Hermes Box Calf - Is this dry rot?

Please notice the tears on the back edge, where it had to be sown at home (that's why it looks messy). Would that hold a stitch, if it needed to be hand sown again by Hermes?
Anoher tear on side folds and missing chunk in the front edge of the bag. I was told the it was all due to the bag's age (1945) and that it only had one Hermes spa treatment in 2010.

Are these tears dry rot and this is beyond repair?
And if the bag can be repaired, will cracks on the leather always show?

Thank youAttachment 6098!

>>> Please notice the tears on the back edge, where it had to be sown at home (that's why it looks messy). Would that hold a stitch, if it needed to be hand sown again by Hermes?

To hold a stitch, its stitch tear strength has to be above 2000psi (pound per square inch). Below 1800psi any stitch will not hold as well. The strength of leather depends on the fatliquor to return it to suppleness as the original fatliquor (fat and oil) diminishes through evaporation.


>>> Another tear on side folds and missing chunk in the front edge of the bag, I was told that it was all due to the bag's age (1945) and that it only had one Hermes spa treatment in 2010.

Again age is associated with drying of the original fatliquor from the leather structure. Question on spa treatment need to be specific, does the leather have a fatliquor moisture content reading with a leather moisture meter? And if so what was the percentage reading before and after? And we will know the reason for the tear.


>>> Are these tears dry rot?
Dry rot is when you can put a finger through.


>>> and this is beyond repair?

Before any repair the leather strength has to be tested for tear strength.
Rejuvenating the leather by Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system
Strengthening the leather by Impregnator-26
Repair by Bond-3D with Patch-4S or donor fiber using the technique practice in fiberglass repairs.
Filling of repairs with Stucco-90 + Bond-3D for high flex areas.


>>> And if the bag can be repaired, will cracks on the leather always show?

Just like repairs to metals and fiberglass sanding and filling where necessary applied.
Refinishing necessary to even out appearance with an opaque Micro-54 to block off base color and a transparent Aniline-76 to impart beauty of depth. A choice of luster level either gloss or satin applies to match original luster is available as AnilineTop-76G or AnilineTop-76S.

Thanks, Roger. So will all those repairs, I assume it would be hard to match the current color? Easier and cheaper to just dye it black?
Also, what would be the approximate cost to have a professional do the repairs?

Thanks!

>>> So will all those repairs, I assume it would be hard to match the current color?
There is still a difference in color richness even when you use the same original color, considering the years it has expose to UV light and soiling.


>>> Easier and cheaper to just dye it black?
Not necessary it should be black – black, it could be a shade of black with lets say 10% of other color, will makes the black more aesthetic in value.


>>> Also, what would be the approximate cost to have a professional do the repairs?
Depends who you engage, Leather Doctor service goes by the hour US$75/- all depends on job scope.

The scope of service will depend on utility of the bag – for display as “see no touch” then it will be a finishing repairs, for utility then the structural repairs becomes very important from further handling damages.

It would definitely be for use, not for display.

Attachment 7647Attachment 7643Attachment 7644Attachment 7645Attachment 7646
I also have a Hermes Box calf bag with issues with crackling, scuffing and one tear. What would your recommend?

Crackling, Scuffing and Tearing are sisters effect of leather dryness - When leather dries of it original fatliquor (ionic charged fat and oil) from average 15% for vegetable-tanned leathers it will continuous to loose its tensile strength. A healthy leather should have a tensile-strength of about 2000psi. Below 1800psi weakness of the leather begins to manifest. Fatliquor is the lifeblood of leathers - Just like our car engine will also require constant periodic top-up of its engine oil - otherwise the engine piston will fail soon. In leather, it is the fat in the fatliquor that plumps up the leather with fullness and the oil that lubricates the millions of interconnecting fibrils that works like hinges to give the smoothness of flex without the heavy creases also know as “coarse breaks”.

Recommend:

Remove all surface soiling, otherwise it will contaminate both the Hydrator-3.3 and Fatliquor-5.0 system.
See this Aniline (A.fs) Full Sauvage Leather Problem Solving Matrix:
See Row #4, 5 & 6 - Cleaning products prior to step 4 and 5 (Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3) system will need to match the severity of soiling, “Stain and Odor Type” will also need to be contained prior to rejuvenating the leather with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3.

Attachment 7649
B - Leather Stiffness and Unnatural Creases Rectification: Leather stiffness is fibers structure that becomes stick together when leather commonly gets wet and in most cases fatliquor leaches out. Severe stiffness results when leather lost its fatliquor under heat over-exposure and should be handle with caution from cracking it. Leather creases are unnatural wrinkles resulting from the collapsing empty leather fiber structure due to diminishing fatliquor (fat and oil) content.To plumps, relaxes and separates crushed, shrunk and stick together fibrils by manipulating away-unwanted stiffness and unnatural creases is as follows - Instruction . . . B1- The thickness of the leather is saturated to an optimum level with moistures oozing out when gently pressed between thumb and fingers with Hydrator-3.3. B2- The leather is cover up with plastic wrapping to control evaporation and let it dwell up to 72hrs for complete hydration or saturation. B3- It is then manipulate by staking, stretching, massaging or cross flexing to relax the leather to satisfaction. B4- With satisfaction and allowing up to 25% combine moisture content or when a cotton dry towel remains dry from wiping and the leather is still damp with Hydrator-3.3, fatliquoring begins before the leather is completely dry. B5- The fatliquored leather is left to slow dry and any surface shining residue is driven into the leather structure by brushing in conjunction with Hydrator-3.3 until milky residue if any turns crystal clear. B6- The surface clear moisture is extract with a cotton towel until towel shows dry. B7- Begin staking, stretching, massaging or cross flexing one more time before the leather is completely dried for the desired suppleness. Best result is manipulating the leather structure to dryness for extra desired suppleness. Read more of Hydrator-3.3 other usage … http://www.leatherdoctor.com/hydrator-3-3/

Leather Approximate Quantity or Percentage of Fatliquor:
The quantities of fatliquor (fat and oil) contents retained in the leather after an universal tannery fatliquoring process may varies up from 14% to 16% depending on the leather types and it usage. This percentage drops as the fat and oil content diminishes or leaches through ageing, water, heat or chemical overexposure.
Leather rejuvenating or fatliquor replenishing is base on weight of the leather in relation to the percentage of remaining fatliquor. A simple calculation of percentage of fatliquor topping up requirement would be as follows:
If the weight of the leather in question is 100gm and fatliquor (fat and oil) content meter reading is less than 1%.
By applying 80gm of Fatliquor-5.0 to it will deliver an end result incremental of 13.3% fatliquor when dry as the 66.6% water contents evaporates.
In the leather rejuvenating Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3 system, Hydrator-3.3 plays an important role by relaxing, opening up the inter-fibrillary spaces, facilitating and redistributing colloidal water movement, protonating and doing all the pre-conditioning work prior to fatliquoring including cleaning up any excess surface remnants to have a sticky-free surface. In practice with severe dryness the ratio for Hydrator-3.3 is 2 to 1 of Fatliquor-5.0.
It works out to be approximately 160gm of Hydrator-3.3 plus 80gm of Fatliquor-5.0 to replenish a 100gm dry leather from less than 1% back to the original tannery up from 14% to 16% fatliquor content.
In every bottle of Fatliquor-5.0 by weight content is comprises of 16.66% ionic negative (-ve) charged fat and oil, and 83.33% of water, the water content that encased the fat and oil molecule in an emulsion suspension when hydrogen bond with the ionic positive (+ve) leather protein fiber will break free and discharged clear from the leather structure to the surface.

Instruction:
1 Warm-up and shake well to a full emulsion for better penetration.
2 Apply Fatliquor-5.0 and redistribute with foam brush until saturation.
3 Repeat applications each time water contents evaporate until fully saturated.
4 Drive remaining surface remnants free of milky fat and oil until it turns clear with Hydrator-3.3.
5 Allow natural drying for extra softness.
6 Suppleness of leathers is further stake or massage or flex accordingly with a little wet back with Hydrator-3.3.
Caution:
Insufficient fatliquoring (fat and oil) content may suffer cracking from staking, massaging or flexing.
Tips:
1 When crispy dry, prior surface contaminations/damages may darkens as soiling particulates resurface.
2 Removes soiling particulates with Eraser-4 for all leathers including nubuck and Eraser-5 for suede.
3 Stretching the darken areas lightly will also lightens the appearance.
Read more . . . http://www.leatherdoctor.com/fatliquor-5-0/


Roger Koh
Leather Care System Formulator
Consultant / Practitioner / Instructor
web: www.leatherdoctor.com
forum: www.leathercleaningrestorationforum.com
email: [email protected]

Recommend care kit through the cycle of the leather life time . . . Preventive, Routine, Periodic & Restorative . . . to keep your leather structural strong and beauty at all times!

Attachment 7650
Leather Doctor® Kit-A3, aniline leather, care kit is an innovative leather-safe (pH 3 - 5) system designed for keeping leathers at their highest level of appearance, maintaining its pH chemistry integrity, enhancing their suppleness and prevents premature ageing. Leathers that faced the sun, closed to fireplace and heaters dries out the fatliquor (fat and oil) that keeps it supple sooner than the non-heat exposed areas. The diminishing of the fatliquor through evaporation results in the leather fibers being stick closer together that results in stiffness and when flexed during used will lead to cracks. Periodic use of Hydrator-3.3 to plumps the stick together fibers prior to fatliquor replenishing with Fatliquor-5.0 will keep the leather supple and strong. Thus, reduce the premature ageing of the leather against stiffness and cracking. The surface wear of the leather is greatly reduced with friction noise reduction. This is preventable with a rub-resistant Protector-B that imparts a natural buttery-feel. Periodic cleaning and rinsing with Clean-3.8 follows by Rinse-3.0 to the bare body contact areas like headrest and armrest helps reduce greasy soiling build-up. Restorative cleaning and occasional dye stains removal from new blue jeans is accomplished with Prep-4.4. Note that the mentioned product suffix number denotes its pH value in this leather-safe holistic care system. Shipping Weight Options are available as kit 'Fill-0.6kg' to save on shipping, thus all the 250ml spray bottles have to be cut and filled with distilled water prior to use. Kit 'RTU-1.7kg' is ready-to-use straight from the bottle.

Leather-Safe System Cycle of Care - Preventive, Routine, Periodic & Restorative . . .

Preventive Care:
A non-stick, rub-resistant protection is recommended to be in place before putting the leather to daily use. Protector-B imparts a soft natural buttery-feel that enhances the leather luxuriously to the sense of touch. The non-stick surface shields the leather from sticky soiling thus prolonging the high level of appearance. Rub-resistant ability reduces friction noises that translate into less friction wear. This leather-scented protector diffuses a classic leather scent that boost the sensuous leather more appealing to the leather lover. This preventive care is kept in place at each level of routine, periodic or restorative cleaning cycle. A simply spray and wipe prolongs the need for cleaning heavy soiling. Protecting: Instruction . . . 1- Mist sprays Protector-B spread with lint free towel and is ready for use when dry (leather-scented version is available as Protector-B+).

Routine Care:
Routine care includes procedures such as general dust cleaning, attending to spots and stains as required especially the pH balancing of sweat stains from shifting alkaline. Thus prevents leather from tackiness. A routine non-stick rub resistant protection after neutralizing rinse helps keep leather in a more attractive and healthy state while preventing premature wears by . . . 1st step – Rinsing: Instruction . . . 1- Spray Rinse-3.0, horsehair Brush-1 agitates and towel extract until it shows clean. 2nd step – Protecting: Instruction . . . 2- Mist sprays Protector-B spread with lint free towel and is ready for use when dry.

Periodic Care:
Periodic care is recommended before soiling causes damages to the finishing. This keeps leather consistently clean and healthy at all times. Body contact areas would require more frequent attention than the unused areas. While the leather headrest, hand rest, handles etc gets the most of body oil and sweat contacts by . . . 1st step – General Cleaning: Instruction . . . 1- Spray Clean-3.8 and agitate with horsehair Brush-1; ensuring a uniform application over the entire surfaces a section at a time. 2- Towel extract until it shows clean. 3- Remaining residues are spray rinse with Rinse-3.0 and towel extract to a squeaky-clean. 4- Let dry and inspect for satisfaction, otherwise repeat cleaning process as necessary or proceed to hydrating. Hydrating is essential to relax and separate the stick together collapsing fibrous structure. Moreover, it is used to check for surface tension from blotchiness prior to fat and oil replenishing by . . . 2nd step – Hydrating: Instruction . . . 1- Spray Hydrator-3.3 to check for an even appearance. Fatliquor evaporates as VOC (volatile organic compound) when temperatures rises especially from exposed surfaces. Periodic fatliquoring maintains the leather’s structure integrity and pliability thus strengthen these exposed leather from cracking by . . . 3rd step – Fatliquoring: Instruction . . . 1- Spray Fatliquor-5.0 in like manner as Hydrator-3.3 and let dry naturally. 2- Repeat application in-between drying until saturated. 3- The leather is left for slow natural drying for extra softness. 4- Surface strays are wiped with Hydrator-3.3 to free of sticky residue and let to natural drying. 4th step – Protecting: Instruction . . . 1- Mist sprays Protector-B spread with lint free towel and is ready for use when dry.

Restorative Care:
This is the ultimate restorative or salvage care system that removes accumulated soiling including aged conditioners. Accumulated soiling that fills creases is often mistaken for cracks. Using Prep-4.4 performs restorative cleaning. It works by chemical reaction to emulsify soiling through its penetrating, lubricating and suspending power. Horsehair detailing Brush-1 is recommended to worked into heavily soiled areas sufficiently to avoid excessive agitation that might damage already weaken finishes especially on heavily used areas by . . . 1st step - Restorative Cleaning: Instruction . . . 1- Apply Prep-4.4 and agitate with horsehair Brush-1, ensuring a uniform application over the entire surfaces a section at a time. 2- Allow a dwell time of 10 to 30 minutes or before it dries prior to towel extraction until it shows clean. 3- Sticky residue is removed by Clean-3.8 with gentle brush agitation and towel extracts until it shows clean. 4- Remaining residues are spray rinse with Rinse-3.0 and towel extracts to a squeaky-clean. 5- Let dry and inspect for satisfaction, otherwise repeat cleaning process as necessary or proceed to hydrating. Hydrating is essential to relax and separate the stick together collapsing fibrous structure. Its surfactancy helps check for surface tension of blotchiness prior to fat and oil replenishing. 2nd step – Hydrating: Instruction . . . 1- Spray Hydrator-3.3 to saturate with an even appearance to soften up the leather. 2- Let dwell 10 to 30 minutes and towel extract wick up soiling until it shows clean. Fat and oil replenishing maintains the leather’s structure integrity and pliability thus strengthen these exposed leather from cracking. 3rd step – Fatliquoring: Instruction . . . 1- Spray Fatliquor-5.0 in like manner as Hydrator-3.3 and let dry naturally. 2- Repeat application in between drying until saturated. 3- The leather is left for slow natural drying for extra softness. 4- Surface strays are wiped with Hydrator-3.3 to free of sticky residue. 4th step – Protecting: Instruction . . . 1- Mist sprays Protector-B spread with lint free towel and is ready for use when dry.

What kit would you recommend to restore this bag (would need a gloss finish)? This includes re-color. Christine

>>> What kit would you recommend to restore this bag (would need a gloss finish)? This includes re-color.

For dye refinishing you would need Kit-A7.cl - Aniline Leather Dye Refinishing Kit.
http://www.leatherdoctor.com/kit-a7-...finishing-kit/

Attachment 8645

And the closest color option would be Red-Brown.
To adjust its color intensity Aniline-76Clear may be used at ratio from 1: 7 clear.
http://www.leatherdoctor.com/aniline-76/
Gloss finish comes with the Kit-A7.cl

Repairs to worn out corners is restored with Bond-3D
http://www.leatherdoctor.com/bond-3d/


Attachment 8644
Roger Koh
Leather, Skin & Hair Care System Formulator
Consultant / Practitioner / Instructor / Coach
web: www.leatherdoctor.com
forum: www.leathercleaningrestorationforum.com
email: [email protected]

Thank you. Please send me an email for the pricing of the kit plus the bonding.

Click the link and it will bring you to the on-line store!

Your product looks really damaged, i wonder if it can be repaired as good as new.