Help! Dirt on cowhide handles of mono Speedy and uneven patina

baglover529

baglover529

O.G.
Nov 24, 2005
271
25
#1
Hi everyone! :smile:

1) Was just wondering if any of you have experienced getting dirt on your cowhide handles (from your hands) and also on the leather on the zipper pull? My leather doesn't have a dark patina yet so it kinda shows. Like it's a little light grey if you look closely. I can't keep cleaning my hands everytime I want to hold my bag....so I wanted to know what is the best thing to do. I tried cleaning with leather lotion but only a little came off. :sad:

2) I have uneven patina on the cowhide trims of my Speedy. The handles are a different shade than that of the leather tag with the LV stamp and on the zipper pull, and also on the piping along the sides (those are the lightest). Have any of you experienced this and will they even out in time? :unsure:
 
#2
in terms of the patina, usually where you hold it is going to be a darker shade than that of the leather that isn't constantly held. it all gets darker, but usually it's darker on the handles (the top part of them) where the bag is held. the first picture is of my cerise speedy, which is about a year and a half old. the second is of my mono speedy, which is about 2 months old. the patina on both of them on other areas of the bag is the same as your description. the dirt or greying can be removed with mr. clean magic eraser, i've been told.
 

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#5
i am not a big fan of using the magic eraser, it dries out the leather IMO & if yyou rub too hatd it will scratch. Several members have had very good results using baby wipes with aloe.
 
#7
I ruined my very first speedy with magic eraser - it is WAY too rough - my handles were never the same even after conditioning - lost that pretty shine they used to have. I ended up selling it and buying a new one. I SO don't recommend magic eraser. I have, however, had pretty good results with sensitive skin baby wipes with aloe.
 
#9
Use alcohol-free babywipes with aloe vera! Check out my thread "results after using babywipes (pics)....what do you think?". I also had an uneven patina with dirty handles plus watermarks everywhere, and the babywipes evened out the patina but preserved the shine and didn't leave the leather too dry either (just the handles but that's because I repeated it like 7 times or so there). Eraser will just leave the handles dry and easily prone to scratching, it will really strip the leather off it's natural softness, so I wouldnt really recommend that. Good luck!
 
#11
that is why i kept my speedy for the meantime...i think ill wait for it to have a patina before i use it again so there's less chance of getting the handles dirty :smile:
 
#12
You guys are amazing! Thanks so much for your replies. I will definitely try the baby wipes...though not sure if we have any with aloe her where I live. The one I have in my bag has jojoba oil or something. It's this brand called Pigeon, and it's alcohol-free. Is that good enough?
 
#13
You can try testing it in an unseen spot, but I don't recommend using oiled wipes as some oils stain.

Regardless of what you do it's an ongoing thing with dirty handles. The only thing you can do is clean them every so often but there's nothing you can do to prevent it unless you're willing to walk around with gloves when carrying your Speedy/handheld bags. It is bound to happen regardless of.

As far as ME is concerned I only recommend it on handles that you plan on replacing. The ME strips the top layer of the leather thus stripping away the dirt off the handles, however as many mentioned it leaves the leather exposed and dry. So it serves as giving you a few months of dirt free handles until you're ready to have them replaced. I do not think it's wise to use ME on new vachetta or vachetta that you're not going to replace any time soon.
There are alot of other alternatives but do keep in mind that "Leather Cleaners" do darken the vachetta/speed up the patina process somewhat.
HTH
 
#14
I'll back up the claims to NOT use the Magic Eraser! I cleaned my ex-Speedy's handles this way and almost ruined one of them. Luckily, I was able to save it but it took a lot of work and a ton of saddle soap and it just wasn't worth it.

The handle that came out good from the Magic Eraser was fantastic -- but I think I just got lucky on that. I got lucky being able to save the other one, too.
 
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