Hoping to hear several people's experiences for sure. I know each batch of leather can be unique.
Dooney rehab thread
- Thread starter missy_g
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Raech: the more I learn about leather, the more confusing it becomes. The quality of the leather
is affected by the quality of the raw material, the thickness of the raw material, and all the processing
it goes thru. Manufacturers can start with similar leathers, but is the end material the same?
Have they cut a thick piece of leather into 2 thinner pieces? Has the top surface been buffed or sanded or
embossed or has some form of treatment been applied?
How is the leather tanned and dyed?
Changing anyone of these factors can make the end product different. And deciding which is
better is sometimes just personal preference
On top of that, as consumers, we have very little
visibility into any of these things. Most of the information we are given is really just marketing
terminology. And very few customers even focus on the details. Brands count on the credibility
of their name and the power of the marketing lingo. If a customer has gotten high quality/or low
quality from that brand before, they believe that the rest of the items under that
brand are just as good/bad. And this is true for all products.... handbags, watches, shoes,
electronics, etc. Each item can have unique specifications that affect quality and function,
but most consumers don't look "under the covers" or if they try, they can't get much info
or it's so confusing they don't have the time/resources/desire to do indepth analysis
on each thing they buy.
And skin care/cosmetic products are even more difficult to figure out.
is affected by the quality of the raw material, the thickness of the raw material, and all the processing
it goes thru. Manufacturers can start with similar leathers, but is the end material the same?
Have they cut a thick piece of leather into 2 thinner pieces? Has the top surface been buffed or sanded or
embossed or has some form of treatment been applied?
How is the leather tanned and dyed?
Changing anyone of these factors can make the end product different. And deciding which is
better is sometimes just personal preference
On top of that, as consumers, we have very little
visibility into any of these things. Most of the information we are given is really just marketing
terminology. And very few customers even focus on the details. Brands count on the credibility
of their name and the power of the marketing lingo. If a customer has gotten high quality/or low
quality from that brand before, they believe that the rest of the items under that
brand are just as good/bad. And this is true for all products.... handbags, watches, shoes,
electronics, etc. Each item can have unique specifications that affect quality and function,
but most consumers don't look "under the covers" or if they try, they can't get much info
or it's so confusing they don't have the time/resources/desire to do indepth analysis
on each thing they buy.
And skin care/cosmetic products are even more difficult to figure out.
lavenderjunkie: I completely agree. My favorite bags i leather tend to be Coach Rogue and some of their glove tanned. I am hoping I get lucky on the two Dooneys I picked. I get with Dooney it seems to be luck. That is why I bought pre-loved so I could see basically what I was getting. On these bags I wanted them to not have strong pebbling. I have other bags for that look. Fingers crossed.
Anyone know if I should occasionally apply apple conditioner sparingly to either bag? I don't think the satchel should need it, but the Toscana might.
Anyone know if I should occasionally apply apple conditioner sparingly to either bag? I don't think the satchel should need it, but the Toscana might.
Dooney does not advise apply conditioner to any of their handbags. But many ladies apply
Apple conditioner to their Florentine handbags. As for the Toscana, I would test it first.
I don't condition my handbags, as a rule.
Although I own quite a few Coach handbags (Rogue, Dreamer, Swagger, and others), I'm
much more familiar with the Dooney leathers. I've been collecting Dooney for over 20 years.
Until a few years ago there was a Dooney retail boutique store near me.
The staff was great and I learned a lot about the different collections and leathers.
Alto and Florentine are Dooney's top leathers and collections. The All Weather Leather is also a very classic and high quality pebbled leather collection. Lots of other Dooney collections feature
different leathers, just like different Coach collections feature different leathers.
It's challenging to know how to compare leathers across different brands.....
as each brand has a range of leather quality and there are sometimes very
different price points. Whether between brands or within a brand, a $300 handbag
will not have the same leather quality as a $700 handbag.
Brands like Hermes have many different leathers, with different characteristics and grains.
I often wonder about their leathers and what the real differences are and how they are achieved.
I don't think I'll ever find out.
Hi Raech!
@lavenderjunkie alerted me to your post. I have a red Toscana satchel (my Avatar picture). I carried it every day for four months straight, then 3-4 days a week for another three months. The weight of the bag is what made me stop carrying it. At the time I was carrying it I was on buses and walking, and as beautiful as she is, I had to finally admit she was too heavy for that lifestyle. I still carried her during the week when I was driving instead of busing/walking, but I carried something else on the weekends, which eventually lead to me replacing her as my week day bag.
I spilled coffee all down the front of the bag and I poured my water bottle over it and gently rubbed it with Cottonelle wipes. I was not calm at all! I panicked until it dried and I saw it was just as good as new. (I'll look for my posts in another thread and attach if I can.) Before that I got caught in the rain and it dried as good as new. I also used it for my carry-on bag once. It survived without incident, but it was too heavy to carry around an airport, and the fixed handles made it too tall to fit under the seat in front of me standing up. I had to lay it sideways.
I was living with my DD and her family until Covid hit, and I sheltered in place with my sister in her apartment. During that time my DD moved and she packed my bags since I was not able to. If you could see where my Toscana satchel is now you'd faint! I saw it the other day (I'm visiting the family for a couple of weeks), and it's stuffed underneath some of my other bags in a plastic bin!
I was too afraid of what it would look so I didn't rescue it, but I may do that just to (hopefully) show both of us this bag can take a lickin'.Posts:
1. When the bag arrived
2. When I discovered a scratch and panicked. (But the scratch went away "somehow", and no more scratches.)
3. After I cleaned it from the spilled coffee. (No before picture because I was too busy trying to clean it to think about taking a picture.) This was two months after I received it and you can see there are no scratches on the bag.
She arrived about an hour ago! My Red Florentine Toscana Domed Satchel! She's beautiful! And she's as big as I need her to be! Taller and roomier than the zip zip satchels. I can get all my day to day stuff in her and a scarf and hat if needed. The leather lining is soft and pretty but scares the heck out of me.I honestly have 9 pens in my Olivia satchel right now and I'm worried about what they could do to the leather lining. They are going to be kept in a case when I carry this bag. I wasn't sure if I'd like the strap because it's not leather but I just tried it on and it's very comfortable on my shoulder. And it makes the bag more casual for my lifestyle of buses and running around with my grandchildren.
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I think I'm going to have to make a quick and serious decision. I LOVE this bag! But at Starbucks this morning I noticed a scratch. It's actually more noticeable in the picture than looking at the bag IRL, but I can still see it. I haven't come up with a name for her yet and now the only name that comes to mind when I look at her is "Scarface", and I don't want to call her that! I don't think exchanging her is going to make a difference. Florentine leather is prone to scratching and this Florentine Toscana leather seems to be the same, except I can't seem to rub out the scratch like I've done on my red Florentine leather satchel. I'm so torn because I LOVE this bag, and the scratch is not "that" bad. But is this the first of many? I don't have the lifestyle that allows me to baby my bags. And when I buy a bag I carry it exclusively for at least a couple of months or more. If it's scratching in less than a week, what's it going to look like a month from now? But I LOVE Scarface. (Okay, that can't be her name.
As you can see from the picture this story has a happy ending! Yesterday afternoon I switched to "Ruby" from my Bitsy Zebra because I had to stand-in for my daughter at a Parent's meeting for my oldest granddaughter's upcoming class camping trip. I knew I'd receive forms and I knew they would fit in Ruby. The three grandchildren were in the car before me. As I was opening my door I dropped my Peet's coffee cup on the ground. The cap was still on, but when I picked it up it was dripping coffee all over the front of Ruby! We've been caught in lots of rain so I know she can handle water, but I wasn't sure how coffee would affect the leather. I put her on my seat, took out my water bottle and started pouring water all over the bag. My oldest granddaughter, who was in the front passenger seat was yelling, "Grammy what are you doing?" I told her, "I know what I'm doing, it's fine!" After I poured water all over the front I took a Cottonelle wipe and wiped down the front of the bag. After I did that, that's when I realized what my granddaughter was worried about. I had also poured water all in the cloth driver's seat! I had to go back inside and get a couple of thick towels to sit on when I drove to the meeting.Anyway, all's well that ends well! In case anyone is wondering how the Toscana Florentine leather handles coffee, it turned out nice for me, but I got to it quickly.
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@Raech
I found one more post when I used it as a carry-on bag, and gave a mini update review on the condition of the bag six months later.
I found one more post when I used it as a carry-on bag, and gave a mini update review on the condition of the bag six months later.
Greetings from Vegas!
I'm sorry, I know this is a long post and a lot of pics! My flight arrived this morning at 12:10am. I'm at Starbucks now because there is no coffee in the apartment!
Carry-on Items:
The Paris pouch holds my small jewelry keeper from Lori Greiner, and my phone charger. The grey pouch is from a previous United flight and holds lens cleaners, wipes, eye drops, sleeping mask, ear plugs. I also have my notebook, Kleenex tissues, Pocket Bac, gum pens, checkbook (I only carry it when I travel just in case), Clipa purse hook. And you can see what's in the Sephora "Beauty on the Fly" pouch. I have all three apartment keys (home, sister, and Vegas) on my two Dooney key chains and the RL key chain MaryBel gave me. They are hooked to the key leash.
I attached my Venus coin case to a chain (bought on ebay) and hooked it to the circle on the zipper pull of the outside pocket. (I can still easily zip the pocket closed.) My license and debit card were in it for easy access going through TSA, and buying things in the airport. The chain helped secure the wallet so I wouldn't accidentally drop it. (Did that in Oakland last week with my Coach card case. A very nice man saw me drop it and gave it to me!) The Coach card case held my cash and stayed in the inside zipper pocket. My phone was also in the outside pocket.
Mini update:
I took pictures of the inside and outside so you can see what she looks like six months in. The outside still looks as good as new. (Pictures taken with and without a flash.) The inside still looks good but you can see it's been used. It holds up well to everything I throw in it. The inside of the slip pockets are getting darker (I think they always were a little darker). I still highly recommend this bag to anyone who's thinking about her. (Although I will caution you about the weight if you load her. She was heavy carrying around the airport.) And the great news is you're probably going to get a great sales price!
ETA: The web strap was very comfortable carrying her crossbody at the airport. I usually don't carry my bags crossbody but it was easier with my luggage. I'm glad she has a web strap!
I'm sorry this is so long! If you're still reading this thanks for your time!
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Pulled my satchel out the bin. Not bad for how it was stored. The bottom was dented but I worked out the dents. It was dusty and I wiped it down. The top sides are a little pushed in and that'll probably stay like that since that part is empty space in the bag so nothing will push it out. The inside looks good. One small scratch on the front. And heavier than I remember. But overall still in very good condition.
You are literally so awesome. Ty for all that. I wonder if the coffee, water, and rubbing removed your scratch. She's been through a lot and looks fantastic.
I agree.... RN.... your Toscana looks amazing. I wonder if stuffing her with some towels and letting
her spa in a warm room will help her relax and regain her figure.
her spa in a warm room will help her relax and regain her figure.
You're welcome! Thank you for the compliment.
Maybe all that rubbing did help remove the scratch.
You ladies have inspired me. I unearthed my red Toscana large domed satchel.
That's not the one I had the water spots on. This one is looking very nice....
It's shapely figure is returning now that it's no longer buried under a pile of
other handbags. Hopefully I can keep its complexion free from mishaps.
I've saved it ('for good') long enough that I'm no longer afraid to use it.
That's not the one I had the water spots on. This one is looking very nice....
It's shapely figure is returning now that it's no longer buried under a pile of
other handbags. Hopefully I can keep its complexion free from mishaps.
I've saved it ('for good') long enough that I'm no longer afraid to use it.
Mornin' LJ!
I'm happy we inspired you to unearth your red Toscana satchel! It's fun pulling out bags and remembering how much they meant to you when they were new. I sometimes feel like I'm carrying a new bag. I'm also happy you're no longer afraid to use it.
Enjoy!