Two 70s/80s made-in-NYC bags, going through baths, documentins pics, as was requested

#96
Thanks everyone. :flowers: :flowers:

Yeah, I remember doing this photo-shoot way back when so many people were scared to dunk these oldies-but-goodies in the mystical soapy water. I remember when bunnymasseuse first showed her "it-can-be-done!" pics, I remember my fear the first time I tried it myself, and heck, I even remember when we first had to reassure katev that, yes, it could be done. ;)

Hopefully the fear has abated for most. :smile: :yes:

(And yep, I'm still rehabbing. Just got a 1995 brown station bag the other day (and had it authenticated by Hyacinth), but it might be one I don't actually have to dunk. It's in literally new condition ... not even a hair or tissue-lint inside. I lucked out, this thing is utterly pristine. Just a coat of apple today, and it should be good to go. :biggrin: )
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#97
momtok said:
Ok, so now it's Tuesday. We continue.


I use my bare fingers to rub the Apple into the leather, and I've never felt like my hands were being harmed, hence making me think "nice and mild".

So anyway, that's why I've always kept with the Apple conditioner. Note, also, that Apple does have the biggest qualification for leather, and that is that it is silicon-free. Conditioner with silicon, from what I've read, is bad for the leather. So in sticking with Apple, I'm at least covering the "biggest base" for being healthy for the leather.

Rubbing the conditioner in is really just like rubbing handcream into your own skin. (Or at least it is for me.) And I do use my bare fingers. I know some places have said you can use a cloth. Well to be honest, my hands have never felt any adverse effects from the Apple, so I just use my bare fingers. (If anything, my hands come out 'softer' too.)

And the other reason I use my bare fingers is that it's easier to really massage the conditioner into the leather.

Look at it this way ... leather is fibrous inside. That means that the main mode of transport for the conditioner to move deeper through the fibrous material, is capillary action accelerated by movement/compression. As the fibers move against each other, and are compressed then decompressed, the conditioner moves along, pulled also by the capillary action. Well the movement/compression/decompression, is you doing the rubbing. And that rubbing can be more "textured" ... deeper and more varied ... if I just use my bare fingers.
Click to expand...

How funny...I "apple" the same way you do. I didn't realize the benefits of movement/compression/decompression, which totally makes sense. Mainly the reason I use my hand is that the conditioner on the the cloth goes to waste, so using your hand makes your bottle of Apple last longer. Plus you can feel how much of the conditioner needs to soak into the leather. And it softens your hand!

You should write a book about this process! Love your details and pics. It's quite inspiring!
 
#98
question about dye: hi, i was giving a bath to a couple of distressed bags i picked up. one was a tan, and the water was a bit yellow after soaking/rinsing. the other was a dark brown, mahogany. that water i had to do at least 10-15 rinses, and the water is still pinkish.
so my question: is there a chance these bags had color (dye) added to them; or is this just a natural process that whenever one washes these bags some of them bleed color. is there a way to tell whether color was added? both bags are vintage, unlined "New York City" creed.
 
#99
buckeyebaker said:
question about dye: hi, i was giving a bath to a couple of distressed bags i picked up. one was a tan, and the water was a bit yellow after soaking/rinsing. the other was a dark brown, mahogany. that water i had to do at least 10-15 rinses, and the water is still pinkish.
so my question: is there a chance these bags had color (dye) added to them; or is this just a natural process that whenever one washes these bags some of them bleed color. is there a way to tell whether color was added? both bags are vintage, unlined "New York City" creed.
Click to expand...

I don't think I've ever washed a bag where I didn't have some color coming into the water. "A bit yellow" from a tan bag, or "slight pink" from dark brown actually sounds quite normal, and at least to me, does not sound like shoe polish. If you ever wash a black bag -- even one *without* shoe polish -- you'll still be surprised at how much black ends up in the water. (The first time you see it, it's one of those little panic moments. After you've washed more, though, you realize how expected it is.) :smile:

I should also add that despite the coloring that comes off into the water, I still have not yet experienced color coming from the inside of the bag onto my wallets/wristlets/belongings/etc. That's another worry that people sometimes have, when they see the water turning other shades. That is, "will this color off onto whatever I store in the bag?" ..... Now, I *have* experienced a hint of color on the paper towels shoved inside to absorb the water *just after* the bath. But during normal use, I've never had the dye rub off onto my belongings carried inside. (Of course, I don't carry the really "dangerous" things like white patent wallets. ;) Pale color patents are notorious for picking up color transfer from other things. So I don't invite danger. But on, say, my white/pale-purple chain-link op-art sateen wristlet, wallet, and mini-skinny ... they've been inside these vintage bags numerous times, and never picked up any color. So at the least the color that leaks, only seems to really leak into the wash-water.

Hope that made sense.
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#100
momtok said:
I don't think I've ever washed a bag where I didn't have some color coming into the water. "A bit yellow" from a tan bag, or "slight pink" from dark brown actually sounds quite normal, and at least to me, does not sound like shoe polish. If you ever wash a black bag -- even one *without* shoe polish -- you'll still be surprised at how much black ends up in the water. (The first time you see it, it's one of those little panic moments. After you've washed more, though, you realize how expected it is.) :smile:

I should also add that despite the coloring that comes off into the water, I still have not yet experienced color coming from the inside of the bag onto my wallets/wristlets/belongings/etc. That's another worry that people sometimes have, when they see the water turning other shades. That is, "will this color off onto whatever I store in the bag?" ..... Now, I *have* experienced a hint of color on the paper towels shoved inside to absorb the water *just after* the bath. But during normal use, I've never had the dye rub off onto my belongings carried inside. (Of course, I don't carry the really "dangerous" things like white patent wallets. ;) Pale color patents are notorious for picking up color transfer from other things. So I don't invite danger. But on, say, my white/pale-purple chain-link op-art sateen wristlet, wallet, and mini-skinny ... they've been inside these vintage bags numerous times, and never picked up any color. So at the least the color that leaks, only seems to really leak into the wash-water.

Hope that made sense.
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Click to expand...
thanks so much; that is helpful. i was very worried washing the dark bag, since i kept on rinsing, and the water remained 'colored'. once it's dried, i will try to condition it. funny, since i did use both bags before washing, but no color wore off on anything, which made me wonder whether this was a 'dye' or just natural color of leather leatching into the water. the reason i washed them in first place, was when i applied conditioner to the bags, some color rubbed off onto the conditioner rag, which made me suspicious.
 
#101
momtok said:
Ok, so now it's Tuesday. We continue.

Bath was Saturday. Took the last paper towels out Sunday morning, and just let the bag sit, as last stated, since then.

Tuesday afternoon and it was completely dry. Stiff, but dry. (But as I said, it was stiff even before the bath. The bath may have contributed to the stiffness a little, but this leather was dry already when I first bought it.)

I actually did two conditionings today, because it just drank the conditioner in. I did the first conditioning early this afternoon, and the second conditioning just before dinner. I still think I have two conditionings yet to go ... that's my guess.

Ok, pics time ...

First pic ... As the bag looked when I first picked it up today. You can kind of see the stiffness in the "stiff waves" of the leather.

Second pic ... Inside the inner pocket, after bath and drying. That's where the melted candies had been. There's still a mark, but nothing like it started. And it does not feel sticky or anything to the touch. It's more of a color blemish than anything else.

Third pic ... Inside of the main compartment. The one blemish that had been in there is much less visible. You pretty much had to know it was there to begin with, to pick it out now.

Fourth pic ... Starting on the first side with Apple conditioner.

Ok, I know bunny and hyacinth, off the top of my head, use Lexol. I've always stuck with Apple primarily because it seems nice and mild to me, and we're careful about what chemicals we use in our house. We have eight parrots, which I also handle daily. Birds are more sensitive, so we really do watch what chemicals we use. The Apple seems nice and "mild", rubs into the leather well, and I can wash it off of my hands easily with Ivory soap. I use my bare fingers to rub the Apple into the leather, and I've never felt like my hands were being harmed, hence making me think "nice and mild".

So anyway, that's why I've always kept with the Apple conditioner. Note, also, that Apple does have the biggest qualification for leather, and that is that it is silicon-free. Conditioner with silicon, from what I've read, is bad for the leather. So in sticking with Apple, I'm at least covering the "biggest base" for being healthy for the leather.

Ok, sorry for the ramble. Moving on ...

Fifth pic .... partially rubbed in.

Rubbing the conditioner in is really just like rubbing handcream into your own skin. (Or at least it is for me.) And I do use my bare fingers. I know some places have said you can use a cloth. Well to be honest, my hands have never felt any adverse effects from the Apple, so I just use my bare fingers. (If anything, my hands come out 'softer' too.)

And the other reason I use my bare fingers is that it's easier to really massage the conditioner into the leather.

Look at it this way ... leather is fibrous inside. That means that the main mode of transport for the conditioner to move deeper through the fibrous material, is capillary action accelerated by movement/compression. As the fibers move against each other, and are compressed then decompressed, the conditioner moves along, pulled also by the capillary action. Well the movement/compression/decompression, is you doing the rubbing. And that rubbing can be more "textured" ... deeper and more varied ... if I just use my bare fingers.

So yeah, it's bare fingers and Apple for the rest of these pics tonight.

Again, sorry for the ramble, but I'm trying to be thorough.
Click to expand...



Awesome thread! thank you for this! I am about to start a rehab myself. I am using this thread for reference.

Did you also condition the inside of the bag with leather conditioner or only the outside please?
 
#102
pandorabox said:
Awesome thread! thank you for this! I am about to start a rehab myself. I am using this thread for reference.

Did you also condition the inside of the bag with leather conditioner or only the outside please?
Click to expand...

(Sorry, momtok, to hijack your answer to that question). You only need to condition the outside of the bag. The inside is raw unfinished leather and it gets moisturized from the outside in when you massage the conditioners in. Momtok's rehab thread is the reason I've now rehabbed countless bags!! She's the one that got this passion started for me too!!
 
#103
This is a wonderful reference thread and it will continue to inspire newbie rehabbers to rise to the challenge and attempt their own rehab projects! Momtok, thanks so much for documenting and photographing your process!
 
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#104
Jessi319 said:
(Sorry, momtok, to hijack your answer to that question). You only need to condition the outside of the bag. The inside is raw unfinished leather and it gets moisturized from the outside in when you massage the conditioners in. Momtok's rehab thread is the reason I've now rehabbed countless bags!! She's the one that got this passion started for me too!!
Click to expand...

THANK YOU! I appreciate that answer. I now have a passion for this too! I am literally giddy!

Here is my link to what I am doing.

http://forum.purseblog.com/handbags...ab-ever-vintage-coach-station-bag-741654.html
 
#105
pandorabox said:
Did you also condition the inside of the bag with leather conditioner or only the outside please?
Click to expand...

You should condition any "smooth" sides of the leather, whether that's inside or outside of the bag. For example, the "smooth" section where the creed is stamped into. That's basically the smooth side of a sheet of leather, right? And so it should be conditioned, even though it's technically inside of the main bag. It's not a matter of 'inside' or 'outside'. Any smooth surfaces of leather should be moisturized, even on, or in, internal pockets/sub-divisions.


Jessi319 said:
(Sorry, momtok, to hijack your answer to that question). You only need to condition the outside of the bag. The inside is raw unfinished leather and it gets moisturized from the outside in when you massage the conditioners in.
Click to expand...

Well ... no ... not technically. At least not technically, in the way that's actually worded. You have to remember that there are also smooth surfaces of leather that are still *inside* the main bag. Like where the creed is stamped. Or the walls of some internal sub-divisions. So in that sense, you actually do moisturize "inside" the bag. You still moisturize any smooth sides of leather, even if they happen to be inside the bag.

Yeah I know, it's a wording issue. Instead of talking about "inside" or "outside" of the bag, what we should be saying is: "moisturize any smooth surfaces, do not moisturize suede/unfinished surfaces, regardless of 'inside' or 'outside' the main bag." But I'm only pointing it out because you don't want to forget the internal sheets of leather/sub-dividers by mistake. :smile:

And now my head hurts from the semantics. ;)
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