My LV washing experiment

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M

muddledmint

O.G.
Aug 4, 2007
916
4,355
#1
37EB0F94-C929-4C7E-9639-31DE1540E39D.jpeg A1A81575-CDF9-4A59-929F-F235963593E9.jpeg 9738D405-1703-4DC5-A36B-97F2CB3C67C9.jpeg Background: I’ve always loved the look of vintage beat up LVs with dark patina, but I’m too much of a clean freak to use preloved bags. However, recent posts about washing LVs made me start to think. I did some board searches and it seems like others have tried washing LVs with mixed results. I decided to try it myself. I ordered a 1999 noe gm because I think noes look especially good when they are old and broken in, plus there are no new ones available right now. This is how it looked before washing.
 
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#2
I debated using the washing machine, but decided I could get it more clean by scrubbing it myself. I used unscented dye free dish liquid, a toothbrush, a sponge, and an ikea dish brush. After wetting the bag, I scrubbed it inside and out. A lot of brown water came out while rinsing. I sincerely hope that it was just dye from the brown cloth lining! DD81B09F-1CEA-4CB7-B15E-6AEBFE592D14.jpeg8B5DF94E-86CD-4AB9-946B-15DCD54C4657.jpeg
 
#3
The bag had a faint perfumey smell before washing that bothered me, but when the bag was wet, it started smelling a bit like cigarette smoke. Not good! I decided to soak the bag in Clorox 2 because why not. I knew there was a good chance I would destroy the bag while washing it, so I figured I would go all the way. E479AB70-3E35-4657-8088-AE4427FCEBCA.jpeg A1D4F3DD-A3DD-4C45-814C-6C180ED6D65E.jpeg
 
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#6
I soaked it for 10 min and a LOT of brown water came out. I decided to scrub it again with dish soap. More gross brown water, smell still there. Now there is a bubble of water between the canvas and the leather at the bottom of the bag. I threw it back into the tub with more Clorox 2 for another soak. Then i scrubbed it again. Yes, I like things clean!
 
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#9
I was getting tired so I stopped with the dish soap, rinsed the bag like crazy, and turned to the leather. Lexol cleaner is something I’ve always wanted to try on vachetta, so I slathered that stuff on with a sponge and used the toothbrush to work it into all the nooks and crannies. The instructions say to wipe it off with a damp cloth but my bag was all wet anyway, so I just rinsed it off. The bag was completely soaked so it took a while for the excess water to drip out. I then blotted it dry with towels and used a hairdryer to speed things up.
 
#14
5FAFE2C4-542A-4E3C-96C8-21D7637D415A.jpeg F5B6980C-C3B7-4E83-8828-69ACF76BE6E6.jpeg 0BEDB707-5ADA-4FB6-BF7D-E39373DB759C.jpeg 6B13154E-35F1-49DD-963A-79011A02D19C.jpeg Ok so it’s still drying now and I will update in a few days when it is completely dry. I might use the Lexol again on the vachetta because I’m a little disturbed by the brown residue on the sock. I plan to use Cadillac to help prevent the leather from drying out too much. Here’s how it looks now. I rigged a damprid pack to go inside because I want it to dry faster (concerned about mold). I’m ok with the super dark vachetta but suspect it will lighten as it dries. My main goal with washing was to make the bag clean enough to use without a squick factor, I didn’t really care about removing vachetta stains. We’ll see how it turns out!
 
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