It is really hard to replace a zipper in a bag. They normally put the zippers in before the bag is assembled. I once took a bag to a leather repair place and he quoted $70 to replace the zipper.
Dooney rehab thread
- Thread starter missy_g
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So in other words, it would be better to just leave it be? Lol the bag itself is in perfect condition. The straps have that little wear on them. I only paid $6 for it so I'm not really out anything.
As long you are fine with using it with the zipper open, I would just leave it.
Can I dunk that Dooney? Or is that not a good idea? Lol it's awful dry and the inside has a bit of grunge.
I use artist and drafting tape. It adheres well and comes off well. It also comes in various thicknesses to make it easy to cover something like piping without any extra steps
I dunk my AWL and scrub them wellI have dunked them and thought I got good results, but I will say it softens the leather and the bag shape can be affected. Apparently you are not supposed to dunk AWL, but the bags I had were dirty and smelled like smoke, so 
I also use a super whammy or a shawow to dry them off and stuff them with towels. Make sure to change the everyday until its dry. For nasty smells nothing works better than an ozone emitter. It doesnt leave any chemicals or fragrance behind and it breaks down cigarette smell very easy. The only smell I've had to apply ozone to more than once was the smell of Curry spices. The former owner must have worked in an Indian restaurant or was actually Indian. I like that smell but most just want a smell free bag.
How exactly is it broken? If it's missing teeth or off the zip you may be able to fix it so its works. There are a few other ways to fix common zipper issues and they work well on sturdy zippers like dooneys tend to have.
My leather guy gave me a very high quote to replace a zipper but when I told his to put it on the track and sew the bottom so it wouldn't come off it only cost me 20 bucks.
I shouldn't have dunked one before doing a basic clean first and the one with a ripped seam probably would have come out better had I fixed it first. I also discovered how fake one of them was cause they do not handle being dunked at all
I'll have to take pictures of it so you can see.
It is off track and missing some teeth. Maybe 6 prongs AT LEAST. I've fooled with it some but no luck.
Some zipper fix gets have extra teeth you can install, but in my experience if it's more than 3 it doesn't work well. If they are missing from one end of the track you can add a few teeth , leaving room to get it back on track and sew the area where you put it on so it doesnt slip off again. I have had it done on boots by my cobbler because I couldn't leverage the zipper back on track but it works still.
Hi ladies. I found this at the thrift store not too long ago. Smelled like cigarettes and feet and was rather disgusting to be honest. I put it away and forgot about it until the other day. So far I dunked/ hand washed it (the water was black, took 3 washes to get the smell out), figured the condition it was in, it couldn't hurt. It's dry now. So my question is this, can I use mink oil on it to give some of the color back and make the leather supple again? Or use leather cpr? Will the cpr help fix the color? Can I use both? Sorry for the gritty picture, took it in the evening while it was drying.
