Alright.
I'm known for scoring a great deal.... but I can be a big bonehead sometimes.
I bought a used Halle last week for a steal from Poshmark. It looked great in the pictures she sent and it was just as I thought it would be when I finally held it in my hands on Friday. Supple, GORGEOUS LEATHER. Holy cow.
Anyway, I've been cleaning / conditioning all my leathers lately - Foley & Corinna Mid City, Frye boots, My Kooba Natasha and Lyndi, MBMJ Aggie.... etc.
I was SO EXCITED to clean and condition Halle but I did the others first to make sure the new Leather Honey I bought worked well. The leather Honey cleaner worked really well on my beige/yellow Mid City - took some black marks off it from when I dyed my Natasha (a whole nother crazy story I'll update on the other thread I started months ago).
I looked over Halle and there were maybe a few pen marks on the back but I figured hey, might as well have a go and spruce her up. This is apparently where I made my first mistake....
As SOON as I put a little dauber of cleaner on, she SOAKED IT UP! I know Kooba's leather has a lot of variation but once I finished.... it looked like I took her out in the rain and she drowned.
I choked this up to maybe she just needed to dry and then she'd be okay again. I waited a few hours... nothing.... waited the night.... no change.... Finally I just picked her up.... SHE WAS SO ROUGH AND DRY. 
I flexed the leather a few times and she even made an odd cracking noise!
I threw some leather honey conditioner on her, and she's starting to come around in softness - but color wise, she's probably even worse, there's definite variation from an almost MAHOGANY to the original camel color.
Basically... I need your assistance in figuring out what went awry and ideas on how to fix her. I'm wondering so many different things, was the leather too sensitive? Was she masquerading as a soft bag but in fact was aged and dry? Am I just awful at this and should stop buying expensive beautiful leather bags?!?! :cry:
I can post pictures of her condition in a bit... I never took any pre-wash
I'm hoping she just decides to recover, I can probably handle the distressed look, but I want the soft leather back.
I'm known for scoring a great deal.... but I can be a big bonehead sometimes.
I bought a used Halle last week for a steal from Poshmark. It looked great in the pictures she sent and it was just as I thought it would be when I finally held it in my hands on Friday. Supple, GORGEOUS LEATHER. Holy cow.
Anyway, I've been cleaning / conditioning all my leathers lately - Foley & Corinna Mid City, Frye boots, My Kooba Natasha and Lyndi, MBMJ Aggie.... etc.
I was SO EXCITED to clean and condition Halle but I did the others first to make sure the new Leather Honey I bought worked well. The leather Honey cleaner worked really well on my beige/yellow Mid City - took some black marks off it from when I dyed my Natasha (a whole nother crazy story I'll update on the other thread I started months ago).
I looked over Halle and there were maybe a few pen marks on the back but I figured hey, might as well have a go and spruce her up. This is apparently where I made my first mistake....
As SOON as I put a little dauber of cleaner on, she SOAKED IT UP! I know Kooba's leather has a lot of variation but once I finished.... it looked like I took her out in the rain and she drowned.
I choked this up to maybe she just needed to dry and then she'd be okay again. I waited a few hours... nothing.... waited the night.... no change.... Finally I just picked her up
.... SHE WAS SO ROUGH AND DRY. I flexed the leather a few times and she even made an odd cracking noise!I threw some leather honey conditioner on her, and she's starting to come around in softness - but color wise, she's probably even worse, there's definite variation from an almost MAHOGANY to the original camel color.
Basically... I need your assistance in figuring out what went awry and ideas on how to fix her. I'm wondering so many different things, was the leather too sensitive? Was she masquerading as a soft bag but in fact was aged and dry? Am I just awful at this and should stop buying expensive beautiful leather bags?!?! :cry:
I can post pictures of her condition in a bit... I never took any pre-wash
I'm hoping she just decides to recover, I can probably handle the distressed look, but I want the soft leather back.