Coach Rehab and Rescue Club
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Is that British Tan? I use this (a little mixed with Leather CPR). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DL2NVPU I smooth it in with my fingers. It may take several applications. As always, when dying something, test the product in an inconspicuous area first!
There's no hard and fast rules about this! I probably do a proportion of about one part dye to ten parts CPR.
Hi and welcome. I’m not seeing mold. Does it smell moldy? OOAW. I see a really worn, strained bag (saddle?) that warms my heart. You can put vinegar in your rinse water; that’s a common practice. If this was my bag, I would take my tooth brush and made sure I scrubbed that spot on the inside with an extra squirt of Dawn detergent. The reality is that the stain may seep to the outside. It’s the chance we take with dunking. I’ve dunked those skinny straps right along with bags and they do fine.RESTORATION NEWBIE (mold?)
Hello all!!!
I recently picked up the basic bag and noticed weird staining. I am not sure if it is mold and to treat it with distilled white vinegar if it is since the bag appears to be super dry. I’m looking for any tips for this process and most importantly if any spots look like mold!
My game plan is to clean the suede with distilled white vinegar then clean the bag in warm soapy water. I have conditioner and mink oil if the conditioner doesn’t take after a few goes. I plan to polish the brass too but not sure how to properly tackle the straps since they are thin but in good shape!
What would you do?
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So Saphir Medium Brown matched British Tan the last time you bought it......I'll try it! Do you use a sealant or something after it dries? I've been reading all different kinds of things and I don't want a shiny bag, just a glow.....thanks again!
I don't use a sealant. Unless blackrock leather 'n rich is considered a sealant. It's got protective properties. When you buff, buff buff with the horse hair brush, it does get that glow.
Here's a similar style bag in blue, this one is 1453, not 1452. And it does look like it would need some color restoration at the bottom there. However, I saw it and I thought of you!
RESTORATION NEWBIE (mold?)
Hello all!!!
I recently picked up the basic bag and noticed weird staining. I am not sure if it is mold and to treat it with distilled white vinegar if it is since the bag appears to be super dry. I’m looking for any tips for this process and most importantly if any spots look like mold!
My game plan is to clean the suede with distilled white vinegar then clean the bag in warm soapy water. I have conditioner and mink oil if the conditioner doesn’t take after a few goes. I plan to polish the brass too but not sure how to properly tackle the straps since they are thin but in good shape!
What would you do?
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Welcome! What a sweet little bag. I agree with @Lake Effect. And certainly it won’t hurt to blot the stain lightly from the inside with white vinegar as a first step. I’d try not to oversaturate. Some of it might come off before you dunk depending on what and how old it is. If it were my bag, I would keep its bath on the short side, long enough to massage it clean and scrub stains but not a long soak. I find the light tan colors on old bags will give up a lot of dye in a soak (it will be orangey yellow and giving up some is natural). I do my final rinse in distilled water with about a half cup white vinegar. The distilled water helps flush the minerals from my hard tap water out of the bag so it doesn’t dry stiff. You can also consider starting to condition the outside while it’s still quite damp, that’s a common approach here. I typically use CPR but sometimes will use Cadillac Select for light leathers.
Lighter colored bags are an adventure! I love rehabbed saddle and camel and similar. But be prepared that restoring it may bring out stains and imperfections that weren’t visible when it was dried out. If it does, you have some options from there (including loving it just the way it is!). It will change colors many times before you’re through and may look worse before it looks better! Enjoy the journey!
The Janices are done! One of them went off to my little sister for her birthday. (Didn't get any photos.) The other is here now.
Sharing a product others might be interested in… I actually stumbled on this here in very old archived posts and discovered it’s available on Amazon.
I try to use only nontoxic cleaners in my home and on my bags. Truthfully this stuff is pretty amazing at removing ink. No chlorine, no nasties. I think it’s citric acid-based. Now we use it on all the laundry stains too! Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover.
I’ve been using it on lining stains, especially ink, and it also works quite effectively on ink on the leather. It’s slightly viscous but still quite runny. If you’re going to use it on pen marks on the leather, apply VERY thinly just along the ink itself and be prepared there may be a “bleach” bleed bc it will lighten the surrounding leather too. I learned to use a toothpick bc even my thinnest brush permitted some bleach bleed.
I started a new rehab last night on another of my current favorite line. Just before dunking I discovered a huge (undisclosed) blue ink spill deep in the pocket lining. Have a look at the pic. Original stain was the uuuugh we’re all familiar with — deepest black purpled at the edges, completely opaque, about the size of a silver dollar covering the corner of the lining and the ivory stripe, and it was clearly very old. This photo is this morning, after doing absolutely nothing except saturating the dry stain with GSSR and going to bed. Not super cheap but good stuff!
ETA: To get the last of a stain out you have to rub it gently either rubbing the fabric against itself or, if it’s on the leather, a pointy qtip works.
I try to use only nontoxic cleaners in my home and on my bags. Truthfully this stuff is pretty amazing at removing ink. No chlorine, no nasties. I think it’s citric acid-based. Now we use it on all the laundry stains too! Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover.
I’ve been using it on lining stains, especially ink, and it also works quite effectively on ink on the leather. It’s slightly viscous but still quite runny. If you’re going to use it on pen marks on the leather, apply VERY thinly just along the ink itself and be prepared there may be a “bleach” bleed bc it will lighten the surrounding leather too. I learned to use a toothpick bc even my thinnest brush permitted some bleach bleed.
I started a new rehab last night on another of my current favorite line. Just before dunking I discovered a huge (undisclosed) blue ink spill deep in the pocket lining. Have a look at the pic. Original stain was the uuuugh we’re all familiar with — deepest black purpled at the edges, completely opaque, about the size of a silver dollar covering the corner of the lining and the ivory stripe, and it was clearly very old. This photo is this morning, after doing absolutely nothing except saturating the dry stain with GSSR and going to bed. Not super cheap but good stuff!
ETA: To get the last of a stain out you have to rub it gently either rubbing the fabric against itself or, if it’s on the leather, a pointy qtip works.
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Someone, I think it might have been @Lake Effect, once said time is the rehabber’s friend. Truer words rarely spoken! Talking with @chup about tan bags reminded me of my little 2000 Costa Rica camel small hippie flap (9135) from last fall. Some of you may remember the journey with this ‘little bag that kept giving (stains and scratches)’, that I posted pics of along the way. (@ConnieinSeattle this is the degreaser bag.) Well, after all that, she’s been resting in her flannel for a few months and look at her now! Perfect for our sunny May day. I have to say this little cutie makes me disproportionately happy bc numerous times I thought she was headed back to the donation pile. 🥰
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I didn’t even think to look for other products. 😂 There is a stain remover spray bottle too, but I suspect maybe it would just be the concentrated gel-liquid plus water ? May try the jewelry cleaner!