Beautiful rehab! I'm curious about the Castile soap you used. I did a search and there are several different brands and formulas. Do you recommend one in particular or are they all the same?
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Beautiful rehab! I'm curious about the Castile soap you used. I did a search and there are several different brands and formulas. Do you recommend one in particular or are they all the same?
I don't know much about Castile soap, but I used Dr. Bronner's unscented baby-mild. I'm not sure where I got it, probably Amazon. I think I bought it initially because I have really sensitive skin and tend to be allergic to lots of soaps. When I heard Coach used to recommend it for bathing purses, I decided to try it. I have the bars, but I believe there is a liquid form also. The liquid form would probably be easier to work with.
'Vinyl' was exactly what I thought, too. I know whatever I do to mine I want them to remain luscious looking and inviting to touch! If I don't want to pet it, I've probably messed up
I am a bit late to the discussion about the Leather Refinish, but I wanted to add my opinion.
For vintage bags I admire the "vintage" part, I like to make them look better not like new again. Clean, condition and touch ups on the corners, clean brass, etc... is as much as I am comfortable doing it.
For new bags, it depends how much I like the bag and how much damage to it. I made a mess of a white crossbody using the acrylic paint and moisturizer, I should have used the LR instead, but I didn't know about it at the time. I have used it and I am very happy with the results on the corners and straps of a Parker. I had to mix shades to get close to the color (magenta and cream), not perfect as it was my first use of it, but I am happy. I used their Leather Refinish solution as well.
That looks pretty close to perfect to me - nice save.
Thank you for that tip. I've been looking for a mild soap to use on myself, and the fact that this can also be used to clean leather is an added bonus.
Thank you ladies for your kind words about my work to improve the Parker, I appreciate it.
Those pictures about the vintage bag with all the stitches covered in the "new finish", it is what I was referring to in my previous post. I want a vintage bag to look better not new. Unless you find one of those gems stored for ages, with tags and paperwork, etc... to make a vintage bag to look "new", it is not the way to go specially if you want to eventually sell the bag.
As a buyer when I see a "pre owned" vintage looking new, with one of those descriptions that make your teeth hurt from all the sweetness, I wonder what paint or shoe polish they put on them, because it has happened to me, getting bags covered in shoe polish and paint both.
Talking about tools... one of my go to for many things are toothpicks. I had success removing 1nk and unidentified marks with Coach Leather cleaner and a toothpick. I bite the end to make it flat and then (with a lot of patience) rub just the mark, it worked on a couple bags and then not on others. I guess it depends on the type of stain and how long it has been there. On this wallet, the before, the after cleaning and after removing the remaining spots with the toothpick, because more rubbing was taking color off from the whole area.
The Leather Refinish on the stitches... I have removed it using a piece of wet fabric around the toothpick and wiping the stitches as I go. Rehabbing it's a science of trial and error and lots of patience, IMO
Those pictures about the vintage bag with all the stitches covered in the "new finish", it is what I was referring to in my previous post. I want a vintage bag to look better not new. Unless you find one of those gems stored for ages, with tags and paperwork, etc... to make a vintage bag to look "new", it is not the way to go specially if you want to eventually sell the bag.
As a buyer when I see a "pre owned" vintage looking new, with one of those descriptions that make your teeth hurt from all the sweetness, I wonder what paint or shoe polish they put on them, because it has happened to me, getting bags covered in shoe polish and paint both.
Talking about tools... one of my go to for many things are toothpicks. I had success removing 1nk and unidentified marks with Coach Leather cleaner and a toothpick. I bite the end to make it flat and then (with a lot of patience) rub just the mark, it worked on a couple bags and then not on others. I guess it depends on the type of stain and how long it has been there. On this wallet, the before, the after cleaning and after removing the remaining spots with the toothpick, because more rubbing was taking color off from the whole area.
The Leather Refinish on the stitches... I have removed it using a piece of wet fabric around the toothpick and wiping the stitches as I go. Rehabbing it's a science of trial and error and lots of patience, IMO
...
Talking about tools... one of my go to for many things are toothpicks. I had success removing 1nk and unidentified marks with Coach Leather cleaner and a toothpick. I bite the end to make it flat and then (with a lot of patience) rub just the mark, it worked on a couple bags and then not on others. I guess it depends on the type of stain and how long it has been there. On this wallet, the before, the after cleaning and after removing the remaining spots with the toothpick, because more rubbing was taking color off from the whole area.
... Rehabbing it's a science of trial and error and lots of patience, IMO
Very inspiring ink removal, and brilliant tip about using a toothpick. Thanks.
You are very welcome! With all honesty I can say that this is one of the very few sites, where I have found true willingness to help each other, no jealousies, no sabotaging, no preferred treatment... Just plain and simple sharing of knowledge, products, techniques and what it works or doesn't, with tons of encouragement when things are not working.
I love coming to this forum, I wish I had more time to spend here commenting on the wonderful rehabs you ladies share.
I haven't been doing a lot of rehabbing lately, but I ran across a deal on a bag I've always liked and snatched it up. It wasn't in really bad shape, just scratched and a little dirty. I didn't do anything special, just a dunk and condition, but wanted to post be because there has been some controversy about dunking the older Bleeckers. This isn't the first one I've dunked, but I didn't take pix of the others. Here are the befores on my Bleecker Shopper 11420
Ledobe, the after pictures are fantastic! This Bleecker definitely got a second chance in life. The part I'm mostly concerned about is the lining. I once got a black Legacy wristlet with moderately dirty striped lining; I cleaned the lining with alcohol free baby wipes, successfully getting rid of several stains of unknown origin. Unfortunately, in the areas where the wet lining was too close to the leather, the black dye bled, leaving me very disappointed in the results. Have you ever had a similar problem with one of those?
It's gorgeous! I had talked myself out of this style. Now you've got me wanting it again.
It's bigger than I expected, close to the size of my medium Candace. It's hard to find them cheap! This really didn't have any major issues and just needed freshening. The dunk really helped. I really didn't need another brown bag though.
I have had my eyes open for one for a long time too, but I never find them cheap. This was about $90 shipped, but a great price for this bag.
I have dunked legacy bags, and, just like the Bleeckers, I try to pull the lining away while it dries, which probably isn't possible with a wristlet (I did dunk a Juniper wristlet-come to think of it).
In every case where I have had the leather apparently bleed onto the lining, it rinsed right off of the lining if I was able to pull it out. I also try to keep it pulled out while it dries, just in case, but once it's mostly past the "drippy" stage I tuck it back in. The Coach linings seem to resistant to absorbing, well anything, they are pretty water resistant, and the dye rinses off when I'm able to rinse it in clear water that doesn't contact the leather.
However, I haven't dunked black Legacy. I had a black Legacy satchel, and the inside of the front pocket flaps that rubbed against the the pocket itself did pick up some black just from contact, and I would imagine it would bleed if it got wet.
If there is any way to wipe off the black from the lining without saturating it through to the leather it might come off.