Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[Lake Effect]

Lake Effect, I also didn't read clearly and didn't notice the difference too! Sorry for the additional confusion!!

Shared confusion! And I share the tiny apartment bathroom too. But since I have no cats I can spread out over my multipurpose dining/home office / rehab table lol. And all I could think of when comments were made about the water-proofing quality of the Leather Protector was good, now you can spill coffee on it! I am an avid coffee drinker so getting some splatters here and there is a part of my life!
And yes, you are most def a rehabber!! You had to ask after a project like that? Lol

 

[Lake Effect]

I would try some leather conditioner and towels inside to reshape the bag and restore the color. After a few applications and letting it dry if you are still not happy than dunk it. The light one may bleed the ink to the outside of the bag if you dunk. Some people have had luck with removing ink with alcohol but I would read through this thread before you try. Personally I condition first and if I'm not happy I repeat a couple of times... lastly I dunk. Some people dunk first regardless because they like to know it is very clean inside and out, it plumps up aged leather, and it's fun! You will not harm the bag if you condition first and dunk second. If you have hang tags take them off before you dunk. Some have lost their shape/lettering when dunked.
Yours are in excellent condition. The brown one could use some conditioner on the top edge. Also add conditioner to the black one to help with the reshaping. The light one is a coin toss. Some people have had great results when dunking light bags and fixing ink stains others have not. I'd love to hear others chime in with their experience.

@ArengoKC I relate to what is expressed here! I have several bags in good condition that I ended up dunking mainly because they had a bad case of *storage squash*. I have a new to me red pocket bag , excellent condition, that I think I may just give a light condition to. I have not dealt with any pen marks. I did end up dunking a light bag, similar color, made of thinner leather ('08 pleated ergo) that was grimy. It came out very well with dunking, but that is not exactly what you have here.
And welcome! I tend to write long posts too lol

 

[Lake Effect]

It's definitely not a "Bonnie Cashin" and it's a pretty challenging rehab (understatement). Seller has relisted it with Best Offer enabled.

Ikr with the Bonnie Cashin labels. Sellers just need to stop with that! I looked at that bag and thought Hot Mess and that BIN!
I think this is the rehabable version:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-vinta...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Maybe call the thread: Can this be rehabbed? That way we can post items that are rehab-worthy, rehab deals and Hot Messes and have a little fun.

And a slow clap to @Purple Penny for Gorilla glue instead of sewing (GG works!)

 

[ArengoKC]

I would try some leather conditioner and towels inside to reshape the bag and restore the color. After a few applications and letting it dry if you are still not happy than dunk it. The light one may bleed the ink to the outside of the bag if you dunk. Some people have had luck with removing ink with alcohol but I would read through this thread before you try. Personally I condition first and if I'm not happy I repeat a couple of times... lastly I dunk. Some people dunk first regardless because they like to know it is very clean inside and out, it plumps up aged leather, and it's fun! You will not harm the bag if you condition first and dunk second. If you have hang tags take them off before you dunk. Some have lost their shape/lettering when dunked.
Yours are in excellent condition. The brown one could use some conditioner on the top edge. Also add conditioner to the black one to help with the reshaping. The light one is a coin toss. Some people have had great results when dunking light bags and fixing ink stains others have not. I'd love to hear others chime in with their experience.

Hi! Yey! it's good to know that I can still dunk after conditioning if conditioning the bags won't resolve the issues. I love to dunk but patience is not my strongest point. i tend to end up just staring at the bags, waiting for it to dry so that i can continue with the rehab. lol. But i wonder if thorough conditioning can straighten up creases on the leather and the straps that have warped with the buckle? If not, i may just have to dunk to see if that would help. and you're right, I may just dunk just for the fun of it. hehe. Thank you for pointing out that the pen marks may bleed outside of the bag if i dunk the cream basic bag. I have not considered that possibility. The risk is too high for me so I may just leave the pen marks alone and proceed with conditioning the bag. But do you think cream acrylic paint mixed with conditioner would help in covering up the faint color stains on the outside of the cream bag? would you recommend that move? Thank you so much!

 

[ArengoKC]

@ArengoKC I relate to what is expressed here! I have several bags in good condition that I ended up dunking mainly because they had a bad case of *storage squash*. I have a new to me red pocket bag , excellent condition, that I think I may just give a light condition to. I have not dealt with any pen marks. I did end up dunking a light bag, similar color, made of thinner leather ('08 pleated ergo) that was grimy. It came out very well with dunking, but that is not exactly what you have here.
And welcome! I tend to write long posts too lol

Hi! I think I can go on and on writing because I know all of us here probably share the same passion, or should i say addiction. lol. and i really want to learn from all of you. I really am tempted to dunk but I am not good with waiting for it to dry before conditioning so I may have to try conditioning the bags first and check if it will be enough to resolve the issues. May I know if the dunking resolved your "storage squash" issues? will dunking straighten out creases on the bag and strap? Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Purple Penny]

Hi! Yey! it's good to know that I can still dunk after conditioning if conditioning the bags won't resolve the issues. I love to dunk but patience is not my strongest point. i tend to end up just staring at the bags, waiting for it to dry so that i can continue with the rehab. lol. But i wonder if thorough conditioning can straighten up creases on the leather and the straps that have warped with the buckle? If not, i may just have to dunk to see if that would help. and you're right, I may just dunk just for the fun of it. hehe. Thank you for pointing out that the pen marks may bleed outside of the bag if i dunk the cream basic bag. I have not considered that possibility. The risk is too high for me so I may just leave the pen marks alone and proceed with conditioning the bag. But do you think cream acrylic paint mixed with conditioner would help in covering up the faint color stains on the outside of the cream bag? would you recommend that move? Thank you so much!

The 2 conditioning products that I use are leather cpr and black rocks. Depending on what you use you may get slightly different results. I have a vintage basic bag with the glued in creed that has aged nicely. I did not want to dunk it. But it did have dry sides that bent in. I stuffed a towel inside to shape it. I added several coats of leather cpr and let it dry in between each coat. I put the product on with my hands and slide the straps back and fourth in my hands to help it penatrate and soften the leather. It looked good but not great. After following this thread for a while and asking some questions to fellow TPFers I added black rocks a couple of times to my bag. It looks great now and I'm very happy with the results. If you do dunk a bag... I like to let it dry halfway then add leather cpr while it's drying. Then another coat when it's almost dry and then see if it's soft enough or if I want I'll add more.
I have never touched up a bag with paint and conditioner but what you described is the method others have used and it's the way I would try also.
If conditioner alone does not help the straps you could just dunk the straps without the whole bag getting wet. I think if you really work the straps in with conditioner the indented spots you will be able to fix without a dunk. It has worked for me in the past with other bags.

 

[ArengoKC]

The 2 conditioning products that I use are leather cpr and black rocks. Depending on what you use you may get slightly different results. I have a vintage basic bag with the glued in creed that has aged nicely. I did not want to dunk it. But it did have dry sides that bent in. I stuffed a towel inside to shape it. I added several coats of leather cpr and let it dry in between each coat. I put the product on with my hands and slide the straps back and fourth in my hands to help it penatrate and soften the leather. It looked good but not great. After following this thread for a while and asking some questions to fellow TPFers I added black rocks a couple of times to my bag. It looks great now and I'm very happy with the results. If you do dunk a bag... I like to let it dry halfway then add leather cpr while it's drying. Then another coat when it's almost dry and then see if it's soft enough or if I want I'll add more.
I have never touched up a bag with paint and conditioner but what you described is the method others have used and it's the way I would try also.
If conditioner alone does not help the straps you could just dunk the straps without the whole bag getting wet. I think if you really work the straps in with conditioner the indented spots you will be able to fix without a dunk. It has worked for me in the past with other bags.

I think I will do what you suggested. Maybe I can work with the conditioner on the straps first and separately dunk whichever would need it after the conditioning. Unfortunately, Leather CPR and Black rocks are not available in our local shops and I've not tried ordering from amazon. I'm from the Philippines by the way. I have Lexol Leather Conditioner and Tanner's Leather Conditioner. I wonder if these products would be enough?

 

[Belicious]

I finished a few rehabs recently I would love to share. This baby had little bits of newspaper print on her. Came right out in a bath!
Before:

After:

 

[Belicious]

Before, very dry and scratched:

After, actually this needs a little something else, so far it's had 2 layers of obenaufs oil, a couple of layers of cpr prior to the oil:

 

[Belicious]

Orange backpack:
Before:

After:

 

[Catbird9]

Orange backpack:
Before:

After:

Gorgeous color, beautiful job!

 

[Purple Penny]

I think I will do what you suggested. Maybe I can work with the conditioner on the straps first and separately dunk whichever would need it after the conditioning. Unfortunately, Leather CPR and Black rocks are not available in our local shops and I've not tried ordering from amazon. I'm from the Philippines by the way. I have Lexol Leather Conditioner and Tanner's Leather Conditioner. I wonder if these products would be enough?

Lexol is a common product that people use for conditioning. I got black rocks from eBay but in in the US and it's made here in the states. I am not familiar with tanners leather. I suggest using what's local and see how you like it If it's not to you liking than try other products.

 

[vintagecoachie]

I finished a few rehabs recently I would love to share. This baby had little bits of newspaper print on her. Came right out in a bath!
Before:

After:

Is this stewardess gray? It looks great!

 

[junoandcinnamon]

Shared confusion! And I share the tiny apartment bathroom too. But since I have no cats I can spread out over my multipurpose dining/home office / rehab table lol. And all I could think of when comments were made about the water-proofing quality of the Leather Protector was good, now you can spill coffee on it! I am an avid coffee drinker so getting some splatters here and there is a part of my life!
And yes, you are most def a rehabber!! You had to ask after a project like that? Lol

Good to know about the water-proofing! My clumsiness is the reason I mainly own dark leather bags, but an extra layer of protection is nice. Plus, my morning commute on the train is full of all sorts of nonsense and "bag dangers," as only public transportation in a city can offer

 

[Ravvie99]

Can you see the smokey stink lines coming off these puppies?? I
I can confirm that airing out does work eventually but it can take months. Finally have 2 that are safe to dunk. I usually have them close-in so they don't get wet when it rains but sunlight seems to speed things along.
ETA: Note the MacGyver-ed method of keeping them open hehe