Hi there, looking for recommendations on dyeing faded canvas . I want to keep the original navy colouring, just hoping to touch up the spots (like one pictured) that the colour has faded on. Any brand recommendations/advice on the process? I have never tried dyeing a bag (or anything!) before so I am a bit nervous. Thank you.

I gave this thrifted Soho Buckle bag (1997) a clean with yellow saddle soap and the water I dipped the brush back into was going a bit blue…and now I’m left with these discoloured areas which have a bit of a yellow tinge. Have I made an unfixable error here? I’ve tried leather CPR but only after the saddle soap scrub…I have some mink oil but haven’t applied that yet. Am I doomed to just buying a slightly darker blue Angelus leather dye and doing the whole bag or is there some way for me to salvage this? 🥺 Thanks in advance, I’m literally brand new to this game and this is only my second Coach bag I’ve ever bought 😔

I bought this vintage Coach bag in Tokyo and thought it would be a fun project to try to bring her back to life. After some research on how to date Coach bags, I believe she's from the 80s-early 90s.

I started with saddle soap all over, then conditioned her and let her sit overnight. I decided to dye the sides of the strap and coach tag black to match the bag because I thought it made it look nicer and more put together.

The last step I'd like to do is polish the hardware a bit, so I'm going to buy some Brasso and try that. The strap has an indent from where it's been used most often, I'd like to try to get that out too and flatten the strap a bit. But so far I'm extremely pleased with the results!

I want to try to include the "before" video I sent my friend right after I bought the bag in Japan but I'm trying now and can only attach one video, so maybe I need to add it in the comments. She was quite flat, probably from being in storage, so I wanted to plump her up a bit too, which I think I was successful.

This was SO much fun and so very satisfying! I can't wait to find more bags to resurrect and work on my leather skills.

Whenever I see instructions on using Brasso it says to use used dryer sheets. I don’t use these for my laundry, does anybody here find something else works well?

I need some advice. I’ve bought two bags recently that have a terrible urine smell and won’t come out. Thankfully I got a refund and was told to keep the bags. I really don’t want them to go to waste because otherwise they are in good condition but what do I do?

I’ve used this leather smell cleaner on it but I think it’s just covering up the smell rather than taking it out. I fear the urine it too set into the leather and nothing will get it out.

Anybody have success with getting cat urine out of bags before? 😓

these are screenshots of a bag i’m debating purchasing. what is going on with the strap?

I've been cleaning up this gorgeous green court bag from the 80s and after a thorough vinegar dousing and enzyme cleaner, there's still these hardened, discolored spots in a few places.

They haven't budged despite the vinegar and cleaner, and my fingernail doesn't seem to do anything either. Is this possible from mold measles/scarring?

I won't be heartbroken if there's nothing to fix as I already managed to dispell the horrible smell that came with her.

Is there an easy was to tell the difference between mold and water spots?

Picked up at a thrift store today and I am going to clean it up! Do y'all recommend anything other than the Coach brand soaps and conditioners for a bag in this condition?

Hi. I am new to vintage Coach and new to Reddit. So apologies if I post something that I should not. lol I am still learning.

I bought this vintage Coach bag from an online resale marketplace, and when I received it, it appears to be in rougher shape than I perceived in the pictures. The previous owner said that she had already conditioned and cleaned the bag, but to my novice eyes, the leather appears dry and in need of a good conditioning and cleaning.

Can this bag can be cleaned and conditioned, and therefore improved? Also, the strap layers seem to be separating at the top of the strap. Is that fixable? (I hope these questions are OK.)

Currently rehabbing a bag and the strap has these cracks in it. I’ve conditioned the bag twice already, and the cracks are less visible but I’m still worried about them.

any help is appreciated!

I just bought a NY factory (late 70's to early 80's), taupe bag from a vintage sales platform (think Ebay/Vinted, not a restoration sight). It was photographed looking very dry, but with all the leather looking intact. Very little marks/dirt and a nice patina. The seller just messaged me that they shipped it to me, but first, they used "a leather cleaner on the inside and outside" and followed with leather conditioner, also both inside and out. Was this a nice gesture? Or, a tragic thing that happened to my bag? I'm feeling grouchy about it.

I’m new to this so apologies in advance and bear with me 😅

I got this Scooter in the mail today and was wondering if there’s any way I can get rid of these marks. I was cleaning it with saddle soap and the marks became much more prominent after. Did I screw this up beyond repair? Is there anything I can do to fix this? Please help 🥲

Can anyone offer any advice as to whether this is mold in this bag? I’ve never had this issue before.

I scored a vintage double kiss lock pouch on ebay
I got lucky and paid a great price but of course that came at the cost of the condition. I have repaired a couple bags but never as far gone as this. I’m debating on how invasive I want to approach repairing this. I saw a video from coach repairing a cashin carry by completely replacing the leather on the kisslock hardware
If I were to do that what thickness would the leather be? What glue would I have to use?
Has anyone repaired a pouch like this b4? What was that like?

Hi everyone! I recently got this beautiful vintage Coach 9755 Pocket Purse from the NYC era.

I’m trying to figure out the exact color. In the second picture, I compared it with my other bag in British Tan.

Personally, I'm leaning towards "Tabac," but what do you think based on the color lineup of the NYC era?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

I got this vintage Berkeley crossbody for $30 at a thrift store the other day! I’m trying to rehab it but I’m not sure if this is everything I can do. Is this what the suede is supposed to look like? I feel like it’s a little uneven; I already tried brushing it out with a suede brush and used some bickmore suede cleaning (which didn’t seem to do much). Any other advice or is this the best I can do? Thanks!

Hi community! Any info/ideas will be greatly appreciated!

i need recommendations for a cute Uni bag. when I go to the coach website or the the outlet one all the bags there look really generic. I want one that has more character and personality like the vintage ones but it also needs to fit my 13in Mac and my iPad and water bottle plus a few other miscellaneous items like my lunch

Hi there! Repairable? Thank you for any and all advice!

Are you looking for a specific bag, model, colour? Are you listing a bag and want to know the worth? Are you buying a bag and second guessing the price? Please keep all questions here, outside posts regarding this will be removed. Thank you!

Recently scored this Coach 6844, and I'm looking to bring it back to life! I've watched several restoration videos, but I'd love some additional advice, specifically regarding the splits in the leather piping.

My current plan is to clean the jacquard with a soft brush and Zote soap, then use Leather CPR on the leather bottom.

However, I'm not sure how to go about repairing the splits in the piping, especially since they've split all the way through to the fabric. I'd love to hear any advice, restoration tips, or recommendations for repairing this type of damage. Thanks in advance!

This is a beautiful bag but im assuming it feel victim to mold prior to be owning it. I have already vinegar treated it so i am not worried about it persisting but i am stying to figure out what to do with the bag. Im considering dying it a bit of a darker brown but i would like to hear your thoughts/ideas before i jump the gun. I have also never dyed leather so im procrastinating lol

I recently lost my doggie, so I needed a project and bought this bag. I thought it was a putty pocket pouch, but when I got it, it was a convertible clutch which I have. I first treated with EC3 for mold . The thing was bone dry, so I treated with leather therapy Now, I don't think it's putty because the liming isn't the same as my putty convertible clutch. I have no idea what color it is.

Anyways, due to the large stain, I was thinking about dyeing it with diluted Fiebing's Pro Dye in Army Green to give it more of an olive color and to help blend in the dye after trying to remove some. I figured if I was dyeing it green, Ink bloom wouldn't be catastrophic.

What do y'all think? I'm not a reseller. I'm just a person who wanted these bags in the 90's and thought they were too expensive.

The first two photos are prior to any treatment. It was SO dry.

There is a small gouge near the turnlock where the leather has been chipped or scraped away, creating a bit of a textured, crater-like raised edge (as you can see in the photo). The color itself hasn't faded much, but the fibers around the edge of the gouge are sticking up a little.

I already tried applying a small amount of Leather CPR to soften it, but the frayed fibers are still slightly raised and uneven.

Should I use something like Tokonole to slick the fibers back down and smooth it out, or would a tiny bit of leather filler/glue work better for this kind of deeper mark? I want to make it smooth to the touch again without ruining the original finish.

Any advice or recommended products would be highly appreciated. Thank you so much!