I washed my vintage Noe...

[dagnypup]

I received my pre-loved vintage Noe today and thought I would go ahead and give her a wash after reading several posters describe their success after washing their bags.

First, the bag is from 1987 and in great shape. The leather was not cracked anywhere that I could find and the vachetta was not badly stained. The bag looked to be very well cared for but due to it's age and the fact that it had a bit of a musty smell (along with a bit of a perfumy smell) I decided to go ahead and wash it.

The process in exact detail in case anyone is curious:
1. removed the strap and leather tie
2. treated the vachetta leather on the bag. with Blackrocks leather n rich
3. sprinkled the interior with baking soda
4. put the bag in the sink and began filling it with lukewarm water and a few squirts of dishwashing liquid soap (7th Generation unscented dishwashing liquid)
5. rubbed the inside and outside of the bag with a rag while it was filling with the watery soap mixture
6. rinsed the bag multiple times until there was no more soap
7. dried the bag inside and out with a clean soft towel
8. stuffed the bag with more clean towels to retain it's shape and assist drying, placing it outside in the fresh afternoon air (not direct sunlight) for a few hours
9. removed the towels and cleaned off the brass with Brasso, and cleaned all the vachetta on the bag, handle, and tie with Lexol PH wipes as directed
10. let the bag continue to airdry (while hanging by it's handle from the ironing board so the bottom of the bag will get some air)
11. After a few hours (while the leather is still damp but not soaking) I applied a light coat of Blackrock Leather n rich again. This is important because I want to restore oils while the leather is still wet to minimize the chances of cracking when it dries.
12. Continue to let it air dry as mentioned above to ensure good air flow to the leather but let it dry slowly at room temperature.

Please know -- leather should NEVER be dried in the dryer, in the sun, or with a hair-dryer. It is best to let it air dry slowly! (If you are curious, please look up how to care for wet horse saddles)

so far, so good!

I will report back once the bag is dry and I continue on with the moisturizing process.

 

[leuleu]

I received my pre-loved vintage Noe today and thought I would go ahead and give her a wash after reading several posters describe their success after washing their bags.

First, the bag is from 1987 and in great shape. The leather was not cracked anywhere that I could find and the vachetta was not badly stained. The bag looked to be very well cared for but due to it's age and the fact that it had a bit of a musty smell (along with a bit of a perfumy smell) I decided to go ahead and wash it.

The process in exact detail in case anyone is curious:
1. removed the strap and leather tie
2. treated the vachetta leather on the bag. with Blackrocks leather n rich
3. sprinkled the interior with baking soda
4. put the bag in the sink and began filling it with lukewarm water and a few squirts of dishwashing liquid soap (7th Generation unscented dishwashing liquid)
5. rubbed the inside and outside of the bag with a rag while it was filling with the watery soap mixture
6. rinsed the bag multiple times until there was no more soap
7. dried the bag inside and out with a clean soft towel
8. stuffed the bag with more clean towels to retain it's shape and assist drying, placing it outside in the fresh afternoon air (not direct sunlight) for a few hours
9. removed the towels and cleaned off the brass with Brasso, and cleaned all the vachetta on the bag, handle, and tie with Lexol PH wipes as directed
10. let the bag continue to airdry (while hanging by it's handle from the ironing board so the bottom of the bag will get some air)
11. After a few hours (while the leather is still damp but not soaking) I applied a light coat of Blackrock Leather n rich again. This is important because I want to restore oils while the leather is still wet to minimize the chances of cracking when it dries.
12. Continue to let it air dry as mentioned above to ensure good air flow to the leather but let it dry slowly at room temperature.

Please know -- leather should NEVER be dried in the dryer, in the sun, or with a hair-dryer. It is best to let it air dry slowly! (If you are curious, please look up how to care for wet horse saddles)

so far, so good!

I will report back once the bag is dry and I continue on with the moisturizing process.

I put my Neverfull azur in the washing machine and had no problems (there is almost no vachetta on this bag) but I would have been afraid to wash a Noe
Please, show us the before/after pics when you can.

 

[Tomsmom]

I received my pre-loved vintage Noe today and thought I would go ahead and give her a wash after reading several posters describe their success after washing their bags.

First, the bag is from 1987 and in great shape. The leather was not cracked anywhere that I could find and the vachetta was not badly stained. The bag looked to be very well cared for but due to it's age and the fact that it had a bit of a musty smell (along with a bit of a perfumy smell) I decided to go ahead and wash it.

The process in exact detail in case anyone is curious:
1. removed the strap and leather tie
2. treated the vachetta leather on the bag. with Blackrocks leather n rich
3. sprinkled the interior with baking soda
4. put the bag in the sink and began filling it with lukewarm water and a few squirts of dishwashing liquid soap (7th Generation unscented dishwashing liquid)
5. rubbed the inside and outside of the bag with a rag while it was filling with the watery soap mixture
6. rinsed the bag multiple times until there was no more soap
7. dried the bag inside and out with a clean soft towel
8. stuffed the bag with more clean towels to retain it's shape and assist drying, placing it outside in the fresh afternoon air (not direct sunlight) for a few hours
9. removed the towels and cleaned off the brass with Brasso, and cleaned all the vachetta on the bag, handle, and tie with Lexol PH wipes as directed
10. let the bag continue to airdry (while hanging by it's handle from the ironing board so the bottom of the bag will get some air)
11. After a few hours (while the leather is still damp but not soaking) I applied a light coat of Blackrock Leather n rich again. This is important because I want to restore oils while the leather is still wet to minimize the chances of cracking when it dries.
12. Continue to let it air dry as mentioned above to ensure good air flow to the leather but let it dry slowly at room temperature.

Please know -- leather should NEVER be dried in the dryer, in the sun, or with a hair-dryer. It is best to let it air dry slowly! (If you are curious, please look up how to care for wet horse saddles)

so far, so good!

I will report back once the bag is dry and I continue on with the moisturizing process.

I would love to see before and after pics !

 

[travelbliss]

Great post. I did this to an old Montsouris GM backpack. I couldn't believe how the brown canvas lining bled out when washing/rinsing and I was afraid it would stain the leather, but luckily it didn't. It came out very clean, but the canvas, once dried, needed some moisturizing. All in all, it was worth having a clean backpack to use. I find the older vintage pieces (thicker canvas) are very resilient !!

 

[dagnypup]

Yes, it is indeed a scary thing to plunge the bag into water! I do not have before photos, since I was concerned mainly with germs and smells and not appearance (stains, etc). I will post after photos once the bag is completely dry and I am finished with all of the steps to clean and recondition the bag. I am hoping on posting very detailed photos of any problem areas so everyone can be fully informed before they decide to do something similar to their bags.

Please keep in mind that this is not a bag that I ever intended on "babying". I purchased it for $400 and it was going to be my bag for tossing around casually. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the bag that it was in as good of shape as it was, which gave me more leeway to go to more extreme measures. While the bag showed no signs of leather rot, it is still quite old and probably wasn't conditioned on a regular basis.

My expectations were very low when I set out on this cleaning endeavor. I weighed the pros and cons before doing this and decided I would rather have a bag I know is clean (on the inside) with some possible/probably damage than a bag that is less damaged but with questionable (and potentially dangerous?) germs and whatnot on the inside. I also planned on only doing this only ONCE to this bag, since I really think doing this more than once on a vintage bag would completely ruin it.


If the bag were leather-lined, I would have just used a leather cleaner and a wipe and wouldn't have worried. Since it is fabric lined and has soaked up who-knows-what kind of fluids for the past 34 years, I did not feel comfortable with leaving it uncleaned. I could have used an anti-bacterial wipe on the interior, but I did not think of it at the time --- and it may not have changed my mind anyway. If the lining were "free" I would have just pulled it to the outside of the bag and washed it only, as opposed to washing the entire bag. But the Noe's lining is not free, so this was not an option for me.

I intend to use a bag organizer, but I also tend to throw scarves and shawls/sweaters in my big bags and I loathe the thought of creepy germs coming in contact with something that might be near or on my face! We have enough problem with creepy germs and face masks in 2021, I don't need to be adding an additional 34 years of creepy germs! LOL

That being said, I will continue with my observations and process in case anyone is interested:

Next day - The bag feels almost completely dry but I will continue to let it dry for another day or two before using it

exterior canvas -- smells fine.feels a little stiffer but looks pretty good otherwise. I will be moisturizing this and update with the steps.

leather -- feels a bit stiff. The color has lightened back up to how it was prior to being washed. Since my concern was not about stains or watermarks, I cannot comment on how this may have affected these things. There was some wrinkling on the leather strips that run along the side of the Noe which was there before washing the bag. I examined them closely last night and only saw one of those wrinkles that might actually be a crack. Today, a few more of these wrinkles DO show some cracking.

stitching -- no issues or problems seen

lining -- looks nice and clean. musty smell is gone. has a light 'perfumy' smell, but this may be just the smell of the bag. It is similar to the smell of my Hermes bags. There is a little bit of white residue around some of the rivets which may be from the brasso I used to clean the outside.

Steps done today:
1. another round of Blackrock Leather n Rich to moisturize the leather again and continue to let the bag dry slowly
2. baby wipe to the interior lining to try and wipe off that white reside from the Brasso.

 

[Baglover1982]

Yes, it is indeed a scary thing to plunge the bag into water! I do not have before photos, since I was concerned mainly with germs and smells and not appearance (stains, etc). I will post after photos once the bag is completely dry and I am finished with all of the steps to clean and recondition the bag. I am hoping on posting very detailed photos of any problem areas so everyone can be fully informed before they decide to do something similar to their bags.

Please keep in mind that this is not a bag that I ever intended on "babying". I purchased it for $400 and it was going to be my bag for tossing around casually. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the bag that it was in as good of shape as it was, which gave me more leeway to go to more extreme measures. While the bag showed no signs of leather rot, it is still quite old and probably wasn't conditioned on a regular basis.

My expectations were very low when I set out on this cleaning endeavor. I weighed the pros and cons before doing this and decided I would rather have a bag I know is clean (on the inside) with some possible/probably damage than a bag that is less damaged but with questionable (and potentially dangerous?) germs and whatnot on the inside. I also planned on only doing this only ONCE to this bag, since I really think doing this more than once on a vintage bag would completely ruin it.


If the bag were leather-lined, I would have just used a leather cleaner and a wipe and wouldn't have worried. Since it is fabric lined and has soaked up who-knows-what kind of fluids for the past 34 years, I did not feel comfortable with leaving it uncleaned. I could have used an anti-bacterial wipe on the interior, but I did not think of it at the time --- and it may not have changed my mind anyway. If the lining were "free" I would have just pulled it to the outside of the bag and washed it only, as opposed to washing the entire bag. But the Noe's lining is not free, so this was not an option for me.

I intend to use a bag organizer, but I also tend to throw scarves and shawls/sweaters in my big bags and I loathe the thought of creepy germs coming in contact with something that might be near or on my face! We have enough problem with creepy germs and face masks in 2021, I don't need to be adding an additional 34 years of creepy germs! LOL

That being said, I will continue with my observations and process in case anyone is interested:

Next day - The bag feels almost completely dry but I will continue to let it dry for another day or two before using it

exterior canvas -- smells fine.feels a little stiffer but looks pretty good otherwise. I will be moisturizing this and update with the steps.

leather -- feels a bit stiff. The color has lightened back up to how it was prior to being washed. Since my concern was not about stains or watermarks, I cannot comment on how this may have affected these things. There was some wrinkling on the leather strips that run along the side of the Noe which was there before washing the bag. I examined them closely last night and only saw one of those wrinkles that might actually be a crack. Today, a few more of these wrinkles DO show some cracking.

stitching -- no issues or problems seen

lining -- looks nice and clean. musty smell is gone. has a light 'perfumy' smell, but this may be just the smell of the bag. It is similar to the smell of my Hermes bags. There is a little bit of white residue around some of the rivets which may be from the brasso I used to clean the outside.

Steps done today:
1. another round of Blackrock Leather n Rich to moisturize the leather again and continue to let the bag dry slowly
2. baby wipe to the interior lining to try and wipe off that white reside from the Brasso.

I hope it all comes out well once you have finished. I have to be honest I would be so scared to do this. Even reading it gave me anxiety.

 

[nomdesac]

Yes, it is indeed a scary thing to plunge the bag into water! I do not have before photos, since I was concerned mainly with germs and smells and not appearance (stains, etc). I will post after photos once the bag is completely dry and I am finished with all of the steps to clean and recondition the bag. I am hoping on posting very detailed photos of any problem areas so everyone can be fully informed before they decide to do something similar to their bags.

Please keep in mind that this is not a bag that I ever intended on "babying". I purchased it for $400 and it was going to be my bag for tossing around casually. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the bag that it was in as good of shape as it was, which gave me more leeway to go to more extreme measures. While the bag showed no signs of leather rot, it is still quite old and probably wasn't conditioned on a regular basis.

My expectations were very low when I set out on this cleaning endeavor. I weighed the pros and cons before doing this and decided I would rather have a bag I know is clean (on the inside) with some possible/probably damage than a bag that is less damaged but with questionable (and potentially dangerous?) germs and whatnot on the inside. I also planned on only doing this only ONCE to this bag, since I really think doing this more than once on a vintage bag would completely ruin it.


If the bag were leather-lined, I would have just used a leather cleaner and a wipe and wouldn't have worried. Since it is fabric lined and has soaked up who-knows-what kind of fluids for the past 34 years, I did not feel comfortable with leaving it uncleaned. I could have used an anti-bacterial wipe on the interior, but I did not think of it at the time --- and it may not have changed my mind anyway. If the lining were "free" I would have just pulled it to the outside of the bag and washed it only, as opposed to washing the entire bag. But the Noe's lining is not free, so this was not an option for me.

I intend to use a bag organizer, but I also tend to throw scarves and shawls/sweaters in my big bags and I loathe the thought of creepy germs coming in contact with something that might be near or on my face! We have enough problem with creepy germs and face masks in 2021, I don't need to be adding an additional 34 years of creepy germs! LOL

That being said, I will continue with my observations and process in case anyone is interested:

Next day - The bag feels almost completely dry but I will continue to let it dry for another day or two before using it

exterior canvas -- smells fine.feels a little stiffer but looks pretty good otherwise. I will be moisturizing this and update with the steps.

leather -- feels a bit stiff. The color has lightened back up to how it was prior to being washed. Since my concern was not about stains or watermarks, I cannot comment on how this may have affected these things. There was some wrinkling on the leather strips that run along the side of the Noe which was there before washing the bag. I examined them closely last night and only saw one of those wrinkles that might actually be a crack. Today, a few more of these wrinkles DO show some cracking.

stitching -- no issues or problems seen

lining -- looks nice and clean. musty smell is gone. has a light 'perfumy' smell, but this may be just the smell of the bag. It is similar to the smell of my Hermes bags. There is a little bit of white residue around some of the rivets which may be from the brasso I used to clean the outside.

Steps done today:
1. another round of Blackrock Leather n Rich to moisturize the leather again and continue to let the bag dry slowly
2. baby wipe to the interior lining to try and wipe off that white reside from the Brasso.

It would be wonderful to see photos!

 

[rose60610]

Wow! Fantastic job! Look forward to seeing it.

 

[dagnypup]

So here it is a week later and my bag is completely dry.

I have not seen any changes to the bag from the last "update". No additional cracks formed and the leather has not stiffened. The canvas is supple without any cracks. The leather, overall, feels soft and is flexible with a bit of a shine to the patina. The stitches are all sound without any issues.

When I got the bag it was folded up for shipment and had a few wrinkles (no creases or cracks in the canvas at all). Those wrinkles did not change with washing the bag. I briefly applied an iron on the lowest setting (for plastics) and did see a bit of improvement. The heat from the iron made the canvas' pvc covering more pliable and if I had stuffed the bag and left it the wrinkles would have probably been resolved.

Based on some of the comments on this thread, I figured I would do a procedure that is "safer" for those who might be worried about the possibility of ruining their bag with heat applied via iron or hair dryer. So I will start using the bag and see how that works. If it doesn't resolve the issue, I will then stuff the bag and leave it in my car (with the summer heat) and see how long it takes for the wrinkles to "iron" out this way. I will update on this post to let you know if it works or not.

I will move on to the photos in the subsequent posts and point out any issues

 

[redjellybean]

Would like to see the Before and After photos

 

[dagnypup]

Please ignore the fact that I put the tie on backwards from the "before" photos. I wasn't thinking when I took the photos and now I am just too lazy to go and retake them. My photos were of the bag unstuffed, whereas the website had the bag stuffed.

This is the Front of the bag in the "Before" image from the website I purchased the bag from. I pointed out some issues that could be seen in the bag:






Here is the "front" of the bag in the AFTER photo I just took. (again, ignore the tie...)



The stain is about the same on the vachetta. There is a wrinkle on this part of the bag's canvas that didn't show up in the "before" shot on the website, but it was there -- they just had the bag stuffed and my photos are not with the bag stuffed.

 

[dagnypup]

Here is the "Before" photo of the back of the bag from the website along with some close-ups. I pointed out the corner scuffs and there is also some wrinkles to the vachetta along the bottom and a stain.







Here is my "back" of the bag after (again, ignore the tie...):


The wrinkles are still there but the scuffed corners are improved.

 

[dagnypup]

Here is the bottom of the bag Before. The close up photos show some scuffing. Some were in a linear patterns and others were in a circular motion when I examined it closely. This means the owner could have used a Magic Eraser (or some other sort of abrasive material)or they had the bag on a rough surface and the bag was twisted, etc. I mention this for those who use a magic eraser on their vachetta or have scuffs due to concrete, etc. so they could see the possible outcome if they decide to "wash" their bag:








My After shot:



The stain on the bottom is a little improved. Again, the purpose of this was not to even out or remove any stains but to clean the bag due to age and who-knows-what kind of germs. I did nothing to lessen or try to improve the stains.

 

[dagnypup]

This is the only before shot I had of the side of the bag. Notice there are wrinkles on the vachetta and you can see a crease in the leather. I do not believe there were any cracks at all before washing the bag. I point out this specific crease because this is where the leather has a crack in the after shot:







Here is a closeup of that crack. I am bending the leather so it is more obvious. When the leather is not bent, the crack looks like it does in the "after" shot above:


This close-up shot also shows the micro-tears along the edges and along some of the other wrinkles. This crack does not go all the way through the leather and does not compromise the integrity of the strip of leather. It is superficial at this point in time.



Above is a crazy close-up shot of the crack..... just because.

 

[dagnypup]

And here is the after shot of the other side of the bag:



As you can see, there are still wrinkles in the vachetta, but there are no other cracks on this side or elsewhere on the bag (other than the ones I mentioned before).