Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

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Thanks! @LunaSilver can you advise me about repairing the separating strap on my Bleecker Elisa?

Everyone, what brand of leather glue do you recommend? I am willing to try other products but I would like some advice first, TIA!
Is fabric fusion you used Aleene brand? In my experience glue of that brand bond is weak.
Maybe try E6000 Fabric Fuse, I usually have good results with it. use a small knife scrap off old glue first, then follow the instructions of fabric fuse, it doesn’t feel tacky when freshly applied, take an hour or two for glue start to stick, and 72 hrs to cure. Once you applied glue, clean off excess at the edge, then clam it together with cloth pin something, and leave it alone for 3 days.
from what I see in your photo. I think it will work.

ETA:sorry for the late reply , I am not very active on the forum lately.

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Dying the bone Devon is the biggest project so here goes!

before:
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deglazing (tried to take pics so you can clearly see the lines where I deglazed compared to the original finish on the bag. Top sections are deglazed, lower sections are not.)
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after deglazing:
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in the dye! half bottle of Rit tan dye and about a gallon of just boiled water. Taking it to brown from bone and then I’ll do Angelus with a dabber in burgundy after this settles. So very brown on the inside!:

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@4Kokoro
 
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So.. It's a Monday in the early 1990's at the Coach factory. A beautiful Collegiate is sewn together (I think this is honey and cocoa.. definitely not a BT!) but somewhere along the way a very small error was made....

Flash forward some (just shy of) thirty years later. A woman (me in case you were wondering) gets a hold of this bag and laughs in delight at said error - Look at the inside color of the longer strap - it's the same color as the trim but the outside layer(s) of both straps are the lighter honey color.

I love quirks like this! She's lovely too! She had a bath, one coat of CPR and just applied some BR. Hardly a rehab when a bag is in great condition. :smile:

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This a a really beautiful bag. I love it.
 
Is fabric fusion you used Aleene brand? In my experience glue of that brand bond is weak.
Maybe try E6000 Fabric Fuse, I usually have good results with it. use a small knife scrap off old glue first, then follow the instructions of fabric fuse, it doesn’t feel tacky when freshly applied, take an hour or two for glue start to stick, and 72 hrs to cure. Once you applied glue, clean off excess at the edge, then clam it together with cloth pin something, and leave it alone for 3 days.
from what I see in your photo. I think it will work.

ETA:sorry for the late reply , I am not very active on the forum lately.

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Yes, I am using Aleene's Fabric Fusion, I will try Fabric-Fuse, thanks!
 
I mixed more acrylic paint/Leather CPR this morning adding a slight bit of yellow and black to the mixture. YIKES, the black goes a long way! I had to add a ton more white and will probably use 1/2 a bottle of CPR to make sure the mixture is not too laden with paint. This is definitely the highest concentration of paint I've used, so I will work on one area at a time and wait until it is thoroughly dry before moving onto another side. It's going to take a lot of willpower!!! :lol:

A reminder of the before:

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This morning after one very thin coat of white paint/CPR yesterday and one coat of the more concentrated mixture of white/black/yellow and CPR. It's going to be a slow process and is definitely a learning curve!

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Hi I just found your thread. I have a question.
My bag is in the water and the water keeps coming out dirty, I'll continue to soak scrub and rinse until it comes out clean so I have time to experiment.
My bag has a lot of scratches and I want to do what you did to yours. I don't want it to lose the character but I don't want it to look so beat up, so until it dries out I will be able to tell what's dirt and what is scratched.
Are you happy with your method? Did the paint stay on? Did you apply the paint with the leather CPR as a last layer of conditioner or before any conditioner?
Any tips or advice you can offer I would really appreciate it.
 

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Hello all,

first time buying an older coach and trying to clean. I’ve seen a few videos of vintage leather bags being washed in dish soap but is that possible with a bag that has lining?
I’m super new to this and have finally found a reasonably priced bag to try as my first, so any guidance would be greatly appreciated

I live in the west coast so vintage is very popular here. Almost impossible to pick up an older leather bag
I'm late to the party and obviously don't know how to post, so here goes.
I've pulled the lining inside out and cleaned separately with great success. While I've done complete bags, I chose darker colors to avoid bleeding one to the other. (I use woolite in my dunk)
Their 15 different ways to do this, pick what your comfortable with and have fun.
I do not sell bags. I work em over if that's what I'm after and carry them. (Then try to keep them dusted and conditioned).
 
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Would anyone be able to tell me if wall paint is hard to remove from vintage coach bags? I tried scraping a spot with my nail but it doesn’t budge. TYIA for any replies :smile::
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Eta: I didn’t use anything on it yet because the seller never disclosed the paint. I don’t wanna alter it in a way that could void the return if I have to go that route (but Im hoping it won’t come to that).
 
Hi I just found your thread. I have a question.
My bag is in the water and the water keeps coming out dirty, I'll continue to soak scrub and rinse until it comes out clean so I have time to experiment.
My bag has a lot of scratches and I want to do what you did to yours. I don't want it to lose the character but I don't want it to look so beat up, so until it dries out I will be able to tell what's dirt and what is scratched.
Are you happy with your method? Did the paint stay on? Did you apply the paint with the leather CPR as a last layer of conditioner or before any conditioner?
Any tips or advice you can offer I would really appreciate it.

I've attached all the posts I could find on the process with the white Legacy Zip. My apologies if there's too much information. :lol:

Of course, N! Good question! :hugs: Although the bag is white, there is still a hint of colour in it. I had started working with pure white, but thought the result would be too stark. I added a drop of yellow first and saw it needed some grey to give me the correct tint. (I would have used grey had I had some). The drop of black changed the colour dramatically, so I poured in a lot more white. The resulting mixture was the perfect match to the bag.

The colour refreshing mixture required approximately two ounces of pure white thoroughly mixed with a tiny drop of yellow, a tiny drop of grey and 1/2 a bottle of CPR. :smile:

(edited to correct the amounts) :blush:
The white Legacy Zip has had roughly 5 thin coats of the (lots of) white, (drop of) yellow, (drop of) black acrylic paint/CPR mixture thoroughly massaged into the leather and left to dry for 24 hours between coats. I think I'll do a couple more coats, then let her rest for a week before Renapur.

Here she is compared to an unrestored, NWOT white Bixby. I'm pleased with the colour.

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The strap, pull tab and hangtag have also been colour refreshed.

Before:

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Today:

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One last photo part way through the restoration.
I'm very pleased so far and have been able to control myself not to rush the process most of the time. :lol:

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Thanks for looking! :flowers:
Honestly, I haven't found white to be any more difficult than any other colour. :smile: I'm up to 8 or 9 coats now and just about ready to let her sit for a week to cure. Then I'll do a coat of Renapur, polish the hardware and post the final photos. I do wonder if the Renapur will have any effect with so much colour refreshing material on her??? :lol:

For those who are interested this is what I've discovered are the most important steps in colour refreshing:

1) mix the colour to match the bag before adding the CPR
2) add a tiny amount of colour to a large amount of conditioner. It will require more coats but the end result looks and feels natural
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3) make sure to mix colour and CPR together thoroughly to prevent streaking
4) lightly and carefully use a paper towel to dab away excess from stitching, grooves, joints and corners to prevent buildup
5) allow to absorb for at least 24 hours and repeat (the more paint used, the longer the curing period)
6) allow to absorb/cure for at least a week before deep conditioning with Renapur or Blackrocks


Some colour refreshed bags:

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This Legacy Zip in white is coming along beautifully, although not yet finished after a few weeks! One can't really rush a colour refreshing... it takes as many coats as it requires and the best results come with patience. NOT EASY!!! :lol:

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The only wall paint I've used was for the white Legacy Zip and it was eggshell acrylic paint. For lighter coloured bags one might require a higher percentage of the paint in the paint/CPR mixture. After finishing all the accessible leather per side, sweep over bag with a hairdryer (on medium) so that it feels dry to the touch and leave it for 24+ hours. After 24 hours, turn the bag over and do the other side the same way.

Good luck! Can't wait to see how it goes! :tup:

Here she is pretty much finished! I'm quite sure the paint mixture will stay on, although I imagine she will wear like any other bag eventually. I started the colour refreshing immediately after taking her out of the bath and likely did 10 - 12 thin coats of colour per side. I'm extremely pleased with the result that took weeks to complete. :tup:

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I've attached all the posts I could find on the process with the white Legacy Zip. My apologies if there's too much information. :lol:








Here she is pretty much finished! I'm quite sure the paint mixture will stay on, although I imagine she will wear like any other bag eventually. I started the colour refreshing immediately after taking her out of the bath and likely did 10 - 12 thin coats of colour per side. I'm extremely pleased with the result that took weeks to complete. :tup:

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You're amazing and incredibly meticulous. Your bags turned out beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharing your process. The biggest lesson here is that I should not have started my first rehab on a white bag. But my daughter is super excited so there is that.
Thanks again for taking the time.
 
I would like to share my very first dunking project :)
This soft satchel was listed on Mercari Japan.
When it arrived, the color had faded and the inside was covered in mold, and the worst thing was the odor…
I thought about asking for authentication here first, but I just couldn’t stand the odor, and went straight to the sink, dunked it into lukewarm water with some mild detergent that can be used to wash wool and silk (Dawn isn’t available where I live).
Leather CPR is also quite expensive here, so I decided to apply some left over baby lotion that I had used for our kids instead.
… and this is how it turned out!

Before
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After
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The color came back just by moisturizing it with the lotion (I may have overdone it a bit :().
There’s still some odor left, and I regret not having added vinegar while dunking.
I’m wondering whether I should dunk it again in vinegar…
 
I would like to share my very first dunking project :smile:
This soft satchel was listed on Mercari Japan.
When it arrived, the color had faded and the inside was covered in mold, and the worst thing was the odor…
I thought about asking for authentication here first, but I just couldn’t stand the odor, and went straight to the sink, dunked it into lukewarm water with some mild detergent that can be used to wash wool and silk (Dawn isn’t available where I live).
Leather CPR is also quite expensive here, so I decided to apply some left over baby lotion that I had used for our kids instead.
… and this is how it turned out!

Before
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After
View attachment 5321723

The color came back just by moisturizing it with the lotion (I may have overdone it a bit :sad:).
There’s still some odor left, and I regret not having added vinegar while dunking.
I’m wondering whether I should dunk it again in vinegar…
It looks good! You need to be sure the mold is dead. It might work to put the bag in sunlight.
 
Would anyone be able to tell me if wall paint is hard to remove from vintage coach bags? I tried scraping a spot with my nail but it doesn’t budge. TYIA for any replies :smile::
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Eta: I didn’t use anything on it yet because the seller never disclosed the paint. I don’t wanna alter it in a way that could void the return if I have to go that route (but Im hoping it won’t come to that).
If it’s acrylic, it will absolutely come off. Make sure the water is on the warm side and leave it in for a bit longer than you normally would. A gentle scrub wouldn’t hurt either. The Emmie? :sad:
 
If it’s acrylic, it will absolutely come off. Make sure the water is on the warm side and leave it in for a bit longer than you normally would. A gentle scrub wouldn’t hurt either. The Emmie? :sad:

It’s unfortunately wall paint for sure but Im gonna attempt to rehab it instead of returning. No, not the Emmie, this is a city bag! :smile: (Look at me, still buying bags when I barely have any CPR left… :lol:)
 
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