A Ted Baker aniline leather bag that needs a bit of cleaning/restoring.

Leather type:
This is identified as aniline leathers with the standard gloss. And the aniline refinishing system that will match is using the Aniline Dye-21 with Topcoat Aniline-79G (gloss).

Color:
Original color could be from Rubine to Red-Brown range with signs of fading or discoloration which is common for aniline leathers; as the color by nature is not as strong as the opaque pigmented type. The gloss topcoat brings out the beauty of depth, seldom found in pigmented leather types. The black trim is noted.

Grease Stains:
The darkening of the color at those edges is commonly associated with oil, grease and sweat. And these areas finishes may have deteriorated and removed during the degreasing of these areas.

Corner Curls and Unnatural Creases:
These curls and creases are signs that the leather structure is drier than when it was new; due to the diminishing of the original fatliquor (fat, oil & water). When this leather is hydrated and fatliquored these phenomenal should disappear. A healthy leather has an average of 14% moisture content; with the full moisture content the leather is more plump-up; otherwise it is described as empty.

Damages:
At this angle we do not see any damages; like scratch or scuff or abrasion.

Lining:
Most of these bags with years of usage; stains from make-up and ballpoint ink stains are common.

What would you recommend the treatment be for such a bag?

A general holistic recommendation would be returning the bag to its original show-room condition, and this would involve a comprehensive restoration in this sequence of process:

1] Internal bag lining:
All stains should be removed regardless whether it’s permanent marker or the common ballpoint ink, including nail polish, lipstick and all solvent based stains, sometimes chewing gum – whether it’s from the natural cotton or other synthetic fabric.
These stubborn stains are removed with Specialty Removers other than Prep-7.7 > Cleaner-3.8 > Rinse-3.0 to match the stain type.

2] Wet Prep:
The existing topcoating should be stripped as this coating would impede the even absorption of the staining transparent aniline dyestuff. And any way those greased darkening areas when degreased from within the leather structure would also surely caused the lost of this gloss topcoating too, so might as well do it holistically. This stripping is done with Strip-2.3 > Rinse-3.0 to removed the gloss topcoat to an even absorbent surface. For 2 main reasons; the dyestuff need to hydrogen-bond with the leather protein fiber; and removing old and deteriorated topcoating reduces the micro thickness and thus maintain the original “hand” of the leather.

3] Leather Rejuvenation:
Leather rejuvenating comprises of two steps; the hydrating first, then follows with fatliquoring.
Hydrating with Hydrator-3.3 has its contributing benefits namely:
a] To relax the stiff leather structure to reduces the creases and wrinkles with the help of stretching it crosswise while the leather structure is still soak damp.
b] To purge forgotten penetrated stains that is moved to the surface during the wicking process; to be wiped off at drying interval until the white towel shows clean.
c] To activate the existing dyestuff so as to refresh the faded leather surface.
d] To reduce surface tension to make way for the fatliquor (fat, oil & water) for easier even distribution within the leather inter-fibrillary spaces.
e] To ionic charge the leather protein fibers cationic (+) for more effective long lasting hydrogen-bonding with the anionic (-) fatliquor.
Fatliquor with pH 5.0 Fatliquor-5.0, the life-blood of leathers is what contributes to the softness, strength and suppleness of the leather. And a healthy leather should have an average moisture content of up to 14%; and when replenished periodically or whenever leather is wet during cleaning is the simple answer to preserves leather against ageing.

4] Dyeing:
After inspection upon drying, a dry prep may be necessary to removed wick-up soiling particulates or fine sanding to smoothen out the surface without damaging the surface grain (otherwise absorbency may defers). A good stripping and hydrating would have activated the dyestuff to the surface and new dyes may not be necessary as the topcoat will enhance its beauty once it is applied. Otherwise dye is preferred to be airbrush to reduce patchiness.

5] Gloss Topcoating:
Topcoating is recommended to be airbrushed to produce the best result that matches the original.

6] Non-stick, rub-resistant protection.
To match the topcoat; a buttery-feel protector is recommended by using Leather Scent-B.

Leather is pH Sensitive:
Products suffix indicates the pH value of the product to match the average pH value of leather which is from 3 – 5.

What do you think, does this bag worth all these trouble…?

Roger Koh
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