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#781
Looked through this whole thread and got inspired to get myself a vintage Alma and see if I can rehab her. I got one off of eBay from a Japanese shop that I have purchased from before. Cost is $150. I wanted to make sure I got one that wasn't too water-stained, with great canvas and clean on the inside. The inside of this one is almost spotless, but the listing did mention a storage smell. I've dealt with that before as I mainly buy vintage anyways, so hopefully the smell isn't too bad - usually just using the bag and putting a little muslin bag full of baking soda or coffee beans does the trick for me. I plan on using baby wipes, a polishing cloth and brasso. The metal I think seems the scariest to me as I don't know if it is just tarnished or if it is chipped off. The photos I'm inserting below are not mine, they belong to the eBay seller. I will update once I finish the rehab. Oh, and she is from 1995.

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#782
themeanreds said:
Looked through this whole thread and got inspired to get myself a vintage Alma and see if I can rehab her. I got one off of eBay from a Japanese shop that I have purchased from before. Cost is $150. I wanted to make sure I got one that wasn't too water-stained, with great canvas and clean on the inside. The inside of this one is almost spotless, but the listing did mention a storage smell. I've dealt with that before as I mainly buy vintage anyways, so hopefully the smell isn't too bad - usually just using the bag and putting a little muslin bag full of baking soda or coffee beans does the trick for me. I plan on using baby wipes, a polishing cloth and brasso. The metal I think seems the scariest to me as I don't know if it is just tarnished or if it is chipped off. The photos I'm inserting below are not mine, they belong to the eBay seller. I will update once I finish the rehab. Oh, and she is from 1995.

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Can't wait to see the after photos! I love Brasso for cleaning LV hardware. I've used it to polish tarnish rivets on two vintage Noe's. It did wonders! Good luck!
 
#783
Beautiful pre-loved Louis Vuitton Alma AnnaFreud. That was my 1st LV pre-loved bag and I have since developed an addiction for Louis Vuitton items. I'm so happy I found this forum and joined it. Recently I purchased a Speedy 30 off ebay which has some dry leather area's. After doing research on this forum I have decided to have the piping and tabs replaced. I will post before and after pictures once it's received back.

Also, I purchased a cosmetic case which was sticky on the inside. I used baby powder which was recommended by another LV lover. It seemed to work very well. As for the vintage smells I used the strong scented drawer pouches purchased from Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or HomeGoods.
 
#784
So I dropped off my 1994 Speedy 30 at one of Dallas TX Louis Vuitton locations on yesterday. I decided to get the handles and leather tabs replaced verses the piping or all the leather. I'm still kinda thinking about having the piping done too. See the before picture which is from the ebay seller I purchased the bag from. It looks a lot better in this photo than in person. I was told it could take 4 to 6 weeks but I'm okay with that. Let me know what you all think about having some of the leather replaced verses all of it.

Thanks,

LVSoutherngirl
 

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#785
I finished my little rehab of a 1995 monogram Alma. I'm happy to report the storage smell was nil. I started by carefully applying Brasso on all the metal parts. I was really nervous to do this because the metal is so close to the vachetta leather, but I went forth with Q-tips and the steadiest hand I could muster. There were times I swiped the leather with the Brasso, but the next step took care of that. I used baby wipes to wipe down all the leather and the canvas. This did dull the leather a bit, but it evened out the color more and darkened it. Then I used Apple cleaner on the leather parts and finally Apple conditioner. The conditioner helped to take away some of the dullness, but what really helped was a polishing cloth. That was the last step - I just polished as much as I could with the cloth in order to get some suppleness back to the leather. Overall I'm pleased with it. The watermarks are not completely gone, and I didn't think they would be, but I think the color is more even and the wear and tear on the corners of the base of the bag are much improved. The metal parts are not completely shiny and new looking, but much better than when they started. The canvas does have a wrinkly appearance probably from storage, so I've been stuffing it to give it back some shape, and it seems to be helping. I dressed her up with a little tassel and I'm using the strap from my Spontini bag to carry her on my shoulder. I think she has many years to come of life :)

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#786
Also, the bag did not come with a lock so I found one that matched a key I already had for the lock on one of my speedies. I cleaned it up with brasso too and it shined up really nicely.

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#787
themeanreds said:
I finished my little rehab of a 1995 monogram Alma. I'm happy to report the storage smell was nil. I started by carefully applying Brasso on all the metal parts. I was really nervous to do this because the metal is so close to the vachetta leather, but I went forth with Q-tips and the steadiest hand I could muster. There were times I swiped the leather with the Brasso, but the next step took care of that. I used baby wipes to wipe down all the leather and the canvas. This did dull the leather a bit, but it evened out the color more and darkened it. Then I used Apple cleaner on the leather parts and finally Apple conditioner. The conditioner helped to take away some of the dullness, but what really helped was a polishing cloth. That was the last step - I just polished as much as I could with the cloth in order to get some suppleness back to the leather. Overall I'm pleased with it. The watermarks are not completely gone, and I didn't think they would be, but I think the color is more even and the wear and tear on the corners of the base of the bag are much improved. The metal parts are not completely shiny and new looking, but much better than when they started. The canvas does have a wrinkly appearance probably from storage, so I've been stuffing it to give it back some shape, and it seems to be helping. I dressed her up with a little tassel and I'm using the strap from my Spontini bag to carry her on my shoulder. I think she has many years to come of life :)



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Fantastic! She looks lovely now. U should be proud. I am not so good at rehabbing my vintage LV, sent most of them to professional [emoji20]
 
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#788
can someone please teach me how to rescue this???? i do not think that i have money for a repair!! would leather glue work?
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thanks in advance!
 
#793
I cleaned the zipper on my milla with brasso but I just noticed that there's some white stuff on the cloth part of the zipper. Any idea how I can wash it off? Thank you! ImageUploadedByPurseForum1444168931.494550.jpg
 
#794
With the arrival of the clochette and lock today, I finished the rehab on my '05 mocha epi Alma pm that I got from a Japanese seller on ebay. I used the famous Coach technique of dunking, scrubbing with a nail brush and mild dish detergent (the pockets at the ends of the zippers were disgustingly filthy), and stuffing with towels to dry. I added my own touch of using thin sheets of cardboard to prevent lumps. She came out a lot straighter across the top. I think she's ready to go out in public now.
 

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#795
ChevaliereNoir said:
With the arrival of the clochette and lock today, I finished the rehab on my '05 mocha epi Alma pm that I got from a Japanese seller on ebay. I used the famous Coach technique of dunking, scrubbing with a nail brush and mild dish detergent (the pockets at the ends of the zippers were disgustingly filthy), and stuffing with towels to dry. I added my own touch of using thin sheets of cardboard to prevent lumps. She came out a lot straighter across the top. I think she's ready to go out in public now.
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Congrats! U did so well. May I ask how long u soak (dunk) her? I've never heard of nail brush....do u mind showing pic of the brush?

Do u noticed any color faded? And did u do any color touch up as well? TIA [emoji4]
 
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