Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

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#14,298
junoandcinnamon said:
Hi Lake Effect! How did you get the cat scratches out of your bag? My cat is not only bored, but hyper, and I have one bag that has several deep scratches!
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Lake Effect said:
So I last fall I was in the mood for a vintage bag rehab projectView attachment 3705971View attachment 3705972View attachment 3705973in a neutral color that needs a good cleaning. I fell in love with a beat up Pocket bag ( I mistook it for a Rambler) but it was around $75 at that! So I settled for a stained beat up City bag for $28 with shipping that looked like a cat had scratched the front of it.
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Lake Effect said:
So it got a 20 minute scrub (with a tooth brush) in warm water in my kitchen sink with a 1/4 cup of Lexol cleaner followed by a 20 minute warm water soak / rinse. I let it sit in the sink for a bit to let the excess water run off. As it was drying over 2 or so days, I gave it about 3 or 4 applications of Leather Therapy. When it was completely dry I gave it an application of Obenauf's Oil. 24 hours after that it gotcan applicagion of Black Rock. Then a buff, buff, buff!View attachment 3705977View attachment 3705978. Alot of the darker stains came lightened to where they blend with the patina.
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So Junoandcinnamon here are before and after shots. Now that I think about it I have a BT/tabac, classic hobo that got dragged/tangled with a rolling bag on asphalt resulting in a serious scratch. It had already been through a full cleaning conditioning. I cleaned the general area and entire side of the bag with Lexol cleaner (put in a bucket with warm water and dip a cloth into it use it to wipe bag) and then applied Lexol conditioner to the side of the bag, working it well into the scratched area. When it all dried, up close, you could see scraping of the leather, but there was little color loss.
 
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#14,299
Ravvie99 said:
Ohhhh interesting! Now I'm really curious how that mink oil protects against color transfer. I thought you needed something with wax or acrylic to seal.
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As a side note, I have noted a couple of the mink oil products I have looked at in stores have silicone or silicone based products in the ingredient list. I know some people are not fans of using silicone or derivatives on vintage leather. .
 
#14,302
houseof999 said:
Oh look, this is for the person who recently changed their middle name to nubuc..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282557583666
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Couturexec said:
This is when my Mother would do the sign of the cross.
I'm just shaking my head and backn' up!
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LOL, when I was in high school, I was on the drill team and our uniform included shoes that were called "white bucs" or nubucs. As you can imagine, these were impossible to keep clean. I learned, early on, a deep-seated aversion not only to white accessories, but also to anything remotely resembling nubuc, which remains with me to this day.

At least this grungy backpack comes with a nice Coach booklet, which I wouldn't mind having.
 
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#14,303
Ravvie99 said:
I'd been wondering how that seller got her hands on so many perfect looking bags! Mystery solved - thanks for posting your experience but sorry it was a stressful one. I would've gone ballistic if I'd gotten your first bag!
If they've been prepped, dyed with penetrating leather dye, and sealed properly, dyed bags shouldn't give you problems. That said, I also agree that it should be disclosed.
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Oh man, I definitely felt like I had gone ballistic! I had some time to cool down before I posted my experience here haha. I'm hoping that this will help others who are considering her bags. The second bag I received was in really good condition for what its worth, but yes dyed.

How can you tell if a bag was properly dyed in the way you describe? At this point, I don't care enough to return, but wonder if I should put some sort of sealant on the bag to prevent color loss. I conditioned it twice with Leather CPR and a small amount of dye stained my sponge but no noticeable color loss on the bag itself.
 
#14,304
Lake Effect said:
So Junoandcinnamon here are before and after shots. Now that I think about it I have a BT/tabac, classic hobo that got dragged/tangled with a rolling bag on asphalt resulting in a serious scratch. It had already been through a full cleaning conditioning. I cleaned the general area and entire side of the bag with Lexol cleaner (put in a bucket with warm water and dip a cloth into it use it to wipe bag) and then applied Lexol conditioner to the side of the bag, working it well into the scratched area. When it all dried, up close, you could see scraping of the leather, but there was little color loss.
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Wow, thanks, Lake Effect! And excellent job with the bag rehab--the after photos are amazing. I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your hobo, but glad that there was no lasting damage!

The two threads that you linked from your previous rehab project are super helpful! I'll test it out this week and report back on how it goes. Quick question--do you condition the leather as it's drying or after it's completely dry? I've read through so many rehab threads and it seems like some people do it one way and others the second way. Any hard rules here?
 
#14,305
junoandcinnamon said:
Wow, thanks, Lake Effect! And excellent job with the bag rehab--the after photos are amazing. I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your hobo, but glad that there was no lasting damage!

The two threads that you linked from your previous rehab project are super helpful! I'll test it out this week and report back on how it goes. Quick question--do you condition the leather as it's drying or after it's completely dry? I've read through so many rehab threads and it seems like some people do it one way and others the second way. Any hard rules here?
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Start conditioning while the bag is damp. The conditioner absorbs into the pores of the leather better if you start conditioning while the bag is still damp after the bath.
 
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#14,307
junoandcinnamon said:
Oh man, I definitely felt like I had gone ballistic! I had some time to cool down before I posted my experience here haha. I'm hoping that this will help others who are considering her bags. The second bag I received was in really good condition for what its worth, but yes dyed.

How can you tell if a bag was properly dyed in the way you describe? At this point, I don't care enough to return, but wonder if I should put some sort of sealant on the bag to prevent color loss. I conditioned it twice with Leather CPR and a small amount of dye stained my sponge but no noticeable color loss on the bag itself.
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You would need to know what type of dye was used to know how (or even if) you need to seal it. If you've conditioned it and not had much color loss on the sponge, I don't think I'd do anything to it. A sealant is going to change the texture, which you might not like.
 
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#14,308
coach943 said:
You would need to know what type of dye was used to know how (or even if) you need to seal it. If you've conditioned it and not had much color loss on the sponge, I don't think I'd do anything to it. A sealant is going to change the texture, which you might not like.
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Ah, gotcha! Sounds like I can finally give this bag a rest and actually wear it out now (the bf joked that I've conditioned and fawned over this bag more times than I've actually used it...which is sadly true). Thanks so much for the advice!
 
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#14,309
coach943 said:
You would need to know what type of dye was used to know how (or even if) you need to seal it. If you've conditioned it and not had much color loss on the sponge, I don't think I'd do anything to it. A sealant is going to change the texture, which you might not like.
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Agreed - I'd leave well enough alone, too! I've 'sealed' using multiple coats of the Obenaufs solid (and a lot of elbow grease), but even that made the leather less buttery - boo!
BTW I'm now obsessed with the Montana pitch oil - it sinks in so fast and makes the leather look so plump and luscious [emoji7]
 
#14,310
Ravvie99 said:
Agreed - I'd leave well enough alone, too! I've 'sealed' using multiple coats of the Obenaufs solid (and a lot of elbow grease), but even that made the leather less buttery - boo!
BTW I'm now obsessed with the Montana pitch oil - it sinks in so fast and makes the leather look so plump and luscious [emoji7]
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I'm glad you like Montana oil. It has become my favorite for those rehabs where you really need something to rejuvenate the leather.
 
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