Meltonian Leather Cream

[tutushopper]

The tpfer on the Hermes forum who gives leather advice is docride. There is a lengthy thread in the Reference Section of how to care for Hermes pieces.

I have only used Meltonian to touch up small rubs on the corners. If the purse has faded then it is time for a professional spa. Believe me it is money well spent. I don't know what long term effect of putting shoe polish on the entire purse but I will hazard a guess that it could very well dry it out over the long haul. There are different tanning processes for leathers. I wouldn't want to cause the leather to lose its moisture which may then lead to cracking.

I have sent a vintage purse to Chanel for spa because they know the leather, their product best. Sometimes penny wise, pound foolish. I will DIY condition periodically and be sure I store purses propely but I would never apply shoe polish on the entire purse.

I've read many many of the maintenance threads on tpf for various types of bags, and I've read most of docride's posts as well. The Meltonian cream polish and conditioner isn't the same as regular "shoe polish" that you'd buy at your local drug store. It's specifically formulated for retouching and conditioning of leather. The problem with many professional redye jobs is that they come back stiff and hard and totally change the texture of a Chanel lambskin bag. Hermes bags use much different leather than Chanel. I have also seen posts from people who worked with professionals who dye Chanels and they said they use sprays to color the bags.

I always advocate that a person contemplating using a product read up on it, then test it on a small inconspicuous spot, same as anyone would recommend. Using products that are formulated for the type of leather you are working with is always advised. That said, after doing much research on all of the threads for many types of bags, I have assembled a collection of products, of which Meltonian is one. I have used the white cream on a vintage Chanel mini and the results are better than that done by the Chanel spa person. So I think it really is up to each person to do their reading, find out as much as they can, and decide from there.

 

[tutushopper]

Has anybody used meltonian leather spray instead of leather cream??? Not just the corner.. perhaps the whole bag???
If anyone has done other DIY with meltonian please post your before and after pics + other products you are using...
I would love to know!!

I've not used the spray, but I've seen it used for corners. I've used the Meltonian white for a vintage mini, but I don't have good "before" photos, only photos taken in horrible light which make it look darker than it was.

 

[jmen]

I've read many many of the maintenance threads on tpf for various types of bags, and I've read most of docride's posts as well. The Meltonian cream polish and conditioner isn't the same as regular "shoe polish" that you'd buy at your local drug store. It's specifically formulated for retouching and conditioning of leather. The problem with many professional redye jobs is that they come back stiff and hard and totally change the texture of a Chanel lambskin bag. Hermes bags use much different leather than Chanel. I have also seen posts from people who worked with professionals who dye Chanels and they said they use sprays to color the bags.

I always advocate that a person contemplating using a product read up on it, then test it on a small inconspicuous spot, same as anyone would recommend. Using products that are formulated for the type of leather you are working with is always advised. That said, after doing much research on all of the threads for many types of bags, I have assembled a collection of products, of which Meltonian is one. I have used the white cream on a vintage Chanel mini and the results are better than that done by the Chanel spa person. So I think it really is up to each person to do their reading, find out as much as they can, and decide from there.

Thanks for clarifying not the Meltonian shoe polish. As for Chanel redying a purse, the hand is not as quite as smooth as before but would that deter me from a spa treatment? No because I know the purse is going to look brand spanking new again. That said if you are dealing with Hermes, they can reject a purse for spa if they detect a purse has been treated. Now would I not treat box leather with a waterproofing product as Doc ride recommends, or do I leave it naked and hope to the heavens it never gets a drop of rain or liquid on the leather? (It will blister if untreated.) I'm gonna play it safe and treat it.

 

[blairxoxo]

Has anyone use this on Chanel caviar?

 

[maymui]

Has anyone use this on Chanel caviar?

I would like to know as well..
Can the neutral Meltonian cream be used on Caviar Chanel?

 

[rena29]

ive tried using that on my first gst i had and it doesnt really affect the leather you just kind of need to add light layers and kind of work your way in the leather and buff it in there. let it dry for a sec and then you want to agressively buff harder into the pebbles so that way the leather soaks up the shoe polish to prevent from staining and stuff.. then i would seal it up with apple care leather conditioner to prevent weathering and water spots

 

[tutushopper]

Has anyone use this on Chanel caviar?

I've not tried it on my caviar bags as they don't need any conditioning, but I have used it on "pebbled calf leather" by other manufacturers (the Meltonian Boot and Shoe Cream Polish delicate cream and neutral in the little jars) and it worked fabulously. When I first got it, I did one Chanel bag, then my coin purse, my wallet, then anything I could get my hands on, as I found it oddly relaxing (yes, I'm an odd one). I've also used the Cadillac cream (Boot and Shoe Care)--which is essentially the same as the Meltonian in a bottle--as well as the Meltonian in white which does have color in it to touch up a white vintage bag. As with any product, be sure to test it first on an inconspicuous spot and let it dry and buff to see what your results will be. I still really enjoy using these products and I'm not sure why I find it therapeutic, but I guess that's just me. I've used them on white, black, beige Chanel lambskin and several colors of items from other designers. I'm sold on these products, although I have also purchased several other leather care products recommended in the various maintenance threads (Fiebing's Reptile Cleaner, Blackrock Leather N Rich, Ubenauf's Heavy Duty LP, etc.). Leather care is fun!

 

[sguevara]

Wow, this is such an educational thread. Thank you ladies.

 

[ifashion88]

I did my bag yesterday night... first I cleaned the bag with Cadillac lotion first after that I applied the Woly black leather cream to the whole outer part of the bag except the straps...It was quite impressive to see the color restored and the scratch at the back pocket improved a lot and no longer obvious.. . after leaving it overnight.. I applied Kiwi Express Shine just now for a nice subtle shine.... the texture of the leather was pretty much the same (which was awesome!)

Wow thats great! Thanks for sharing.It would be good if you could do a youtube vid on this.

 

[Tidsad]

I have wanted to restore a Mulberry and have found a collonil dark brown leather cream online but I think it might be for shoe leather. I was thinking about using that but after reading the comments about not using shoe colour n handbags I am not so sure. What do others think?

 

[bagloverchanel]

Gorgeous job! These products really are sensational! They do the job, but don't make the bag all hard like the professional redye jobs do!

Sorry bit late to the party but i was wondering did your bag wear well over the years. I've heard meltonian can crack the leather.

 

[saphry84]

Hi all,

I would just like to add my experience of restoring the colour of my pre loved Chanel Lambskin classic flap bag. I’m really happy with the result though the brand of leather cream I used is Woly instead of Meltonian.

When I bought the bag the leather colour had toned down to a brownish black. I cleaned it first with Thehangbagspa Sensitive Cleanse using a micro fibre cloth. Then using a clean soft cloth wrapped around my finger I applied a smidgen of the leather cream (probably 1/3 of a baby pea amount) on a small area of the leather, working in quick but gentle circular motions until the product is evenly spread and absorbed.

Once I’ve finished the entire exterior of the bag, I let it dry hanging until it no longer feels ‘wet’, about half an hour in my case. Then using a clean micro fibre cloth I buffed it in quick circular motions until it shines to the level of my satisfaction. When I’m done buffing I left it to air overnight before storing it back.

Observations:
1) Right after application the leather will turn matte and feels chalky to touch. When it dried, the sheen and smoothness returned a little.
2) After buffing, the leather shines beautifully and feels smooth to touch again.
3) After leaving it to air overnight, the leather feels even smoother with the same beautiful sheen with a slightly less buttery/satiny smooth feel to the fingertips compared to the inner side of the flap that I didn’t apply the leather cream. However, the difference is subtle.
4) Leather softness was unaffected throughout.
5) Wearing the bag right after polishing did not cause any colour transfer to my clothing but it was only for a while. I will wear it out one day to test it thoroughly.
6) There was no nasty or strong chemical smell during and after application.

Hope my experience helps. I’ll update the thread on how it fared down the road. Below are the before and after pics and the leather cream I used. It’s hard to see the difference in photos but it has definitely turn back to an acceptable black compared to the bronzy black it arrived in. Definitely feels like a refreshed bag.

I think if I follow with the application of Kiwi express shine in Black as how one member did here it will be even blacker/shinier but I’m satisfied with how it turned out so I only used the leather cream

 

[Jaded81]

Am a little confused, you said you have only used Meltonian but then you said you used the cadillac cream? Or did you mean you have only used Meltonian on your lambskin bags?

What do you use now for lambskin?

I have only used the meltonian; I have not pretreated any of my bags, and I've not yet used the cadillac lotion. I've only used the meltonian on my lambskin bags. It didn't darken the beige (I used the delicate on that one). It looked slightly darker but when it dried it was the same as it was before.

I've not tried it on my caviar bags as they don't need any conditioning, but I have used it on "pebbled calf leather" by other manufacturers (the Meltonian Boot and Shoe Cream Polish delicate cream and neutral in the little jars) and it worked fabulously. When I first got it, I did one Chanel bag, then my coin purse, my wallet, then anything I could get my hands on, as I found it oddly relaxing (yes, I'm an odd one). I've also used the Cadillac cream (Boot and Shoe Care)--which is essentially the same as the Meltonian in a bottle--as well as the Meltonian in white which does have color in it to touch up a white vintage bag. As with any product, be sure to test it first on an inconspicuous spot and let it dry and buff to see what your results will be. I still really enjoy using these products and I'm not sure why I find it therapeutic, but I guess that's just me. I've used them on white, black, beige Chanel lambskin and several colors of items from other designers. I'm sold on these products, although I have also purchased several other leather care products recommended in the various maintenance threads (Fiebing's Reptile Cleaner, Blackrock Leather N Rich, Ubenauf's Heavy Duty LP, etc.). Leather care is fun!

 

[Jaded81]

deleted

 

[Jaded81]

Meltonian has been discontinued. What do you ladies use now?

I have a chanel lambskin that has dried/ faded/ and the corners and edges are showing green.

I had been using colonil gel prior to this and it kept removing dye from the bag!

I've used the dark navy meltonian leather cream on my navy lambskin camera bag that has scuffs on the corner and it worked great. It was a perfect color match and I was able to improve the look of the bag, especially the corners where a bit of the color had worn off. The texture of my bag had not changed.

I find meltonian conditioner (the one in a white bottle) and the cadillac lotion both serve similar purpose in pre-treatment of my bags. I can't say one is better than the other as I've used both to treat my Chanels. HTH!

Hi all! So I have tried the meltonian leather cream in no 2 Noir (black) on my vintage lambskin jumbo (smaller CC clasp) and thought a few of you might be interested in the results!

Uploaded a before and after photo - hopefully you can tell which is which! As another user said, I just took a bit of the cream on a clean soft cloth, lightly buffed the product in and after a few minutes it was dry so I lightly buffed again but with a clean part of the cloth and it gives a lovely shine. My experience was so much better with the black than the delicate cream (which did nothing for me - if not just remove some of the original bag colour and fade it out!). Let me know what you think - photos were taken in as harsh lighting as I could find at the time - which says a lot for how good this product is! Keep in mind, the bag originally looked great in dark indoor lighting, but outdoors/in a bright sunny room it definitely did not look as rich in colour as it should have. Wrinkles etc that come with age are still present on the bag, but I much prefer how they look now.

Please note this is just my experience - each bag is different. Also no colour transfer Needless to say I'm very pleased! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Here's the melatonin does the magic to my vintage. I'm very very pleased with the results that came out. I used Red 107 on my bag. First I cleaned with Cadillac leather cleaner (dirt and red color stain on clean cloth that I used) then let it dry. Next, I used the clean cloth to apply Meltonian and buffed it till the leather getting shine from the buffed. Then I used CleAr Shine sponge from Kiwi to finish. The bag feels so silky, rich and shine.


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My before and after photo.


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Top : 2013 cruise chain on clutch comparing with bottom: 1989 shoulder vintage.