Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[whateve]

Smell remover! @ConnieinSeattle this one’s for you! My rehab closet and my family thank you so much for the used coffee grounds recommendation!! 😁🙌

The lavender in the pic is extra fine food grade for lemon lavender cakes, from the pantry — last bit was losing its potency so decided to use it up. Cheaper would be just fine. But use in small pinches unless you want your bags to smell like the south of France!

did you mix coffee grounds with the lavender and salt?

 

[squeakyrose]

did you mix coffee grounds with the lavender and salt?

I did. A little bit of home chemistry mixed in. Coarse salt will absorb the oils in the lavender buds and coffee grounds, act as a catalyst to diffuse their scents even more effectively, and also make it all last a little longer. Salt and lavender are also both antibacterial and antifungal which theoretically would help inhibit musty moldy nastiness in a small enclosed space like a bag or closet — but I wouldn’t rely on it to kill bag mold!

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

Smell remover! @ConnieinSeattle this one’s for you! My rehab closet and my family thank you so much for the used coffee grounds recommendation!! 😁🙌

The lavender in the pic is extra fine food grade for lemon lavender cakes, from the pantry — last bit was losing its potency so decided to use it up. Cheaper would be just fine. But use in small pinches unless you want your bags to smell like the south of France!

Your add ins could make it a smell remover accelerator! I think using coffee grounds is a slow process...I kept the coffee grounds in a sock with one bag for months, all tied in a canvas bag. The nasty perfume smell did leave.

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

New rehab in process. A beautiful British Tan binocular bag.

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

Lindsay and Murphy take a bath together!

 

[squeakyrose]

Thank you!!!

Squeaky, look at this! https://www.ebay.com/itm/267100160103

Sharing a new arrival today…

Connie, I didn’t win the one from earlier last month but — Madison Satchel now secured!

NYC at a reasonable price in very decent condition for age… and my first anchors! 🥰 Can’t wait to get her into a bath tomorrow and get started.

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

Sharing a new arrival today…

Connie, I didn’t win the one from earlier last month but — Madison Satchel now secured!

NYC at a reasonable price in very decent condition for age… and my first anchors! 🥰 Can’t wait to get her into a bath tomorrow and get started.

They called it "nautical hardware." Yay on your acquisition!

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

This is my digging into rehabs weekend. I found this on my rehab pile and don't even remember how long I've had it. It's a compartment bag, 9850 from the late 80s. Several split corners.

 

[mandy nicole]

Update: That was surprisingly easy, and I fixed the zipper. I took a slider hardware off a Value Village purse, and it fit perfectly. I undid the end of the zipper, took off the broken hardware, and slid the new piece on. Fits! Works. Reattached the "stopper" at the end, and sewed the area for good measure. Put on the original ring and zipper pull to the new slider piece. Here also is a photo of my zipper lubricant--chapstick! Now I can rehab this bag and bring it back to gorgeousness!

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Love the ingenuity, Connie. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

 

[mandy nicole]

I hope you've all had wonderful holidays. Here's the update on the Disaster Bag.
It's a Disaster Bag no more! I'd be lying if I said it was smooth sailing to get here even from when I decided that dye was my best option. I managed to learn another valuable lesson in that oil based dyes and oil based conditioners can and will lead to the dye coming off the leather, which is exactly what happened to me as I thought I was about to dot the i with some conditioner/protector.
So in the evening of the 23rd I was having a bit of a meltdown as I was once again stripping the bag of the dye and conditioner only to have to dye it again (we celebrate on the 24th).
I had originally hoped to get Fiebing's dye but with the time left I had to use what was available and got the Leather Penetrating Dye from TRG the One (this is a Spanish brand, but I'm not sure if it's the same Tarrago that's been referred to in this forum). The reviews online gave me some confidence as others had also used it on bags with good results. I tested it out on a leather strip first and was pleasantly surprised especially hearing so many comment on how dyes can leave a very shiny finish. This one has a satin finish that looks natural to this type of leather and the result is uniform with the rest of the bag which didn't have nearly as much mystery product on originally. I found it easy to work with overall. I also got the leather preparer for prep. I'm not sure if it has any major differences from the pure acetone, aside from not smelling as intensely, but at least it gave me a bit of confidence that it definitely had to work well with their dye.
But as I said, the dye (or as I learned, just about any oil based dye) just won't work together with products like the Saphir Renovateur or the other liquid conditioners I had. Saddle soap is absolutely fine to use with it, though, so that's what I did after the final dyeing process.
Something I was glad I did was that I got a box of assorted leather pieces with different finishes from a local bag brand who was selling the scraps from their studio. I've been using the smaller pieces I can't use for projects to try out products before I use them on a bag. It doesn't guarantee that there will be no hiccups along the way, but it's an added safety measure and for less than the price of a slice of cake. So I think it's well worth it.

I also wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone's advice on here throughout this. It gave me the courage I needed and I'm pretty pleased with how this bag turned out. I finished the rehab just in time. Mom absolutely loves the bag.
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I had to go back to read about this bag, based on you calling it the “disaster bag”... Absolutely beautiful results — you should feel very proud!

 

[mandy nicole]

Happy New Year, Coachies! So happy to have found this group of wonderful people in 2024 and looking forward to 2025.

We’re on NYD football (soccer) game 3 here at our house so I’ve slipped away for some quiet time with my current rehabs. This bag has a long story that I’ll save for its final post - but here are a couple WIP photos trying out a new-to-me product. Let you know how it goes!

Do you have an “after” photo with this purse & the results / how the stains look post-treatment? [[edit: just noticed this post is from Thursday and you said you would post pics later on… sorry!! No rush!]]

I have a BT vintage coach belt that I have never been able to get rid of some oil stains from. I keep thinking I need to dye it as my only option, but you have me intrigued that there might be something that could help…

 

[squeakyrose]

I definitely will! The first results were so good that I ordered their foaming Furniture Clinic Leather Cleaner, which directions say to use between applications of the Leather Degreaser. I didn’t do that step. After two applications of the degreaser, it’s definitely good enough now to Blackrock and leave a light patina. But I’m too curious to see if I can get the last bits off by following the instructions to the letter! Will post again after one more go.

ETA: But here’s a photo after 2 apps of degreaser, while bag is still drying.

 

[squeakyrose]

Your add ins could make it a smell remover accelerator! I think using coffee grounds is a slow process...I kept the coffee grounds in a sock with one bag for months, all tied in a canvas bag. The nasty perfume smell did leave.

Fyi this mixture does seem to be working fairly quickly, to soak up thrift store deodorizer smell in one and pungent perfume-smoke in another. I’m also using cut up tights instead of socks (bc all our available socks seemed too thick). But go easy on the lavender buds so it’s not too fragrant.

 

[mandy nicole]

I definitely will! The first results were so good that I ordered their foaming Furniture Clinic Leather Cleaner, which directions say to use between applications of the Leather Degreaser. I didn’t do that step. After two applications of the degreaser, it’s definitely good enough now to Blackrock and leave a light patina. But I’m too curious to see if I can get the last bits off by following the instructions to the letter! Will post again after one more go.

ETA: But here’s a photo after 2 apps of degreaser, while bag is still drying.

Oh my gosh! It looks so good after two applications, I can’t even see where the spots were at all—I had to go back and look at the original photo! I’m a believer. Definitely going to purchase and see if it helps my belt

 

[mandy nicole]

Spa/rehab day for some of my purse backlog. Purses that were dunked & saddle-soaped today; L to R, CCW:

1) Red Scooter (9978) bag, brass hardware, circa 1995. This was a bag that had been on my wishlist for awhile, and in August 2023 (can’t believe it’s been that long) @BeenBurned sent me a message to let me know one had been spotted on eBay. It was an instant buy for me. Of course, life gets in the way and time flies by faster than you realize… finally cleaning Scooter up now! I think she will look very beautiful once she is shaped and conditioned.

2) Mahogany City (9790) bag, brass hardware, circa 2000. Generally “very good” condition before hand, just needed a full clean and condition. Two black spots that I thought were just damage on the bottom panel… turns out they were two ink spots. (you can see the spots they left on the yellow towel in the photo) Yikes!! All I can do now is wait and see how things turn out. Unfortunately I did not take any before photos.

3) Navy???? w/ tan trim Charleston (4217), circa 1992/1993, from
Sheridan collection. Thought this was actually a faded black purse (I do have before photos) but after dunking and just looking at it a few minutes ago, I actually think it might possibly be Navy. Very good condition with super clean lining on the inside, so this is an easy purse to “rehab”.

4) **Special purse** Black w/ tabac trim Swagger (6820) bag, brass hardware, circa 1990. From Spectator collection. This one has the “This is a Coach bean bag” error on the creed inside the purse. This makes it a very special part of my vintage Coach collection. (I did end up buying the 1990 Bean Bag key fob at aster date when I stumbled upon it by pure chance on eBay. It still has original sales tag attached too! Maybe I will make a post about the Bean Bag Creed Error later and share photos of them together.)

Of the four purses I dunked today, the Swagger is in the most “beat up” condition and I think will experience the biggest transformation. I’ll have to do some leather filler & paint matching on the tabac piping as it has some worn edges.