Restorative Cleaning, Rejuvenating, Repairing & Refinishing to a Vintage 30-35 yrs old Navy Lambskin Chanel Leather Handbag.

Hi

My first post here. Thank you in advance for the time you put into solving things.

My bag is a vintage Chanel and is approximately 30-35 years old. I am very experienced with the brand as a collector of vintage items. It is a navy lambskin leather - Chanel lambskin has many textures and this one is very fine. There is wear on the corners and it has balded. The lining could do with a touch up but I will of course want to preserve the original stamping.
Chanel in Japan take a strict museum approach to their leather goods and repair only, but do not do leather resurfacing of any kind. I have sent a bag to Chanel USA for leather repair which takes some months, but is usually excellent.

There are lots of excellent products in Japan, but I am hampered by not being able to read the instructions well. There is also not a huge leatherwork tradition here, so there is less experience to draw on, but this is changing.

I'd like your advice on how to deal with retouching this. Is it bad enough to need to veneer a new layer of lambskin over the top, then mix a dye to match it? Or is there some kind of surface fixer, which could adhere nicely? Chanel lambskin does not seem to suit using Saphir recolorants, unless they are mixed down.

The bag is old and classic, but as I will never part with this particular bag, I am willing to experiment. Here are some pictures of my bag taken in natural light (except for whole bag shot.)

The bag:
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/...skinBag-20.jpg

Leather in what looks to be good condition,
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/...skinBag-16.jpg

Sample of corners needing treatment
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/...skinBag-04.jpg

Sample of the inner lining - only the corners are worn, other areas are ok.
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/...skinBag-18.jpg

Thanks in advance!

I practice 2 approaches; it’s either conservation or restoration.

Conservation is restorative cleaning, leather rejuvenating, repairing without the color refinishing to retain the age of use.

Restoration is all the above including color refinishing that erases the age of use to look brand new.

All material used will match original finishing.

Which approach do you wish to take and I shall discuss the various phases of processes and its steps.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roger Koh

I practice 2 approaches; it’s either conservation or restoration.

Conservation is restorative cleaning, leather rejuvenating, repairing without the color refinishing to retain the age of use.

Restoration is all the above including color refinishing that erases the age of use to look brand new.

All material used will match original finishing.

Which approach do you wish to take and I shall discuss the various phases of processes and its steps.

Roger Koh
[email protected]

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Hi Roger.
Thanks for your fast reply. I think it would look better with some recoloring on the corners as it looks a bit sad now. I use it as my workhorse bag and I want it to feel nice and look good. I look forward to hearing your recommendations and will be happy to provide progress photos etc!
Please let me know if you want any more photos in specific lighting or camera settings if you need to know more about the leather. The approximate age of manufacture is about 1982 I'd say, but could be slightly earlier.

Any color put on especially the corner worn area will be fresh and this area will be an eyesore; thus we are talking about a complete renewal of finishes to both the dyes and the topcoat; besides all the necessary process to return the leather to its original aesthetic and leather chemistry integrity.

Alternative as in conservation; no new color is applied; the repair will go without the additional of color and only rely on the natural darkening effect of the Impregnator-26 and Leather Bond-3D and 7A; and the topcoat of choice either using the Natural-89N (natural), Matte-59M (waxy-matte) or Gloss-79G (gloss).

So again pick your option – Restoration or Conservation?

Feel Nice:
There is a different in the “feel of hand” as to “tactile-feel”. The feel of hand is generally referring to the thickness of the leather in terms of flexibility, compressibility and stretchability.
And it is the fatliquor, “the life-blood of leather” that contributes to this suppleness characteristic of leather. It is the exposure to undue amount of heat that is generally reflected in greater stiffness and brittleness to the leather; and breaking-in literally means breaking of the leather fibrils when flex resulting in a softer and weaker leather. Technically to achieve the suppleness of leather the moisture content of leather should be maintain averaging 14%; and this is accomplished by hydrating with Hydrator-3.3 in conjunction with fatliquoring with Fatliquor-5.0.
Tactile-feel is referring to the finger-tips touch of the leather surface; and they can be buttery-feel, draggy-feel, silky-feel or waxy-feel; a choice to match the original topcoating of the leather to enhance it.

Looking Good:
Besides the color, the form and shape of a leather bag will determine whether the leather is tired; unnecessary creases and wrinkles at the wrong place will distort the original beauty intended. To keep the leather plump-up with smartness – the answer is in the replenishing of diminished fatliquor on a periodic basis – you will see how thirsty the leather is once fatliquor is spray onto the leather – the leather just sucks it in. How it works is by hydrogen-bonding; the fatliquor carries an anionic charge (-) and the protein fibril carries a cationic charge (+); like magnet unlike poles attracts.

Age of Manufacturing:
It is still the modern chrome-tanned technology to give you the napa softness; a kidskin would have less of these abrasions.

Pictures would be good; for comparing before and after; close shots would be better to see the details:

1] The chain.
2] The handle.
3] The lining Logo.
4] Panels that are creases or un-natural wrinkles.
5] All other worn and abraded areas.
6] Hidden original finishes.
7] Damaged Piping.
8] The overall bag from different angles.

Roger Koh
[email protected]