PRADA Python Leather Handbag Started to Turn Color and dries up that turn the scales up.

I live in Germany and I have a beautiful Python snakeskin handbag in untreated, natural grey python leather.

Unfortunately, the bag started to turn into a yellow/lvery very light green colour at the handles and got a pretty dark patina (from hand oil etc).

The rest of the leather seems to be very dry as the scales turn up. I have to admit that i wore thebag quite often.


Is it possible to order some products for cleaning and conditioning from you?

Do you have any other advice?


Here are some pictures of the bag with description:

Front_bag: You can see the light green colour on the corners and in the upper part of the bag.

Handle: the handles turned in to a brown/greenish (somewhat dirty) colour

Scales: the scales are turning up

back of the bag: the bag has a light greenish tone in the middle part

sideview and inner pocket picture: you can see the original (light grey) colour here.

I just wish that my bag will someday look as beautiful as in the beginning! Do you have any hopes for the bag? The most disturbing thing is the greenish colour for me.


#1. Back View
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...koh/back-1.jpg

#2. Front View
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n.../Front_bag.jpg

#3. Handle
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...koh/Handle.jpg

#4. ?
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/IMG_0665.jpg

#5. Inner Pocket
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...nnerpocket.jpg

#6. Scales Turning Up
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...sturningup.jpg

#7.Side View
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/sideview.jpg

Problems:

1] Color change from Grey into yellow/green.

2] Pretty Dark Patina (from hand oil etc).

3] Leather seems to be very dry as the scales turn up.


Possible Causes to the Problems:

1] Color changes may be due to pH phenomenon; as the leather tends to behave as a pH paper; the perspiration shift to alkalinity due to the present of urea is most likely reason for this color change to happen.

2] Dark Patina from hand oil may also include the present of perspiration that turns alkaline; the darkening is mainly due to the unsaturated fatty acids that go browner in sunlight; compounded with hydrolysation and oxidization.

3] Scales turn-up is sure sign of leather dryness; due the diminishing of the original fatliquor (fat, oil and water).


Possible Products required to solve the Problems:

Prep-4.4 is the general preparatory cleaner to remove foreign contamination, follows by Cleaner-3.8 with Rinse-3.0.

Penetrated oils may require further treatment with Degreaser-2.2 follows by Rinse-30.

The remaining yellowing effect may be reduced by d’Yellow-6.7 treatment.

These above process should improve the appearance of the patina and the yellowing effect problem in 1] and 2].

Problem 3 can be solved by Hydrator-3.3 follows with Fatliquor-5.0.


Here are the product descriptions:

Leather Doctor® Degreaser-2.2:
It's for all Pigmented, Aniline, Vachetta, Nubuck and Suede leather types.
This is a pH 2.2 high viscosity aqueous formulated leather degreaser.
It’s primarily for degreasing leather of penetrated oil and grease stains from skin and hair contact.

Leather Doctor® Prep-4.4:
It's for Aniline, Vachetta, Nubuck, Suede and all Absorbent leather types.
This is the leather-safe milder version of Prep-7.7 with a pH value of 4.4.
For its high viscosity; it is designed to be painted on neatly; with a foam brush onto the leather.
It works by allowing sufficient dwell-time; to penetrate, lubricate and suspense foreign soil contamination; prior to extraction with towel.
It’s is used to strip foreign soil contamination prior to refinishing

Leather Doctor® Cleaner-3.8:
It's for all Pigmented, Aniline, Nubuck and Suede leather types.
This is a pH 3.8 all purpose leather-safe anionic cleaner that is particularly effective in emulsifying oily soils and in suspending particulates.
It cleans by penetrating, lubricating and suspending soiling safely and effectively through gentle chemical reaction.
With its leather-safe pH value, it works in perfect harmony with all leather constituents that include the tanning agent, preservative, dyestuff and especially the fatliquor.

Leather Doctor® Rinse-3.0:
It's for all Pigmented, Aniline, Nubuck and Suede leather types.
This is a pH 3.0 aqueous leather-safe rinse to neutralize harmful alkaline and perspiration residues.
It’s for stabilizing and strengthening leather constituent pH chemistry integrity.
And cationizing (+ve) protein fiber below its isoelectric point to increase hydrogen bonding prior to anionic (-ve) Fatliquor-5.0.

Leather Doctor® d’Yellow-6.7:
It's for Pigmented, Aniline, Nubuck, Suede, Hair-on and Woolskin leather types.
This is a pH 6.7 when dilute with 20 parts by weight with distilled water becomes an aqueous fluorescent whitening agent.
It’s to remove yellow stains associated with prolonged hydrolyzed and oxidized oil or grease stains.

Leather Doctor® Hydrator-3.3:
It’s for Pigmented, Aniline, Nubuck, Suede, Hair-on and Woolskin leather types.
This is a pH 3.3 aqueous leather-safe hydrator.
It’s for hydrating dried, stiffed or shrunk leathers (to separates the crushed, stick together fibrils and relax them) prior to strengthening and softening with Fatliquor-5.0.
And it’s also used for facilitating colloidal water movement within the leather structure capillary motion during the wicking process.
That will cause suspended soil particulates to be moved to the leather surface to be extracted with rag while damp and erase with Leather Eraser-4 when dry.

Leather Doctor®Fatliquor-5.0:
It’s for Pigmented, Aniline, Vachetta, Nubuck, Suede, Hair-on and Woolskin leather types.
This is a pH 5.0 anionic charged micro emulsion fatliquor leather rejuvenator.
It’s for replenishing original fatliquor that diminishes thru sun-bleaching, ageing, heat and alkaline exposure or cleaning.
It penetrates and lubricates the leather fibers so that after drying they will be capable of sliding over one another smoothly.
Besides softening the leather with stretchability, compressibility and flexibility, fatliquor enhances its rip tensile strength greatly.
Thus relaxes coarse breaks, creases and wrinkles to provide drapes, suppleness and prevents cracking.
It helps to keep leather at its optimum physical performance and prevent premature ageing.

We shall go into details on the How-To when you have the necessary products at hand.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

Hi,

I just received the kit. How do I start cleaning?

Can the tag be remove from the bag?

Otherwise put the whole bag into a plastic bag with only the tag hanging outside and we are going to do a testing if the system is safe for the tag.

When ready either way, find a small ziplock bag able to contain the tag just nice; thereafter spray Hydrator-3.3 into the ziplock bag and let the tag soak up the hydrator and leave it overnight.

Note:
Allow the leather to soak up the hydrator sufficiently - that is damp enough to squeeze the leather between thumb and finger to let a little bit of moisture ooze out (Keeping in mind that this will be the same techniques applied to the whole bag later - not to over wet cause there are lining of unknown material).

The whole idea to to relax the dried leathers by hydrating first follows with the next step of fatliquoring (repeating the technique as the hydrator) to soften and strengthen the leather when dry.

So one step at a time.

Question if you are not sure.


Please take before and after pictures (only the "Tag") to compare the difference

Roger

Yes, the tag can be removed from the whole bag.

Do I need to hydrate the bag BEFORE I start cleaning? I am somehow afraid that if I hydrate it before cleaning the yellow undertone will get "deeper" into the leather.

Keep your bag away!


We will go through the entire process if possible with the tag to see the end result.


And only thereafter we shall proceed with the bag, learning on how the tag response to the system.


Can you take a close-up picture of both sides of the tag please?

Roger

Hi Roger,

I went through hydrating the tag over night. what´s next?

If it went well; next is to soak it up with Fatliquor-5.0; leave it natural drying and reapply at 3 hourly interval or as long as the leather can take-up the fatliquor as the water content evaporates.

As all other products are water-based.

This testing is to confirm that the leather is wet-cleanable; so that there is no worry for the water-based system on this PRADA bag leather type.

The sequence of steps for the bag shall be:

1] Fill-up the bag with white towel and compact it to give a firm shape.

2] Brush the entire bag using the leather Brush-1 (horsehair).



A] The restorative cleaning process:
Prep-4.4 > Cleaner-3.8 > Rinse-3.0.
A1] Apply Prep-4.4 and agitate with brush; dwell at least 30 minutes or before it dries; extract with towel; apply Cleaner-3.8; agitate with horsehair brush and extract with towel; apply Rinse-3.0 and extract until towel shows clean; check with your fingers to feel that the leather is squeaky while damp (the squeaky feel indicate that the leather is healthy; tacky requires to be further acidify rinse until it is squeaky).

A2] Leave to dry (use Eraser-4 on the stain areas) and inspect.

A3] Brown areas to re-clean using Degreaser-2.2; the same manner as Prep-7.7 with a shorter dwell-time and acidify rinse with Rinse-3.0.

A4] Leave to dry (use leather Eraser-4 on the stain areas) and inspect (should see the yellowing reduced).


B] Hydrating and Fatliquoring
Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0.
B1] Follow the same success as the trial with the tag.
B2] Leave to natural dry and inspect (the turn-up scales should fall back in place and the leather feels soft; otherwise repeat to satisfaction).

C] Fluorescent Whitening Treatment:
d'Yellow-6.7
C1] Cut the powder with 20 parts distilled water and shake well prior to treating the bag concentrating on the brown areas by spraying it repeatly until the leather soak up; and leave it to dry.

When the stains are satisfactorily gone, use Rinse-3.0 to rinse-off the remaining residues and leave dry.

Let's see some pictures at each stage, if we are going to the right direction; otherwise need to be corrected before the next stage; otherwise we may have to take a long U-turn and you might have used up all the products by then if the result is far from our expectation.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

Ok, I went through with the Hydrating process and the tag looked fine. Then I tried the whole cleaning process on the tag and after I was finished, the yellow colour was a little bit reduced. I now sprayed the d´Yellower on it and will wait until it dries. I´ll post some pictures tomorrow of the result.


I also started the cleaning process on one of the handles. Tomorrow I´ll know more!

Good!

Although you are using the leather-safe system; it is good you proceed cautiously to see the desired result revealed before your eyes.


Remember to post some pictures of your progress.


Roger Koh
[email protected]

Tips for effective removal of stains:

It would be good to wrapped tissue paper (facial) round the entire handle; wet with Hydrator-3.3; brush out the air bubbles and leave it contact as an extension of the skin; this will caused the wick-up stains to be trapped by the tissue paper; rather than on the leather surface.

What do you think?


Roger

Dear Roger,

After having finished with cleaning I started using the d'Yellow-6.7 on my tag.
I let it dry the whole night and when I woke up this morning the tag was even greener than before!
I already used Rinse 3.0 to remove the d'Yellow-6.7.
I hope it is visible from my picture.
The inside of the tag shows the original grey colour.
Did I do something wrong?
Please advise.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...erkoh/Foto.jpg


Good you rinse off to neutralize the d'Yellow-6.7 with Rinse-3.0.

It shows that higher pH is the possible cause for this leather to turn greenish.

Greenish is associated with tarnish just like copper when oxidized; and perhaps using d'Tarnish-1.3 with a pH value of 1.3 may solve this mysterious green tints in place of d’Yellow-6.7.

What do you think?

Leather Doctor® d’Tarnish-1.3
It's for Pigmented, Aniline, Nubuck, Suede, Hair-on and Woolskin leather types.
This is a pH 1.3 aqueous leather tarnish stain remover.
It’s for removing metal stains like rust, tarnish, some ink and dye including urochrome yellowing effect.
Instruction:
1] Apply with cotton swab or spray.
2] Leave it to dry for chemical action to take effect.
3] Neutralize thereafter with Basifier-8.8.
4] Rinse with Rinse-3.0 to a squeaky clean.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

Do you think I cannot use the Hydrator/fatliquor, too? I didnt have any color change when using them onthe tag.

When you use the Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0; do you feel the softening up the leather and the scales relaxing and falling down in place?

The leather may behave just like a litmus paper that changes its color according to the acidity and alkalinity of the products used.

The pH neutral of leather is between 3 and 5; any pH higher than 5 should be avoid to reduce color change.

The Hydrator-3.3 and the Fatliquor-5.0 is for rejuvenating the leather for suppleness and reduce dryness and should be used accordingly.

Test Out Degreaser-2.2 > Rinse-3.0 on the tag; I believe the pH 2.2 will remove the greenish tint.

Then we can confirm that this leather is pH sensitive!

Like to know from you of this extra test.


Roger Koh

unfortunately the 2.2 made the tag even greener :-( the only products which really worked on the bag and made it cleaner were Cleaner 3.8 and Rinse 3.0. I now started hydrating the bag and will post pictures of the end result in one or two days.