnanz]

My small Courier has turned out fantastic! The original strap is too short for a crossbody and there's no way I'm going to find that match, so I picked up a #9816 (great condition but it stinks like cigarettes!!!) in mahogany for $30. I looked at replacement straps alone and they were outrageously priced!

I love the contrast the strap brings. It looks somewhat goofy in pics but in person, it's a gorgeous compliment!

Before and after:

Was it painted silver?...or was the leather just dry and the lighting made it look silver.
We ate almost twins with our Courier excepting mine is a large and lighter...so Cousins maybe.

Got a friend who is trying to sell her black large Courier...we might be doing a swap for my Berkerley convertible backpack

 

[Hoku44]

Was it painted silver?...or was the leather just dry and the lighting made it look silver.
We ate almost twins with our Courier excepting mine is a large and lighter...so Cousins maybe.

Got a friend who is trying to sell her black large Courier...we might be doing a swap for my Berkerley convertible backpack

It was so dry it looked silver! It's almost like a black and white pic! I have a large Courier as well - in a camel color. You said yours is lighter? Pics please!!

I am so amazed at how she came back, she's so so so buttery soft.

 

[Hoku44]

marvelous work! please give me some tips if it is convenient for you.

I am more than happy to offer tips but please know it's messy and not for the faint of heart.

 

[Lake Effect]

Quick terminology question: when you all say “dunking” a bag, do you mean washing? Full-on soap and water, etc.? Thanks.

Yep, washing in a sink of soapy water. Make sure you rinse well. Soap can dry out the leather and make it stiff. Start conditioning when the bag is nearly dry. Make sure you have the right conditioners on hand before you dunk. There are detailed instructions for dunking scattered throughout this thread. Someone should find the best and have them pinned to the top of the page.

I think I bookmarked a post from @katev where she tagged a bunch of her rehabs. Let me see if I can find it.

eta, found it. Her basic process.

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Hi all, I just bought two older bags off Poshmark (authenticated here at TPF!) and they definitely need some love. Are there websites or blogs that you all would recommend to learn how to rehab? Or is there a thread here that is for rehab newbies? I'm not sure where to begin! The second bag...

forum.purseblog.com

This is a video from another member here.

Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

Yeah, the black water is suspicious. I was just reading the reviews on Amazon for Blackrock. It seems they may have changed the formula sometime last year. They definitely changed the packaging. Interesting about the formula change. My product is in fact the grayish brown paste pictured on the...

forum.purseblog.com

 

[NBALLY8006]

You can probably remove it with acetone and a lot of scrubbing. I've never had good results with Fiebings. A lot of dyes get that iridescence. I don't know what causes it. I think you might have to redye because I doubt you'll be able to remove all the dye evenly.

I ended up dunking the bag and the green tinge came off . I redyed it and so far it looks better. Do you suggest using something like resolene on top? I saw mixed reviews on that

 

[LadaZuri]

hi all,
i bought a non-returnable vintage coach bag. it is in very bad condition. It is natural cowhide leather.
i have used the saddle soap cleaning it and applied mink oil on it. the stains are too much for me. and the cracks are not acceptable for me.
what can i do with it? T_T
is it ok to dye it? i have never dyed a bag.
thank you for any advice in advance!

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In regards to the cracking I wonder if it is leather rot? Does it feel as though it is disintegrating?