Hi everyone. Just wanted to share my restoration process with a very tired-looking Bordeaux. I purchased it online and was actually shocked when it arrived - it wasn't even the original Bordeaux colour anymore, the glaze had worn off the main body :cry:
How she looked when I first got her:
I didn't think I could save the handles. They had darkened and softened. But the professional cleaner did restore the scuffed corners. When the bag returned, she was still lacklustre and too matte for my liking, so I applied two rounds of Leather Honey.
I used wet wipes on the handle, then scrubbed the stickiness off the handles with a toothbrush and mild soap (Ecover). This took out some colour, too. But at least the handles weren't sticky anymore!
I fixed the split tassels with craft glue. Had extra tassels but they weren't exactly the same colour with the bag, so I stuck with the old ones.
Then I used Balenciaga Nourishing Cream - only on the really matte parts. And I buffed the bag while watching TV, haha. Some of the shine returned! I was pretty pleased. She was way more supple and squishy after all the LH and BNC, rather than papery and thin.
How she looked when I first got her:
I didn't think I could save the handles. They had darkened and softened. But the professional cleaner did restore the scuffed corners. When the bag returned, she was still lacklustre and too matte for my liking, so I applied two rounds of Leather Honey.
I used wet wipes on the handle, then scrubbed the stickiness off the handles with a toothbrush and mild soap (Ecover). This took out some colour, too. But at least the handles weren't sticky anymore!
I fixed the split tassels with craft glue. Had extra tassels but they weren't exactly the same colour with the bag, so I stuck with the old ones.
Then I used Balenciaga Nourishing Cream - only on the really matte parts. And I buffed the bag while watching TV, haha. Some of the shine returned! I was pretty pleased. She was way more supple and squishy after all the LH and BNC, rather than papery and thin.
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Yes, I was surprised by the result too! I know I risked over-treating the leather, but the bag looked so bad that I felt like nothing I did could possibly make it worse. I also tried out Apple Conditioner today because I read that it brings back some shine.
