I made my first Florentine Leather Dooney purchase Fortunately, under $200 at ilovedooney, I ALWAYS bought pebble grain. I got caught in a LIGHT RAIN, but I had an umbrella--and i held the satchel up past my chin! STILL, I got raindrops. And, they didn't go away when the bag dried. Dooney was no help with a fix. Now, I'm so upset, I'm ready to wet the entire purse and see if it evens out---before I donate it! I loved the smell, I loved the feel. But the satchel looks like I bought it at a garage sale after great grandma passed. Oh!! NATURAL was the color. ANY HELPFUL HINTS?
Florentine Hates Me
- Thread starter memphispol
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Did you try conditioning? I had water spots from snow on my ivy mini satchel and I conditioned with apple care conditioner. It helped blend the spots and they’re barely vidsible…I’ve nkot carried my natural in wet weather….i will look at the forecast before bringing out my natural medium mail satchel or cooper……. I’ve not treated. Them yet
As for the water spotted Florentine handbag. I wish I had an answer. I do not have
luck with water spotted leather returning to its original beauty. I know others say,
no problem. Not for me. If I wash my hands holding a Florentine bag, it will spot
and the spots don't fade. I don't know if it's the chemicals in the water, air pollution,
or the specific piece of leather and how it's been processed. Some people pretreat
their Florentine leather with water repellant and conditioner. I don't.
As advice, I can only relate one story told to me by a Dooney sales person in a boutique..... the best way to even out the color on a Florentine bag after color transfer
or water spots, is to take a clean, soft, white cloth and rub the bag using a circular motion.
This will remove surface dirt and also bring up the oils in the leather. You need to do the entire bag, and it's not a quick procedure. But if you keep at it, the color will even
out and you will no longer see the spots. With a natural color Florentine bag, the color will darken. What you are doing is speeding up the patina process.
I do not know if this will work on lightly colored bags, like Ecur or Pale Blue, Coral or Fuchsia, etc because I don't know what the dying process is for these colors and if the
process will remove surface color. Natural Florentine leather isn't dyed, so there would
be no dye color to remove.
Good luck. And don't give up. The 'message process' may take some time... you might have to do it repeatedly before you see enough improvement. After you have 'restored' the bag to a more uniform color, you could consider conditioning. The only conditioner I have ever used is Apple brand. And I've never used it on a light color Florentine handbag.
So if you do condition the bag, test on the bottom first, to be sure you are happy with the
result.
BTW, there is a video on YT by Autumn Beckman where she compares a lot of
leather conditioners. She did a 'scientific' study showing their consistency and how
they were absorbed, etc. A lot of info. She was using leather swatches, to make the
comparisons as fair as possible, not different handbags. Remember, results other
get with different brands or leathers may not be the same results we will get with
another brand, leather, or even color.
One of the beauties of Florentine leather is that it isn't coated.... but that means
that the leather easily absorbs water and stains.
luck with water spotted leather returning to its original beauty. I know others say,
no problem. Not for me. If I wash my hands holding a Florentine bag, it will spot
and the spots don't fade. I don't know if it's the chemicals in the water, air pollution,
or the specific piece of leather and how it's been processed. Some people pretreat
their Florentine leather with water repellant and conditioner. I don't.
As advice, I can only relate one story told to me by a Dooney sales person in a boutique..... the best way to even out the color on a Florentine bag after color transfer
or water spots, is to take a clean, soft, white cloth and rub the bag using a circular motion.
This will remove surface dirt and also bring up the oils in the leather. You need to do the entire bag, and it's not a quick procedure. But if you keep at it, the color will even
out and you will no longer see the spots. With a natural color Florentine bag, the color will darken. What you are doing is speeding up the patina process.
I do not know if this will work on lightly colored bags, like Ecur or Pale Blue, Coral or Fuchsia, etc because I don't know what the dying process is for these colors and if the
process will remove surface color. Natural Florentine leather isn't dyed, so there would
be no dye color to remove.
Good luck. And don't give up. The 'message process' may take some time... you might have to do it repeatedly before you see enough improvement. After you have 'restored' the bag to a more uniform color, you could consider conditioning. The only conditioner I have ever used is Apple brand. And I've never used it on a light color Florentine handbag.
So if you do condition the bag, test on the bottom first, to be sure you are happy with the
result.
BTW, there is a video on YT by Autumn Beckman where she compares a lot of
leather conditioners. She did a 'scientific' study showing their consistency and how
they were absorbed, etc. A lot of info. She was using leather swatches, to make the
comparisons as fair as possible, not different handbags. Remember, results other
get with different brands or leathers may not be the same results we will get with
another brand, leather, or even color.
One of the beauties of Florentine leather is that it isn't coated.... but that means
that the leather easily absorbs water and stains.
Please be careful! Everything I have read is do not use conditioners on Florentine. I love the natural leather smell, but it's not worth the fussiness of the leather. After I try the white cloth circular rubbing suggested by one member, I may go to saddle soap if that doesn't work. Meanwhile, it's Brahmin on cloudy days. Thank you all!