Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[Ravvie99]

That's what I think happened. The edges of the hole are burnt and you can see the way the leather exploded. A tote is probably not the best place to carry a firearm.
I don't know if it was a good thing or not that the leather fell out of the hole. On one hand, it seems like a more quality repair to get rid of all the old damaged leather but on the other, I have a lot more work to do now. At least it seems like I have a lot more work to do. I will have to get the texture right when I am getting to the last coat of gel medium. I really wish I would have taken whateve's advice about the ink though. Either way I would have ended up having to color match or redye to cover up the patch job. I got the purse to work on it and learn and I am definitely getting my money's worth! I wish my experiments would always be a success though.

Oh you are so fearless - I love it! That bag would be in the too-hard/donor/tassel leather pile for me, so I'm fascinated to see your process. From doing home repairs, I'd say the hole getting bigger was good - your fix will be much more solid. I feel your ink pain - I just made a faint pen mark on suede much worse.

Re the graining, wondering if there are DIY approaches, like (and these are crazy ideas, but you never know) silly putty, Crayola kids moldable 'clay', or a thick layer of heat-gunned paraffin on a block to make a stamp? You might also photocopy part of the bag and trace over the grain lines onto a piece of foam/polymer clay/whatever. Never tried any of these but worked in an art studio where we tried weird fixes all the time and they sometimes worked!

Looking forward to seeing how it goes, whatever you decide!

 

[Almmac]

Also, what do you think this is on the smaller pocket on the front. I was wondering g if I should attempt a rehab but am not sure if whatever it is will come out.

It looks like someone tried to stain it or dye it. You can see the way it was swiped on. Maybe it was someone's project bag that never got finished. Looks like an interesting project. I would clean it up to see what you're working with and go from there.

 

[LondonUK]

I have way to many bags that are stacking up for rehabs and seriously need to stop! I picked one up that had the small metal coach tab inside it, when I got the bag the person failed to mention that someone had done some repairs on it so I'm trying to decide whether to hold on to it or send it back.

It's a legacy one but it looks like when they did the repair sewing the side the flap doesn't fall correctly. It looks like this one but is navy. It's a shame as the bag is in excellent condition.

 

[soozlz]

Oh you are so fearless - I love it! That bag would be in the too-hard/donor/tassel leather pile for me, so I'm fascinated to see your process. From doing home repairs, I'd say the hole getting bigger was good - your fix will be much more solid. I feel your ink pain - I just made a faint pen mark on suede much worse.



Re the graining, wondering if there are DIY approaches, like (and these are crazy ideas, but you never know) silly putty, Crayola kids moldable 'clay', or a thick layer of heat-gunned paraffin on a block to make a stamp? You might also photocopy part of the bag and trace over the grain lines onto a piece of foam/polymer clay/whatever. Never tried any of these but worked in an art studio where we tried weird fixes all the time and they sometimes worked!



Looking forward to seeing how it goes, whatever you decide!

Re: graining. You hit where I was aiming when I said "like fingerprinting"!! Silly putty, paraffin block. Xerox for a closer look. Exactly!!

 

[Almmac]

Oh you are so fearless - I love it! That bag would be in the too-hard/donor/tassel leather pile for me, so I'm fascinated to see your process. From doing home repairs, I'd say the hole getting bigger was good - your fix will be much more solid. I feel your ink pain - I just made a faint pen mark on suede much worse.

Re the graining, wondering if there are DIY approaches, like (and these are crazy ideas, but you never know) silly putty, Crayola kids moldable 'clay', or a thick layer of heat-gunned paraffin on a block to make a stamp? You might also photocopy part of the bag and trace over the grain lines onto a piece of foam/polymer clay/whatever. Never tried any of these but worked in an art studio where we tried weird fixes all the time and they sometimes worked!

Looking forward to seeing how it goes, whatever you decide!

Wow! Those are some great ideas! Thanks! I'm still in the pondering phase but I'll let you know how it goes. Now my wheels are spinning!

 

[Zealous]

Aaaarrrrgh!

Shoe polish IS a pain to remove! I wondered whether or not I'd recognize a bag treated with it... I wonder no more.

I've been working on a vintage Spectator Dinky that "only" has shoe polish on the flap. I have tried many things, many hours & a ton of elbow grease. Just when I think I'm down to a small area left to clean, it re-spreads. Some of the highlights of this rehab have been: multiple dunks, acetone (only the nail polish remover kind), mr. clean sponge, hairdryer (to warm polish) and more scrubbing & buffing than I thought humanly possible on one bag.

I have re-re-re-redunked, concentrating on scrubbing the suede side of the flap. Polish is still coming off. It may be time for industrial-strength acetone.

Thought I'd share & I'm in need of a pep talk....

Here's a photo sometime during this rehab of the shoe polish in the middle of the flap:


Catbird9, your bag is like what I am working on. Your rehab turned out great. What kind of acetone did you use? Any tips you have would be really appreciated!

This is a Spectator Dinky I did a few months ago. I like it because it came to me with shoe polish all over it, and I had to learn how to remove shoe polish with acetone. It came out looking and feeling so much better! I got creative with a replacement hang tag (thank you Coach!) and handmade tassel. Fun project!

 

[Zealous]

So a couple of questions regarding older bags and the patina. I have an older stewardess bag that has gorgeous patina but I wanted to clean it and reshape it. If you dunk it do you lose the patina it currently has?

Hi, LondonUK, I'm not sure where you've decided to go with this rehab. That is lovely patina! I recently only conditioned a lighter bag because I was also worried about losing patina. I may dunk in the future but am not quite ready yet but recently Bucketbagger had this lovely rehab on a British Tan bag.

Some before and after:

 

[LondonUK]

Hi, LondonUK, I'm not sure where you've decided to go with this rehab. That is lovely patina! I recently only conditioned a lighter bag because I was also worried about losing patina. I may dunk in the future but am not quite ready yet but recently Bucketbagger had this lovely rehab on a British Tan bag.

Thanks, after seeing the photos I feel a bit more confident about dunking. I'm not afraid of the dunking, I just didn't want to lose the patina. I have 3 coach stewardess bags that are all that color and I'm going to dunk them all. I will upload before and after photos so that everyone can see the before and afters. Thanks for the photos

 

[Bucketbagger]

Hi, LondonUK, I'm not sure where you've decided to go with this rehab. That is lovely patina! I recently only conditioned a lighter bag because I was also worried about losing patina. I may dunk in the future but am not quite ready yet but recently Bucketbagger had this lovely rehab on a British Tan bag.

I have never lost patina with dunking, only improved it by removing dirt film that dulls the color/shine.

 

[Catbird9]

Aaaarrrrgh!

Shoe polish IS a pain to remove! I wondered whether or not I'd recognize a bag treated with it... I wonder no more.

I've been working on a vintage Spectator Dinky that "only" has shoe polish on the flap. I have tried many things, many hours & a ton of elbow grease. Just when I think I'm down to a small area left to clean, it re-spreads. Some of the highlights of this rehab have been: multiple dunks, acetone (only the nail polish remover kind), mr. clean sponge, hairdryer (to warm polish) and more scrubbing & buffing than I thought humanly possible on one bag.

I have re-re-re-redunked, concentrating on scrubbing the suede side of the flap. Polish is still coming off. It may be time for industrial-strength acetone.

Thought I'd share & I'm in need of a pep talk....

Here's a photo sometime during this rehab of the shoe polish in the middle of the flap:
View attachment 3319523

Catbird9, your bag is like what I am working on. Your rehab turned out great. What kind of acetone did you use? Any tips you have would be really appreciated!

I'm sorry you're having a hard time! I guess I was lucky because I was able to clean mine using nail polish remover from the Dollar Store. I applied it liberally with a clean terrycloth towel and scrubbed. Then I washed it in warm water and detergent, scrubbing with a natural bristle nail brush.

I don't think there was that much polish on it to begin with. The seller had polished it with neutral Kiwi shoe polish before sending it out to me, thinking that was what it needed to look better. I don't think it had black polish on it.

 

[Zealous]

Thanks, after seeing the photos I feel a bit more confident about dunking. I'm not afraid of the dunking, I just didn't want to lose the patina. I have 3 coach stewardess bags that are all that color and I'm going to dunk them all. I will upload before and after photos so that everyone can see the before and afters. Thanks for the photos

I have never lost patina with dunking, only improved it by removing dirt film that dulls the color/shine.

You're welcome, LondonUK. Happily, I've also become more confident with dunking but have an old Saddle color bag that I am holding out on. It does need it. I have dunked a NYC British Tan Duffle Sac. I don't know that it had/has patina but I think it turned out well.



Good luck with your rehabs!

Thanks, BB! Good to hear. It is sooo nice to clean things up!

 

[Almmac]

You're welcome, LondonUK. Happily, I've also become more confident with dunking but have an old Saddle color bag that I am holding out on. It does need it. I have dunked a NYC British Tan Duffle Sac. I don't know that it had/has patina but I think it turned out well.

View attachment 3319644

Good luck with your rehabs!

Thanks, BB! Good to hear. It is sooo nice to clean things up!

That is a dramatic transformation! The bag looks kind of crumpled in the before photo. It has a beautiful glow and a much better shape in the after photo. Nice job!

 

[Zealous]

I'm sorry you're having a hard time! I guess I was lucky because I was able to clean mine using nail polish remover from the Dollar Store. I applied it liberally with a clean terrycloth towel and scrubbed. Then I washed it in warm water and detergent, scrubbing with a natural bristle nail brush.



I don't think there was that much polish on it to begin with. The seller had polished it with neutral Kiwi shoe polish before sending it out to me, thinking that was what it needed to look better. I don't think it had black polish on it.

Thank you, Catbird9! I have the black shoe polish on mine.

As a side note: I read that polish (neutral in particular) might be helpful in removing colored polish if it were put on & quickly wiped off. I was considering it as a last-ditch effort but really didn't want to think about putting on something similar to what I have worked much to take off.

It was nice to see your finished bag. It keeps me motivated! Hopefully, I'll post a rehab success for mine too.

 

[Zealous]

That is a dramatic transformation! The bag looks kind of crumpled in the before photo. It has a beautiful glow and a much better shape in the after photo. Nice job!

Oh, thank you, Almmac! After rehabbing, I looked through photos of duffles to decide how I wanted to "train" it. It sits quite comfortably while carrying despite it being a huge bag.

 

[whateve]

You're welcome, LondonUK. Happily, I've also become more confident with dunking but have an old Saddle color bag that I am holding out on. It does need it. I have dunked a NYC British Tan Duffle Sac. I don't know that it had/has patina but I think it turned out well.

View attachment 3319644

Good luck with your rehabs!

Thanks, BB! Good to hear. It is sooo nice to clean things up!

That looks gorgeous.