Diamond stitch leather care

[lucky_palm]

Hello!

~~Questions~~

I was wondering if anybody knows what kind of leather is used for the Diamond stitch line. It does not feel like lambskin. Is it distressed calf?

I would like to get leather care set for my brown diamond stitch flap, and was wondering if anybody could share her experience with leather care product with Diamond stitch line leather. I did "search" on Chanel leather care, but since I was not sure about the type of the leather used in this line, I am not quite sure what would be the best product to get. Has anybody tried the Apple Garde leather conditioner on Diamond stitch leather? If so, did it NOT lift any color from the leather? I have read once that the Apple Garde leather conditioner removed some color from (red?) lambskin, so if nobody has tried Apple Garde leather conditioner on Diamond stitch line leather, I am thinking about just going with the products from lovinmybags.com, though they are pretty pricey...

Thank you very much in advance!



~~Sharing my experience~~

Since I am asking for other people's experience with leather care products, I feel I should share mine. I have tried KIWI leather conditioner on my Chanel bags. I know it is made for shoe care, but it says it can be used for "delicate leather" and "on luggage", so I tried. On caviar leather, it worked well without any problems. However, on my 10 year old black lambskin, it lifted color, though not very noticeably. I also tried alcohol free baby wipes on my 10 year old lambskin bag, since people use it effectively on caviar leather, but it lifted even more color than the KIWI leather conditioner did, so I would not recommend using baby wipes on lambskin. In fact, I don't know if this is true, but I once read that baby wipes contain a chemical to neutralize urine, which could change the PH balance of the leather. I have tried baby wipes on my LV vachette leather, and although it cleaned well, it left the leather pretty dry. I put the leather conditioner afterwards, and it wasn't too bad after all, but I feel that baby wipes are probably not as gentle to leather as one might think... Just my opinion from my own experience, though.

I also tried KIWI Protect All (water repellent spray) on my 10 year old lambskin, and it worked very well. You spill water on it, and the water forms beads and you can just wipe them off. I have been using this product on my LV vachette since 2001, and it has worked magically. I have not tried it on my caviar leather products, though.

 

[lucky_palm]

Just to add to my previous post. What I shared above is simply what I have learned/concluded from my personal experiences, so if you decide to try the product(s) I mentioned above, I would like to kindly ask you to do so at your own risk, and it is always a good idea to first perform a spot test in a small area.

 

[jayjay77]

I'm not sure but I have been told by my SA that the Diamond Stitch leather is the same "everyday leather" used on the Cabas and Baby Cabas and is very durable. I have the Baby Cabas and have not treated it -- I don't think it really needs any conditioning.

 

[bagtasia]

Oh, it scares me treating lambskin this way. IMO lambskin should really not be treated w/ Apple Garde and most especially KIWI, too. If it really need special care I recommend sending it to Chanel boutique for a spa treatment. Caviar is a much more durable leather perhaps taking the risk of using such leather cleaners is all right but still with utmost care. Do you really need to clean your bags? I think just wiping it with a dry clean cloth would sufficiently clean them after every use.

 

[lucky_palm]

jayjay7, bagtasia,
Thank you very much for your posts! It is not that I really need to clean my bag, but I want to maintain it so that it remains in a pristine condition. Although it is a dark color bag, it still could get wear from water and oil, and I am so picky about the condition of my bags. I actually went ahead and order products from lovinmybags.com yesterday. I got the Pro-Treatment, the Luxury Cleanser, and the Silk Serum as a conditioner, which were the set recommended by Barbara for "any leather bags". Honestly, they were very pricey, so hopefully the 2 ounces set I ordered will last a long time.

Meanwhile, if anybody has tried Applegarde product on diamond stitch line, please let me know. lovinmybags.com products are supposed to be the "Cadillac" of leather care products, but because of their high prices, I am afraid that if I keep using them, it would cost me enough to instead buy a new Chanel just in a couple of years!! Anyway, if anybody is interested in knowing how lovinmybags.com products have worked on my diamond stitch, I will post a followup after using them for a couple of months.

jayjay77,
This is the first time I hear the expression "everyday leather". Then, it really cannot be lambskin, so I am guessing it must be a calf skin.

bagtasia,
I know lots of people don't even dream about putting anything on lambskin. In fact, it I had a brand new lambskin bag, I might have left it as it is. But it was a 10 year old piece, so I went ahead and tried. After that experiment, I think I might try the Protect All again even on a new lambskin piece, but I might just go with the Pro treatment from lovinmybags.com. I am too scared to get a brand new lambskin bag, though.

 

[thegraceful1]

I'm not sure but I have been told by my SA that the Diamond Stitch leather is the same "everyday leather" used on the Cabas and Baby Cabas and is very durable. I have the Baby Cabas and have not treated it -- I don't think it really needs any conditioning.

^ agreed w/ jayyay77, I have my black DS for 2 years and I have done nothing to it, and still looks perfect.

 

[aliciatanxt]

Hey Mika, I would like to ask how's the caring of your bag coming along with LMB? I have absolutely no idea what product to use! Is LMB really that good, or is Apple garde/Wilson better?


And is it really neccessary to "mosturise" our bags every so often by applying those products? Urggg I'm quite clueless when it comes to leather care.

jayjay7, bagtasia,
Thank you very much for your posts! It is not that I really need to clean my bag, but I want to maintain it so that it remains in a pristine condition. Although it is a dark color bag, it still could get wear from water and oil, and I am so picky about the condition of my bags. I actually went ahead and order products from lovinmybags.com yesterday. I got the Pro-Treatment, the Luxury Cleanser, and the Silk Serum as a conditioner, which were the set recommended by Barbara for "any leather bags". Honestly, they were very pricey, so hopefully the 2 ounces set I ordered will last a long time.

Meanwhile, if anybody has tried Applegarde product on diamond stitch line, please let me know. lovinmybags.com products are supposed to be the "Cadillac" of leather care products, but because of their high prices, I am afraid that if I keep using them, it would cost me enough to instead buy a new Chanel just in a couple of years!! Anyway, if anybody is interested in knowing how lovinmybags.com products have worked on my diamond stitch, I will post a followup after using them for a couple of months.

jayjay77,
This is the first time I hear the expression "everyday leather". Then, it really cannot be lambskin, so I am guessing it must be a calf skin.

bagtasia,
I know lots of people don't even dream about putting anything on lambskin. In fact, it I had a brand new lambskin bag, I might have left it as it is. But it was a 10 year old piece, so I went ahead and tried. After that experiment, I think I might try the Protect All again even on a new lambskin piece, but I might just go with the Pro treatment from lovinmybags.com. I am too scared to get a brand new lambskin bag, though.

 

[echo_23]

I have a black DS flap that I adore precisely because the leather is so durable-thick, distressed and hearty. I would never put anything on it because I'd be afraid it might alter the nature of the leather, which thus far has been stain/scratch resistant. However, with that said, I have heard of problems with the BROWN diamond stitch leather. I have seen it discolor- both fade and darken. This may be due to a flaw in a certain batch of leather or the color in general. In that situation I might try some apple guard, but I would only try it ina very very inconspicuous place first to see if it darkened the leather.

 

[lucky_palm]

Today, I received the leather care set from lovinmybags, so I tried the Luxury Cleanser on my DS, since it had a dirty spot on it. It was not a stain, but it had a general "dirty feeling" left on my hand after handling it, if you know what I mean. So I followed the instructions, and used a tiny amount of the cleanser, and it DID lift the brown dye from the leather! Not that bad, but it lifted about the same amount of color the KIWI conditioner did from my black lambskin I had mentioned in my earlier post! But I had to clean that spot and I did not want to carry the bag without first cleaning it anyway. So I went ahead and cleaned a larger area. That was about an hour ago, and the bag seems dry now. Although the cleanser lifted some color, I cannot tell the difference between before and after. But that might be just because this is a distressed leather and it already had the "natural" unevenness of color. But after seeing the color being listed, I will use this cleanser on my DS only when I REALLY need to clean it, although the instructions say that it is gentle enough to be used every day. Maybe for some kind of leather (like my brown DS), any cleanser will lift up some amount of dye, I don't know. For this particular DS, it might have something to do with what echo_23 said. Maybe on black DS, the color might not get lifted? I don't know.

I like the way the Luxury Cleanser cleaned the bag, but since it lifts color anyway, once I run out of it, I might just get Apple Garde next time, which is much cheaper.

Anyway, I will try the Pro-Treatment and the Silk Serum probably tomorrow.

 

[lucky_palm]

OK, I have tried the Pro-Treatment. Interestingly, on my brown DS, even Pro-Treatment lifted off some color! I don't understand it! It is not even a cleaner, it is a protectant! I am starting to think it really might have something to do with the brown dye problem for DS echo_23 mentioned. Once again, after it dried up, I cannot tell that any dye got lifted, but it just feels strange, you know... Has anybody else tried any leather care on DS bags? If so, please let me know how it went. I am very curious to find out!

I tried Pro-Treatment also on my new black caviar wallet, and it did not lift any dye at all. I also applied it to the interior leather lining, and no color lifting at all. I am not sure what the leather lining material is. Is it lambskin? If anybody knows, please let me know what it is made of. Anyway, if it is lambskin, then Pro-Treatment not lifting any dye from it is very good news, and would convince me that my brown DS might have the dye problem echo_23 referred to.

I will try the Silk Serum probably later today.

 

[lucky_palm]

I tried Silk Serum on my DS, and I love the result! The scratches, even large ones, have become much less noticeable, and the leather has beautiful feel to it. Wow, what a difference in quality comparing to KIWI leather conditioner! The only complain is that, because it makes the leather so smooth, the leather strap pad now easily slides off my shoulder while carrying it, but hey, you cannot have it all. Anyway, I am sure as time passes, the leather strap will re-develop resistance soon enough. Oh, BTW, even Silk Serum lifted up some dye from my DS, though not as much as the other two did, but by now, I am more convinced that this particular DS has dye problem from the factory. I tried Silk Serum on my caviar wallet, too, and it worked beautifully! I love this conditioner so much!

Overall, I am pretty happy with lovinmybags products. The cleaner cleaned the leather pretty well, removing the general dirty feeling, and making a dark stain less noticeable. I have not yet seen how effectively the Pro Treatment will shield the water and oil stain, because I have just applied to it, and my bag has not been exposed to water or oil since then. Silk Serum is a very high quality leather conditioner, and I love how it diminished the scratches and nourished the leather!