Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[katev]

It looks taupe or gray but best to wait until it's dry and conditioned to see the true color.

I have put a hair dryer set on cool inside bags to make them dry faster. I have usually only done this on lined bags or bags with double-wall construction that are taking a very long time to dry. Most of the time I just let bags air-dry because I am afraid that they might warp or crack if they dry too quickly, but I may be overly cautious.

I usually moisturize the thinner areas while the bag is still drying - like the straps, tabs, etc. to keep them from drying too quickly. Again I am afraid of wrinkles and cracks.

If you dunk a lined bag with a leather creed patch sewn to the cloth lining, it's a good idea to pull the lining partially out and use a cool hair dryer on the creed patch - and also let the lining dry for a bit before stuffing - to keep the creed patch from bloating and losing the detail.

Anyway, these are my practices, others may have different approaches. Beautiful bag, good luck!

 

[JJK250]

Hi, I'm new to rehabbing and I have not tried this yet, but Debi the Restorer suggests (non oil based) cuticle remover. She has a new series of very short videos on YouTube and one shows her removing a pen mark with cuticle remover.

I just tried this on a small pen ink line on the front of a BT Patricia's Legacy and it totally did me dirty. It left a dark stain and didn't remove the ink. I should have just left it alone. argh. I followed her instructions and she is wrong. As someone else said somewhere you can even see in her video that it lightened the already light color leather. Well mine just darkened it. argh argh argh.

 

[JJK250]

If you're trying her method, I'd like to hear how it turns out

Not good. Debi did me dirty.

 

[Birdie13]

Not good. Debi did me dirty.

Totally not laughing at your misfortune, but your response has me howling!

 

[JJK250]

Totally not laughing at your misfortune, but your response has me howling!

I’ve never been afraid to make bad choices, and I have many to prove it. But every time I see my beautiful purse with the f$&@“n stain, all I can think of is Debi. And how she led me astray. I prefer to make my bad choices independently.

 

[JJK250]

Thank you. I do believe will still pick it up someday, I still have 5 or 6 big rolls of cowhide, and a dozen smaller size of exrotic leather ordered from Australia (was very ambitious at the beginnig), plus all the leather tools, can’t let all the money invested go to waste, just a very long hibernation right now, lol…

If you ever do let’s us all know. I’ve got some mistakes I need to cover, and your flowers are beautiful.

 

[JJK250]

There are grease stains on my Janice. They didn't come out in the bath. I tried baking soda and cornstarch pastes. Any suggestions? Or should I just try paint?

Did you ever get the stain out?

 

[JJK250]

Has anyone noticed the shimmering in the water after a dunking? I really struggled to get a good picture, but hopefully y’all can see it. The white square is just a sticker on the bottom of the bucket.

 

[JJK250]

Thoughts on my predicament? Small dark center stain is from “don’t do it Debi” cuticle remover. The bigger stain around it is from baking soda. Which I used to try to get rid of “Debi’s” stain. And all of it started because of a small pen mark. I guess I’m going for the layered stain look these days.

 

[katev]

Did you post a picture of the stain? I may have missed it.

 

[JJK250]

Did you post a picture of the stain? I may have missed it.

Um…my bad. I have now.

 

[katev]

Thoughts on my predicament? Small dark center stain is from “don’t do it Debi” cuticle remover. The bigger stain around it is from baking soda. Which I used to try to get rid of “Debi’s” stain. And all of it started because of a small pen mark. I guess I’m going for the layered stain look these days.

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I'm so sorry! Eventually all rehabbers have ink horror stories to share. Ink stains are really difficult and sometimes there's not much that you can do with them - and sometimes it's best just to leave them alone. Also, there are different types of inks, and when you are working with vintage bags that may even include fountain pen ink.

At this point I think your best option is to try and dye the bag a dark color like black, navy or maybe dark brown. Did the stain soak through to the inside? If you decide to have the bag dyed by a professional, tell him that you also want the inside dyed dark.

Sone rehabbers will decorate bags to hide the stains, like attaching leather flowers or using paints to create a design on the bag. I've never tried any of those things so I don't know much about it.

Just a word of advice for the future. It's usually a good idea to try and test a product or chemical in a hidden area of the bag, like an inside leather seam. It probably won't tell you if the ink is likely to run, but at least you will see whether the product will harm or alter the appearance of the leather.

Sorry that I don't have any better suggestions but maybe somebody else will have some good ideas.

 

[whateve]

Did you ever get the stain out?

No, I ended up painting it.

 

[whateve]

Has anyone noticed the shimmering in the water after a dunking? I really struggled to get a good picture, but hopefully y’all can see it. The white square is just a sticker on the bottom of the bucket.

It's oils coming off the leather.

 

[whateve]

Thoughts on my predicament? Small dark center stain is from “don’t do it Debi” cuticle remover. The bigger stain around it is from baking soda. Which I used to try to get rid of “Debi’s” stain. And all of it started because of a small pen mark. I guess I’m going for the layered stain look these days.

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You don't have much to lose now so before you give up and dye it I would try bleaching it with zit cream - benzoyl peroxide. It is a cream so you can carefully put it just on the stained area. Leave it on for at least a day. Put it in the sun if you can. The next day clean it off with vinegar. I don't have high hopes for it but it is worth a try. I believe it will remove the ink but maybe not the chemical damage caused by the cuticle remover. Hopefully you'll end up with a lighter spot which should be easier to cover up than the dark one.