Dooney Alto Club: Let's see your Alto Collections Ladies
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The stains look like oil to me. I think the safest thing to try is corn starch or baby powder. Put it on (dry), press it in a little, and let it sit for a few hours. Then brush it off with a soft cloth. Don't know if it will help, either by absorbing the stain somewhat or just lightening it. But I don't think it will make it worse.
I thought of the same solution.
You know, thinking about it a bit more, I think it might need a few things to make it look best, first LJ's solution to get rid of the oil, and maybe then you will need something to make the spot blend more with the rest if it doesn't disappear completely. Maybe clean the bag with some leather cleaner, something very mild, like saddle soap or something to completely remove any oil left and maybe some conditioner after? I haven't cleaned any altos so I'm not sure how the leather would react to these things. Maybe as you said, it would be good to contact Dooney to see if they have any cleaning suggestions.
Thank you both! I did some research after posting and I will do as you suggested and buy some corn starch today. I only had baking powder on hand and apparently it messes with leather since it's basic and leather is acidic. I also had rice at home so I covered each stain with a little mound of rice overnight, and it looks better! I'll attach a pic below. When I get home tonight I'll try the cornstarch and update everyone!
I also contacted dooney and they sent me the care info on their site, which of course I already knew because I'm a crazy bag loving Purseforum-er! Oh well, I have some hope for the methods mentioned, and even if I don't get the stain out completely if I lighten it up enough that it won't stick out so much I know it'll eventually blend in with patina
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Rice was a clever idea too. Corn starch is finer so it will cover the surface better. And you are right, we need to be mindful of the properties of anything we put on the leather.... it may not hurt the leather, but it may react with the color in some way and even bleach it out. Very complex.Thank you both! I did some research after posting and I will do as you suggested and buy some corn starch today. I only had baking powder on hand and apparently it messes with leather since it's basic and leather is acidic. I also had rice at home so I covered each stain with a little mound of rice overnight, and it looks better! I'll attach a pic below. When I get home tonight I'll try the cornstarch and update everyone!
I also contacted dooney and they sent me the care info on their site, which of course I already knew because I'm a crazy bag loving Purseforum-er! Oh well, I have some hope for the methods mentioned, and even if I don't get the stain out completely if I lighten it up enough that it won't stick out so much I know it'll eventually blend in with patina
Good luck and keep us posted. So many people give suggestions on line and I wonder if they really know what they are talking about.
Hello all, I just wanted to update on my journey cleaning my much beloved small alto Valentina, in case this helps any future alto owners. There were three stains, and one of them was larger and darker. I'll attach photos below:
Photo 1 & 2) before any cleaning!
Photo 3) after a week of effort
I can't tell you where these stains came from. I just looked down and gasped in horror! I then used water in an attempt to remove them, which I regret now. I use water to remove pretty much all stains on my clothes, but I researched later that water can make stains worse on leather. I can't say if this is the case for my bag, but it definitely didn't help.
What I did to clean:
-let it sit for two days hoping it would fade away (another mistake! Treat your stains properly RIGHT AWAY!! ASAP!!!)
-put rice on the stains in hope that it would absorb the water I had used
-it kind worked but not too much
-then I used cornstarch over a few days, removing and trying again once a day
-not too much help either, so I tried washing with gentle mild soap (I used dove bar soap)
-no effect, so I tried blue dawn dish soap
-no effect, so I put cornstarch one last time and weighed it down with a stack of heavy coins. Photo #3 is the final result! I plan on conditioning once I can get my hands on some Apple.
Photo 1 & 2) before any cleaning!
Photo 3) after a week of effort
I can't tell you where these stains came from. I just looked down and gasped in horror! I then used water in an attempt to remove them, which I regret now. I use water to remove pretty much all stains on my clothes, but I researched later that water can make stains worse on leather. I can't say if this is the case for my bag, but it definitely didn't help.
What I did to clean:
-let it sit for two days hoping it would fade away (another mistake! Treat your stains properly RIGHT AWAY!! ASAP!!!)
-put rice on the stains in hope that it would absorb the water I had used
-it kind worked but not too much
-then I used cornstarch over a few days, removing and trying again once a day
-not too much help either, so I tried washing with gentle mild soap (I used dove bar soap)
-no effect, so I tried blue dawn dish soap
-no effect, so I put cornstarch one last time and weighed it down with a stack of heavy coins. Photo #3 is the final result! I plan on conditioning once I can get my hands on some Apple.
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But that's not the craziest thing. The worst was when I brought my bag to the bathroom to clean it up, and accidentally spilled my maracuja oil ALL over the bottom back 
. I put cornstarch on it, and 24 hours later, ALL that oil was gone. It was truly like magic. I'm in shock. The back of my bag look just like it did when I unboxed it, no trace of any oil 
I was too panicky to take a "before" picture, but I'll attach a photo of the cornstarch I used to cover the spills, and a photo of my bag afterwards:
Thanks all for joining me on this wild ride! I hope my posts help a future alto owner. It was a roller coaster of emotion, but in the end now I feel content with the results of my cleaning. I may try soaping and cornstarch once more before I condition, but I doubt it'll ever go away completely. I'm just going to live with my bag, not be afraid to use it, and wait for a lovely patina. I love it too much and I'd rather have it with flaws than give it up!!
OH, and I seriously seriously recommend ALL handbag lovers to always have cornstarch on hand!! It's a miracle product!!!!
. I put cornstarch on it, and 24 hours later, ALL that oil was gone. It was truly like magic. I'm in shock. The back of my bag look just like it did when I unboxed it, no trace of any oil I was too panicky to take a "before" picture, but I'll attach a photo of the cornstarch I used to cover the spills, and a photo of my bag afterwards:Thanks all for joining me on this wild ride! I hope my posts help a future alto owner. It was a roller coaster of emotion, but in the end now I feel content with the results of my cleaning. I may try soaping and cornstarch once more before I condition, but I doubt it'll ever go away completely. I'm just going to live with my bag, not be afraid to use it, and wait for a lovely patina. I love it too much and I'd rather have it with flaws than give it up!!
OH, and I seriously seriously recommend ALL handbag lovers to always have cornstarch on hand!! It's a miracle product!!!!
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Oh my goodness! I can only imagine your panic when you spilled all that oil! Just the thought of it gave me palpitations! I'm so glad that was completely resolved and the original stain is much reduced. Thanks for sharing your bag journey with us bellebellebelle19!
Belle: I'm so glad the cornstarch worked. Your handbag looks very good, you would never know there was a problem.
I'm going to add cornstarch to my shopping list.
I'm going to add cornstarch to my shopping list.
I’ll be joining your clubhouse soon, just ordered a large Cecilia and a Rosetta from hautelook. Always admired the elegant simplicity of Alto. And I’ll make sure my pantry always has cornstarch!
Did Santa bring Alto to anyone this Christmas? Let's see em!
Still waiting for a miracle to bring me my white Camila to complete my Alto collection. Not sure why they did not include white in color options when they brought the Camila back :'-(
Still waiting for a miracle to bring me my white Camila to complete my Alto collection. Not sure why they did not include white in color options when they brought the Camila back :'-(
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IM: Merry Christmas. I bought myself an Alto a few weeks ago during the ILD big sale. I got the medium size Valentina in grape. Perfect.
I recently also bought the Florentine Toscana tote in bone. It reminds me very much of the Alto. The leather on mine is smooth (not quite as fine grained as the Alto). This tote is very streamlined in design and very structured. The handles are fixed. (It's not the side zip tote, but the plainer one with the oval logo and trapunto stitching detailing around the edge of the bag). The tote carries like a luxury handbag and in the bone, it certainly looks like one. It's a tad oversized and reminds me of many of the Alto styles (Valentina (shape and size), Silvia (handles) , and others). When ILD and Overstock put it on sale for $169 recently, I knew I had to try it out.
Perfect.I recently also bought the Florentine Toscana tote in bone. It reminds me very much of the Alto. The leather on mine is smooth (not quite as fine grained as the Alto). This tote is very streamlined in design and very structured. The handles are fixed. (It's not the side zip tote, but the plainer one with the oval logo and trapunto stitching detailing around the edge of the bag). The tote carries like a luxury handbag and in the bone, it certainly looks like one. It's a tad oversized and reminds me of many of the Alto styles (Valentina (shape and size), Silvia (handles) , and others). When ILD and Overstock put it on sale for $169 recently, I knew I had to try it out.
HOORAY!!! Sounds beautiful!!!IM: Merry Christmas. I bought myself an Alto a few weeks ago during the ILD big sale. I got the medium size Valentina in grape.
I recently also bought the Florentine Toscana tote in bone. It reminds me very much of the Alto. The leather on mine is smooth (not quite as fine grained as the Alto). This tote is very streamlined in design and very structured. The handles are fixed. (It's not the side zip tote, but the plainer one with the oval logo and trapunto stitching detailing around the edge of the bag). The tote carries like a luxury handbag and in the bone, it certainly looks like one. It's a tad oversized and reminds me of many of the Alto styles (Valentina (shape and size), Silvia (handles) , and others). When ILD and Overstock put it on sale for $169 recently, I knew I had to try it out.
Does anyone have colored Altos vs. Black or chestnut/saddle?
I was checking them out in store, and the colored alto leather felt a lot less nice than those three colors. Wondering if that's just a fluke?
IM: Merry Christmas. I bought myself an Alto a few weeks ago during the ILD big sale. I got the medium size Valentina in grape.
I recently also bought the Florentine Toscana tote in bone. It reminds me very much of the Alto. The leather on mine is smooth (not quite as fine grained as the Alto). This tote is very streamlined in design and very structured. The handles are fixed. (It's not the side zip tote, but the plainer one with the oval logo and trapunto stitching detailing around the edge of the bag). The tote carries like a luxury handbag and in the bone, it certainly looks like one. It's a tad oversized and reminds me of many of the Alto styles (Valentina (shape and size), Silvia (handles) , and others). When ILD and Overstock put it on sale for $169 recently, I knew I had to try it out.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! OMG sounds dreamy, are you gonna post pics pleeeeeeeease.
I have several white Altos, and in the past, have had basically every color [pink, red, yellow, navy, etc.] however following my divorce I had to streamline / de-clutter my life [bags included] so got rid of basically all the colored Altos. I posted several pics of my many Altos, however for some reason none of my pics show up anymore. I need to figure out the problem and fix it, once I get it fixed I'll post. But to respond to your questions, I found no difference in the feel of the colors of the leather you mentioned and other colors.