Dooney rehab thread

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#46
Flossy72 said:
Hi guys...started a Dooney rehab on a sad little Quilted East/West slouch I picked up for 12$ (per Dooney: introduced in 2008. The retail price was $195.00). The leather was so rich and dark Ii couldn't pass it over! Its had one dunk, three coats of Leather CPR, and 1 coat Blackrocks. The ink stain is so bad, broke up a bit during the soak and scrub. I'm not too sure how too address the unraveling leather logo inside the bag? Also, was wondering what people have done to address the wearing fabric corners?? View attachment 3515822 View attachment 3515823 View attachment 3515824 View attachment 3515825 View attachment 3515826 View attachment 3515827 View attachment 3515828 View attachment 3515829 View attachment 3515830
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She looks a WHOLE LOT better! Nice job.
For the broken stitching on the leather logo, I'd probably try to restitch in the same holes with matching thread.
I had a Signature Tassel Tote and it had corner wear like that on the fabric. I've looked at a lot of them on eBay and it seems pretty common. I couldn't come up with a way to fix it...maybe someone else has ideas.
 
#47
Catbird9 said:
She looks a WHOLE LOT better! Nice job.
For the broken stitching on the leather logo, I'd probably try to restitch in the same holes with matching thread.
I had a Signature Tassel Tote and it had corner wear like that on the fabric. I've looked at a lot of them on eBay and it seems pretty common. I couldn't come up with a way to fix it...maybe someone else has ideas.
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Tanks Catbird...There is always something so satisfying about giving these thrown away bags one more shot at life! I contacted Dooney about acquiring new Duck FOBs for some of my bags that are missing them and they stated unless bags have been registered, they can not help. Do you have suggestions on where you have purchased them?
 
#48
Flossy72 said:
Hi guys...started a Dooney rehab on a sad little Quilted East/West slouch I picked up for 12$ (per Dooney: introduced in 2008. The retail price was $195.00). The leather was so rich and dark Ii couldn't pass it over! Its had one dunk, three coats of Leather CPR, and 1 coat Blackrocks. The ink stain is so bad, broke up a bit during the soak and scrub. I'm not too sure how too address the unraveling leather logo inside the bag? Also, was wondering what people have done to address the wearing fabric corners?? View attachment 3515822 View attachment 3515823 View attachment 3515824 View attachment 3515825 View attachment 3515826 View attachment 3515827 View attachment 3515828 View attachment 3515829 View attachment 3515830
Click to expand...

That ink looks way better!
 
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#49
Flossy72 said:
Tanks Catbird...There is always something so satisfying about giving these thrown away bags one more shot at life! I contacted Dooney about acquiring new Duck FOBs for some of my bags that are missing them and they stated unless bags have been registered, they can not help. Do you have suggestions on where you have purchased them?
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I usually get them on eBay, but I've found a couple of reasonably priced ones on Etsy too.
 
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#51
You ladies have done some amazing work!! Are you able to get the grime/darkening off handles with the sink washing? I'm looking at an AWL bag on eBay but I think the darkened handles would make me nuts even if I knew they were clean. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
 
#52
whitsnwhits said:
You ladies have done some amazing work!! Are you able to get the grime/darkening off handles with the sink washing? I'm looking at an AWL bag on eBay but I think the darkened handles would make me nuts even if I knew they were clean. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
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The rolled leather handles on the vintage AWL satchels are hard to clean. If the dark stains would bother you (as they would bother me!), I recommend you hold out for one with less darkening on the handles. They are out there!
 
#54
whitsnwhits said:
You ladies have done some amazing work!! Are you able to get the grime/darkening off handles with the sink washing? I'm looking at an AWL bag on eBay but I think the darkened handles would make me nuts even if I knew they were clean. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
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I'm not a rehab expert, but logically thinking, handles often darken as a result of oils/lotions on our hands when we touch the handles. That would seem to be very difficult, if not impossible to remove. Even if it's just embedded dirt that has been ground into the handle from use, it would be hard to remove. And the combination of both would make it even more difficult.
 
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#55
lavenderjunkie said:
I'm not a rehab expert, but logically thinking, handles often darken as a result of oils/lotions on our hands when we touch the handles. That would seem to be very difficult, if not impossible to remove. Even if it's just embedded dirt that has been ground into the handle from use, it would be hard to remove. And the combination of both would make it even more difficult.
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That's an excellent point! What about bags that lean or have a smooshed corner due to improper stuffing when stored? Can that be remedied?
 
#56
whitsnwhits said:
That's an excellent point! What about bags that lean or have a smooshed corner due to improper stuffing when stored? Can that be remedied?
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It depends. I've been able to do a little reshaping on two AWL vintage satchels that I've worked on. Neither of these were dunked.

One of them was almost flat when I got it. I stuffed it with terrycloth hand towels that I had dampened slightly and warmed in the dryer. I restuffed it every day . After a week or so it had regained most of its proper shape and was able to stand on its own.

The other one wasn't badly warped...just a little wavy along the sides...and the leather was a bit thicker. I worked on it with my hands and stuffed it with towels over a period of several days, and it did come back to shape, although not completely.
 
#57
whitsnwhits said:
You ladies have done some amazing work!! Are you able to get the grime/darkening off handles with the sink washing? I'm looking at an AWL bag on eBay but I think the darkened handles would make me nuts even if I knew they were clean. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
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I am just throwing this out there. I have (very very gently) a magic eraser on the darkened handles of vintage louis vuitton. It is different leather and it was not a 100% fix, but it was an improvement. I used it lightly and immediately conditioned the handles with apple leather care. If the handles were not too dry to begin with, it can lift some of the surface dirt. I have noticed that if it is too dry, then it will progress the damage. (The magic eraser is essentially a super fine sand paper, so it can be risky if you get over zealous with it). I have never tried this with a vintage Dooney, but I am curious. I might try it with a beater project and share the results on here (good or bad! ha It's worth a shot?). Has anyone on here tried it?
 
#59
dgphoto said:
Hey! So you know those sad canvas bags that are everywhere for dirt cheap? Well, I bought one just for the strap (to replace a missing one) for $4 and came up with a simple idea for some of the rest of the "leftover" bag. This is the one I bought:
View attachment 3513816
It was in pretty bad shape but again, I just wanted the strap.

I removed the leather strip that's weaved along the top of the purse, cutting at the center of the back of the bag and removed the little leather ties at the bottom sides. And I made this!
View attachment 3513818
Here's the back of it:
View attachment 3513819
It was super easy to do. I just decided how long I wanted the "drop" to be, cut the end of the leather string off and glued it down at the top of the tassel. Then I wrapped the leather ties around to dress it up a little.

Here's the finished product on my bag, along with the strap. [emoji4]
View attachment 3513820
I plan to wash and condition the strap to add more patina to it and darken it to match the new bag a bit better.

I also have plans for the handles, inside pockets and other pieces I removed from the original bag. Will post pix when I get around to repurposing those. Happy rehabbing!
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Ok I LOVE this!!! Thank you so much for posting it! I come across the beat up coated canvas ones from time to time and I just look at them sadly. I am totally going to go for them now if the leather and tassels look good. Yay!
 
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#60
CoachRules said:
I am just throwing this out there. I have (very very gently) a magic eraser on the darkened handles of vintage louis vuitton. It is different leather and it was not a 100% fix, but it was an improvement. I used it lightly and immediately conditioned the handles with apple leather care. If the handles were not too dry to begin with, it can lift some of the surface dirt. I have noticed that if it is too dry, then it will progress the damage. (The magic eraser is essentially a super fine sand paper, so it can be risky if you get over zealous with it). I have never tried this with a vintage Dooney, but I am curious. I might try it with a beater project and share the results on here (good or bad! ha It's worth a shot?). Has anyone on here tried it?
Click to expand...

I think it's worth a shot! I've tried it on vachetta, too: I've dampened a ME with vinegar (which won't leave water marks) and successfully improved a vachetta Dooney wallet. I think dampening helped make it gentler on the leather, though the wallet still felt very dry and needed conditioning afterward.
 
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