Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[Sonoma]

I asked about how to restore/clean a newer bag, the Madeline a couple posts back, no hurry on that, but now I am back with a real "emergency".

I am currently rehabbing a black Mulberry, good condition just out of shape and a few scuffs. I dunked it, stuffed it... all good. When I went to apply the first coat of conditioner I saw on the back a bunch of tiny white dots that were not there before, (smaller than a pen tip), I thought that the adding a bit of black paint to the conditioner would take care of it, but no... paint is not covering it.

I let it dry more overnight and this morning the dots are still there and a white film is showing up on different parts of the bag. What is going on? I never had nothing like this happening to me before, I am totally lost.

I know that pictures would help, but I confess panicking and putting some Black Rocks all over, so now the white film is not showing and the dots are less noticeable, but when I buff if they still show I will update with pictures.

In the meantime any ideas? None of that was there prior to dunking, and dunking was the usual way with Dawn detergent. TIA!

Is it possible that the dots are flecks of paint? I had that problem.
So in case buffing doesn't work :

I bought a vintage black pebbled Sonoma that looked good but needed dunking.
After the wash I noticed little dots of color on different areas of bag. Eeek! Light scrubbing did nothing.

I looked at them under a good magnifying glass and the color seemed to be on the surface, but I wasn't sure. So I used a #11 Exacto blade under the magnifying glass to see if I could lift any dots off the bag. (Best to do this when the bag is wet.) It worked! A tedious job removing the paint, but the bag looks great now.

You have to have a light touch & be very careful not to ding the leather with the blade. Also, I don't know about Mulberry, so Sonoma leather may be thicker & more forgiving than yours.

Good luck!

 

[mrk2014]

Is it possible that the dots are flecks of paint? I had that problem.
So in case buffing doesn't work :

I bought a vintage black pebbled Sonoma that looked good but needed dunking.
After the wash I noticed little dots of color on different areas of bag. Eeek! Light scrubbing did nothing.

I looked at them under a good magnifying glass and the color seemed to be on the surface, but I wasn't sure. So I used a #11 Exacto blade under the magnifying glass to see if I could lift any dots off the bag. (Best to do this when the bag is wet.) It worked! A tedious job removing the paint, but the bag looks great now.

You have to have a light touch & be very careful not to ding the leather with the blade. Also, I don't know about Mulberry, so Sonoma leather may be thicker & more forgiving than yours.

Good luck!

Thanks for your advice, once I was able to remove ink with Coach Leather cleaner and a toothpick, I know what patience is, LOL

I would imagine that if paint, it could be covered with another paint. Still drying and absorbing the BR, we'll see.

 

[Sonoma]

Thanks for your advice, once I was able to remove ink with Coach Leather cleaner and a toothpick, I know what patience is, LOL

I would imagine that if paint, it could be covered with another paint. Still drying and absorbing the BR, we'll see.

Wow a toothpick, you do have patience!

RE coverage, I think it depends on what kind of paint is on the bag - if the paint spots have a glossy finish, the paint & conditioner mixture will just roll off of it.

Let us know what happens!

 

[whateve]

I asked about how to restore/clean a newer bag, the Madeline a couple posts back, no hurry on that, but now I am back with a real "emergency".

I am currently rehabbing a black Mulberry, good condition just out of shape and a few scuffs. I dunked it, stuffed it... all good. When I went to apply the first coat of conditioner I saw on the back a bunch of tiny white dots that were not there before, (smaller than a pen tip), I thought that the adding a bit of black paint to the conditioner would take care of it, but no... paint is not covering it.

I let it dry more overnight and this morning the dots are still there and a white film is showing up on different parts of the bag. What is going on? I never had nothing like this happening to me before, I am totally lost.

I know that pictures would help, but I confess panicking and putting some Black Rocks all over, so now the white film is not showing and the dots are less noticeable, but when I buff if they still show I will update with pictures.

In the meantime any ideas? None of that was there prior to dunking, and dunking was the usual way with Dawn detergent. TIA!

To me it sounds like mold. The bath allowed it to bloom. Wipe it with vinegar.

 

[Beccabaglady]

I asked about how to restore/clean a newer bag, the Madeline a couple posts back, no hurry on that, but now I am back with a real "emergency".

I am currently rehabbing a black Mulberry, good condition just out of shape and a few scuffs. I dunked it, stuffed it... all good. When I went to apply the first coat of conditioner I saw on the back a bunch of tiny white dots that were not there before, (smaller than a pen tip), I thought that the adding a bit of black paint to the conditioner would take care of it, but no... paint is not covering it.

I let it dry more overnight and this morning the dots are still there and a white film is showing up on different parts of the bag. What is going on? I never had nothing like this happening to me before, I am totally lost.

I know that pictures would help, but I confess panicking and putting some Black Rocks all over, so now the white film is not showing and the dots are less noticeable, but when I buff if they still show I will update with pictures.

In the meantime any ideas? None of that was there prior to dunking, and dunking was the usual way with Dawn detergent. TIA!

Could be spew? Great explanation here: https://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/leather-and-skin/

 

[Sonoma]

Could be spew? Great explanation here: https://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/leather-and-skin/

Great resource - thanks for the link!

 

[Catbird9]

Could be spew? Great explanation here: https://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/leather-and-skin/

Interesting, thanks!

One thing that caught my eye was this statement:

"At one time, it was believed that applying leather dressing or other kinds of soaps and oils to a leather surface would extend the life of a leather object. Now it is known that this is not the case and often the application of such substances can do quite a bit of damage."

I wonder what are the substances that can do damage.

 

[mrk2014]

To me it sounds like mold. The bath allowed it to bloom. Wipe it with vinegar.

I didn't like to hear that LOL, thank you Whateve for the suggestion, but it didn't make any difference.

Could be spew? Great explanation here: https://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/leather-and-skin/

Very interesting reading, thank you as well.

I really do not know what this could be, I would imagine that no matter what it is I could at least temporarily cover it with paint (I used the paint and conditioner mix only). I took these pictures one with flash the other natural light. It is only around the center of the back pocket.

 

[snowymittens]

Hi ladies, I'm about to embark on my first rehab projects *excited* One question: while giving the bag a bath do you soak the shoulder strap as well? Some of the straps for my vintage bags are showing discoloration and scratches so I'm thinking if I should dunk them in the bath together with the bag and then dry the straps before conditioning and buffing them. Any inputs/experience would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance!

 

[Zealous]

Hi ladies, I'm about to embark on my first rehab projects *excited* One question: while giving the bag a bath do you soak the shoulder strap as well? Some of the straps for my vintage bags are showing discoloration and scratches so I'm thinking if I should dunk them in the bath together with the bag and then dry the straps before conditioning and buffing them. Any inputs/experience would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance!

Hi! Yay for your first rehab!

I dunk my straps. I figure it might keep the leathers more consistent. Also, with wider straps, it helps remove the dents left by buckles. I start the conditioning process while the leather is still slightly damp.

Good luck! We'd love to see before & after photos!

 

[Catbird9]

Hi ladies, I'm about to embark on my first rehab projects *excited* One question: while giving the bag a bath do you soak the shoulder strap as well? Some of the straps for my vintage bags are showing discoloration and scratches so I'm thinking if I should dunk them in the bath together with the bag and then dry the straps before conditioning and buffing them. Any inputs/experience would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance!

I remove the straps and dunk them with the bag. For the wider, suede-backed straps, I lay them out flat to dry, and if there are dents in them I put a towel with weight on top of it to flatten the dents. For the narrower straps I just lay them out straight on a towel and turn them so they dry evenly. I start putting conditioner on when they're still damp.

Sonoma wrote on this thread a while back about a problem with a pebbled leather strap on a Sonoma bag, so those might require different treatment.

 

[Sonoma]

I remove the straps and dunk them with the bag. For the wider, suede-backed straps, I lay them out flat to dry, and if there are dents in them I put a towel with weight on top of it to flatten the dents. For the narrower straps I just lay them out straight on a towel and turn them so they dry evenly. I start putting conditioner on when they're still damp.

Sonoma wrote on this thread a while back about a problem with a pebbled leather strap on a Sonoma bag, so those might require different treatment.

Congrats on attempting your first rehab!

I'm a newbie too, so I'm learning as I go.
Here's my experience with straps issues - just as a heads up:

I had problems with the straps on two vintage pebbled leather Sonomas.
The straps on both bags were a bit abused (i.e. one was stretched out some because the bag was hung by the strap for a long time). I didn't really notice this before I dunked them, but the damage came to light after I'd soaked them for a couple of hours like I usually do.

They came out lumpy in the damaged areas. They improved slightly after drying/conditioning and trying to flatten them with weight.

Now I exam the straps carefully first, and wash but don't soak any straps, just the bag.

After all that it may not sound like it, but rehabbing really is fun!
I enjoy figuring out the history of a bag and how to restore it.

So enjoy!

 

[whateve]

Congrats on attempting your first rehab!

I'm a newbie too, so I'm learning as I go.
Here's my experience with straps issues - just as a heads up:

I had problems with the straps on two vintage pebbled leather Sonomas.
The straps on both bags were a bit abused (i.e. one was stretched out some because the bag was hung by the strap for a long time). I didn't really notice this before I dunked them, but the damage came to light after I'd soaked them for a couple of hours like I usually do.

They came out lumpy in the damaged areas. They improved slightly after drying/conditioning and trying to flatten them with weight.

Now I exam the straps carefully first, and wash but don't soak any straps, just the bag.

After all that it may not sound like it, but rehabbing really is fun!
I enjoy figuring out the history of a bag and how to restore it.

So enjoy!

Maybe they don't need to be soaked so long. When I wash Sonomas, I don't leave them in the water more than 15 minutes or so. I'm a little more cautious with lined bags than with unlined. In some bags, there is some stiffening that I'm afraid might become weakened with prolonged soaking. I don't think this is the case with Sonoma straps. Those seem to be made of several layers of leather only, but still the long soaking might have contributed to the problem. Slim satchels with briefcase handles are susceptible to having the handles become soft and floppy. There are other bags that have stiff bases. There is always a possibility that they might have used cardboard (I hope not!) and it will disintegrate if soaked too long.

 

[Sonoma]

Maybe they don't need to be soaked so long. When I wash Sonomas, I don't leave them in the water more than 15 minutes or so. I'm a little more cautious with lined bags than with unlined. In some bags, there is some stiffening that I'm afraid might become weakened with prolonged soaking. I don't think this is the case with Sonoma straps. Those seem to be made of several layers of leather only, but still the long soaking might have contributed to the problem. Slim satchels with briefcase handles are susceptible to having the handles become soft and floppy. There are other bags that have stiff bases. There is always a possibility that they might have used cardboard (I hope not!) and it will disintegrate if soaked too long.

Thank you for these insights whateve, I'll remember them for my next rehab.

Snowymittens - I've only rehabbed Coach Sonomas.
What style bags are you working on? Then folks can share experiences relevant to your bag.

BTW, the bottom / base of Sonomas is made from stiff leather - I opened up a lining before I soaked my first bag and peeked!

 

[mrk2014]

Giving a heads up on my bag with the "unknown" specks on the back, since I posted I have tried after the wiping with vinegar, also wiping with a mixture of alcohol and water, then paint by itself, that seemed to cover the dots, but later reappear, so I gave up and just condition. It looks like it is improving (not gone but less noticeable), after a couple treatments of Obenouf's.

You know how sticky is this product and hard to buff, well in this area of the bag is like it is absorbed and there is nothing left, I can apply more and gone again... I would have loved to solve this mystery to hopefully help others that might encounter the problem in the future, sorry...

About the white handles of the Madelaine, nobody gave an opinion but I am leaning towards the leather refinisher, paint and conditioner might not do the job.

To those of you new at this, it is addictive, a learning process, a hit and miss... good luck and thanks for the tip on the Sonoma straps.