Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[LilyM.]

Oh boy. While I completely understand your reluctance to take a pass on a vintage Coach bag which are hardly abundant here in Europe, I do want to caution you just so you have a better idea of what you might be getting into with this one.

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply! I didn’t even consider the possibility of the bag being painted/shoe polished. I just assumed it was oil buildup or something. I had a closer look and you can see a clear color line when looking at the edging (plus the darker parts are way shinier). I don’t mind spending my time on the restoration but I’ll need to look more into removing shoe polished first to see if I would be happy with the result

The thought of the white spots being mold did cross my mind and I was prepared to spray it with vinegar first.

 

[moreau_md]

Leather Honey is absolutely amazing bring color back to dark bags. You don’t want to use it on light bags as it can really highlight flaws. That said I used it on a beat up Bal tote that was a pale peach when I got it. 2 coats of Leather Honey later and it was bright orange. Lucky for me no flaws. I wish I had pics but I had forgotten, and sold the bag awhile back.it restores moisture which is a huge cause of color loss.

I have heard Chamberlain’s Leather cream is good for scratches. It is expensive and I have never tried it. Also haven’t had any badly scratched up bags either to try it out.

Thank you!

 

[maevari]

Here they are, my duffle sac in Leaf and Megan in Jade. I put this whole rehab on hold for winter after cleaning and dunking them. I needed time to think about the options and more daylight than I had available to assess their level of distress and color match if necessary. I'm back now to see what you think of my game plan for these two.

1. Duffle sac in Leaf:
Her main problem is that she has quite a bit of color loss in some areas such as the rim of the bottom, around the zipper and on the handle. I originally hoped that this may be taken care of by some conditioning, but it wasn't the case. In the places where there's color loss, the surface coating/treatment has also worn off and the leather wets differently. So were I to saturate that spot with water/conditioner the damaged area wets and becomes several shades darker than the bag, while the rest of the surface remains looking as it is. Not even richer conditioners such as the Renovateur work because it does the same thing, although the effect is only temporary and lasts until it dries. This has led me to believe that my best option is to paint those specific areas with something that coats the surface rather than penetrates as a dye or oil.

2. Megan in Jade:
The wear is extensive and became only more evident once I had cleaned her up. I actually introduced acetone to her in some areas because she had been worn without being conditioned even after all that surface damage occurred so all that grease and grime had been seeping into the leather. It not only stained her visibly but that buildup would have likely interfered with any later treatment as well, so I took the risk. Luckily any further color loss was really minor. The way she reacted to wetting though has led me to believe that in this case I would have several options.

1) One option would be to introduce no dye or colorant at all and to use something like mink/neatsfoot oil that penetrates the leather and darkens it evenly.
2) Mix as close a color match that I can with dyes to make up for the color loss (I am not considering painting this bag) and slowly build up coverage in distressed areas and then see if a regular conditioner will even out the result.
3) I guess if that isn't enough then I could follow the dye up with something like neatsfoot/mink oil etc that further darkens/evens those areas.

First of all, thanks for reading through all this if you did. I'm hoping someone might have thoughts on my proposed game plan or some product recommendations or pointers. I haven't really found any good examples to help me with issues particular to bags in these types of colors, especially as I don't want to redye or paint the whole bag.

 

[maevari]

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply! I didn’t even consider the possibility of the bag being painted/shoe polished. I just assumed it was oil buildup or something. I had a closer look and you can see a clear color line when looking at the edging (plus the darker parts are way shinier). I don’t mind spending my time on the restoration but I’ll need to look more into removing shoe polished first to see if I would be happy with the result

The thought of the white spots being mold did cross my mind and I was prepared to spray it with vinegar first.

Natural patina and oil buildup will definitely occur and be visible, especially on brown bags in my opinion. But it's never as extreme, so if the leather has darkened this much it's more likely either a stain caused by something seeping into the leather or something it has been coated with.

I'm pro-dunking because it can really help clean and also reshape. But in case you are already washing it rather than wiping it down lightly, I would suggest dunking it into water to which you have added a bit of vinegar. It doesn't have to be a lot, but this way it really gets in there and takes care if any mold spores. I myself did it as part of a rinse after taking care of my shoe polish problem.

 

[LilyM.]

Hi everyone, I spent the weekend reading through this thread and I am in awe about what some of you are able to do!

I would love some input on this brown city bag, it was described as being in good condition and not worn often. When I received it, the leather was quite dry and discoloured, the edging is breaking in multiple spots and I have no idea what caused the white stains on the inside. I paid $38 for it and now I am wondering if I should rather return it. But I live in Europe where vintage coach bags are hard to find, which tempts me to keep it

I made up my mind after the input from maevari and decided to keep this as my project for April. I will need to
- treat with vinegar for mold
- dunk to see if the dark spots/potential paint can be removed (I did a small spot check with acetone and not a lot of color came off, edit: the seller said it was just natural darkening and no polish/paint was used)
- fix leather piping/ glue down -> before dunking?
- condition
- vacuum inside
- remove hardware, remove verdigris + polish the hardware

I am now just wondering what I should do first, I was thinking of either 1. Remove hardware, spray with vinegar, condition to hydrate the leather (can leather be too dry to be dunked? there is some cracking along the flap), dunk. Or 2. Dunk with vinegar, condition, fix piping, hardware etc.? Any ideas are highly appreciated

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

Hi everyone, I spent the weekend reading through this thread and I am in awe about what some of you are able to do!

I would love some input on this brown city bag, it was described as being in good condition and not worn often. When I received it, the leather was quite dry and discoloured, the edging is breaking in multiple spots and I have no idea what caused the white stains on the inside. I paid $38 for it and now I am wondering if I should rather return it. But I live in Europe where vintage coach bags are hard to find, which tempts me to keep it

I was expecting to just rehab it with some saddle soap and conditioner but that is no longer realistic haha View attachment 6151997

Your bag is fabulous. I like it, I'd keep it. I'd work on it. I don't think it's shoe polish. I think it's just dirt, and as you said, buildup of oils. I've used angeles leather filler on the piping rips like those, and it works great. Just need to find matching leather dye to touch up on top, as the product dries white. PS: 38 dollars for a city bag is a steal! Look at what they sell for now. Please share your progress.

My first steps would be to remove hardware, and dunk with soap. Rinse with vinegar in the rinse water, then leather CPR. Stuff and let it dry and see where you're at. More leather CPR.

 

[maevari]

I made up my mind after the input from maevari and decided to keep this as my project for April. I will need to
- treat with vinegar for mold
- dunk to see if the dark spots/potential paint can be removed (I did a small spot check with acetone and not a lot of color came off, edit: the seller said it was just natural darkening and no polish/paint was used)
- fix leather piping/ glue down -> before dunking?
- condition
- vacuum inside
- remove hardware, remove verdigris + polish the hardware

I am now just wondering what I should do first, I was thinking of either 1. Spray with vinegar, condition to hydrate the leather (can leather be too dry to be dunked? there is some cracking along the flap), dunk. Or 2. Dunk with vinegar, condition, fix piping, hardware etc.? Any ideas are highly appreciated

There's a lot of people here that are more experienced than I am, but personally I would hold off any conditioning before you have dunked and cleaned the bag because introducing any type of conditioner will help seal in what's already on or in the leather. Once you have gotten it into the water, this will naturally also soften it temporarily for the handling, until it dries.
I would keep in mind though that the general drying time for this type of bag is generally 1-2 days to be fully dry, depending on temperature and air humidity. I would wait for it to be mostly dry before going in with acetone. Otherwise I think you could risk moving around whatever is staining it and it can be pushed deeper into the leather rather than being wiped off. I myself also gave it that second dunk once I was done with the acetone. And that is when I went in with the conditioners etc.
If this mystery substance has been on there for a while it can take some real effort to really get it off there. But if you can see staining on whatever you use to work with acetone it should be a clear sign that this is something that's been applied to the leather later. Acetone can and will eventually impact the original finish/tan, but it almost never stains even comparably to shoe polish/dye etc. I found a photo I took during a project for reference. I dipped two swabs into pure acetone, the left one I wiped on a bag that was covered in shoe polish, the right one on one that wasn't.

PS: but it's possible that it also isn't polish as @ConnieinSeattle suggested. So I would really hold off on acetone until you've exhausted other options. This is really harsh on the leather.

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

Here's my next project! 9029 Flap Bag. Really great condition, basically just some rubbing and color fading on the piping and bottom. I was debating using black saddle soap but I am a fan of dunking so dunking it is.

 

[whateve]

I made up my mind after the input from maevari and decided to keep this as my project for April. I will need to
- treat with vinegar for mold
- dunk to see if the dark spots/potential paint can be removed (I did a small spot check with acetone and not a lot of color came off, edit: the seller said it was just natural darkening and no polish/paint was used)
- fix leather piping/ glue down -> before dunking?
- condition
- vacuum inside
- remove hardware, remove verdigris + polish the hardware

I am now just wondering what I should do first, I was thinking of either 1. Remove hardware, spray with vinegar, condition to hydrate the leather (can leather be too dry to be dunked? there is some cracking along the flap), dunk. Or 2. Dunk with vinegar, condition, fix piping, hardware etc.? Any ideas are highly appreciated

No need for vacuuming unless there is a lot of lint. Anything inside should be washed away in the bath. If you are going to remove hardware, do it before anything else. I am a little concerned that leather is so dry it could get worse in the dunk.

 

[whateve]

I received this vintage stewardess bag today and need some advice on how to restore it. It has a few scratches and a small stain on the front, and the color is fading along the edges. The leather doesn't feel very dry.
What would you recommend for restauration?

Also I have never seen a zipper in that color on the inside before. Could it have been replaced?

I've seen that on zipper pulls fairly often. Did you get it authenticated?

I think a standard dunk would work. I would remove the hardware and clean up the verdigris before I dunked to prevent it from spreading and staining the leather further.

 

[squeakyrose]

Oh, the hot spoon trick is new to me! I will give that a shot!

Those are both new to me, so I will give them a shot! I

Thank you both, I appreciate your time!

Hot spoon trick is a bit like wizardry… I’m going to try black saddle soap for the first time myself, hopefully this week.

 

[squeakyrose]

All, I have what feels like a dumb question… but I’m going for it… I thrifted a cute little 9844 Legacy West Demi Pouch to rehab for my SIL. Costa Rica 2001. It’s missing the original leather zipper pull. The original ring is still attached to the zipper, just the leather pull tab is gone. She likes branding and a bit of bling so I decided to replace with some metal instead of leather even though it’s not the correct style or era. I bought the little charm shown here (bc the signature is intertwined to make a heart 🙂), listed as a replacement zipper pull.

I thought the small indentation in the ring was a spring clip. It isn’t. The ring is solid (unless I’m really a moron or need stronger readers). The ring on the purse zipper is also solid. Good Coach seamless soldering. Sooo — how to attach!

I don’t mind snipping either the ring on the purse or the ring on the new pull, connecting, and doing a quick re-solder — but am I missing something here?? Just wanted to check first. Feels like a logic puzzle…. Thanks!

 

[whateve]

All, I have what feels like a dumb question… but I’m going for it… I thrifted a cute little 9844 Legacy West Demi Pouch to rehab for my SIL. Costa Rica 2001. It’s missing the original leather zipper pull. The original ring is still attached to the zipper, just the leather pull tab is gone. She likes branding and a bit of bling so I decided to replace with some metal instead of leather even though it’s not the correct style or era. I bought the little charm shown here (bc the signature is intertwined to make a heart 🙂), listed as a replacement zipper pull.

I thought the small indentation in the ring was a spring clip. It isn’t. The ring is solid (unless I’m really a moron or need stronger readers). The ring on the purse zipper is also solid. Good Coach seamless soldering. Sooo — how to attach!

I don’t mind snipping either the ring on the purse or the ring on the new pull, connecting, and doing a quick re-solder — but am I missing something here?? Just wanted to check first. Feels like a logic puzzle…. Thanks!

That little skinnier part on the top of the ring - are you sure that doesn't move? It almost looks like it would press in or retract to attach it to another ring. If not, I don't think I would snip or resolder. I would get another ring to attach the two together. Easiest is to get a ring with an opening and just crimp it closed once you have attached it to both rings. Alternatively you can attach this thing to a dogleash clip and then clip the whole thing onto the ring on the purse.

 

[squeakyrose]

That little skinnier part on the top of the ring - are you sure that doesn't move? It almost looks like it would press in or retract to attach it to another ring. If not, I don't think I would snip or resolder. I would get another ring to attach the two together. Easiest is to get a ring with an opening and just crimp it closed once you have attached it to both rings. Alternatively you can attach this thing to a dogleash clip and then clip the whole thing onto the ring on the purse.

I swear it doesn’t move! Which is crazy bc then why go to the trouble of manufacturing it that way? Your ideas are way better than mine (not surprisingly 😂). Occam’s zipper pull replacement.

Has anyone else bought a “replacement zipper pull” and run into this? Maybe it’s actually a pendant??

 

[whateve]

I swear it doesn’t move! Which is crazy bc then why go to the trouble of manufacturing it that way? Your ideas are way better than mine (not surprisingly 😂). Occam’s zipper pull replacement.

Has anyone else bought a “replacement zipper pull” and run into this? Maybe it’s actually a pendant??

I looked through every Poppy item I've owned and can't find a zipper pull that looks like that. That one looks hard to hold onto. Most of those I have had have an open middle to make it easy to pull. A couple of them had something in the middle.

I think what you have isn't a zipper pull but there is no reason you can't use it for one.