Louis Vuitton - Cleaning and lighting the vachetta leather on this LV handle

[Cat3633]

Hi Roger, I needed to remove the marks on this LV handle. Also, I needed to know how to make/lighting the color on this vachetta handle to a shade or 2 shades lighter.

Picture 1: picture of the handle


Picture 2: color/shade of the handle I want to have


I have the V4 kits, Please tell me which product(s) to use for clean/remove the marks and lighting the color on the handle. What is your suggestion on the sequence for these tasks? Most importantly, please walk me though each step on each product thoroughly. Since I am not good and can get confuse on all the chemistry/chemical terms you use on explaining the products, please guide me through the processes in simple form of English (just like explain it to a child). Thank you.

[mobileleatherrepair.com]

following, interested if there is any way to clean this vachetta

[Roger Koh]

>>> I needed to remove the marks on this LV handle.

Information helpful as follows:

How old is this bag?

What products have been tried on these leather trims?

What was the cause of the stains, are the darker marks

1A - Protein Stains
1B – Greasy, Oily and Sweaty body Contact Stains
Or
1C – Unknown

What causes the lighter stains?

2A – Nail scratches
2B – Other Physical damages
2C - Unknown
2D – Can they be felt by hand with sharp edges or smooth dent?

What are the causes of the brown lines faintly three lines?

3A – Accidental water damages
3B – Causes by Cleaning Chemicals or water

>>> Also, I needed to know how to make/lighting the color on this vachetta handle to a shade or 2 shades lighter.

Vachetta color is alive and the color is a combination of the original source of the hide itself, the type of vegetable tanned used and the types and amount of fatliquor used to produced them. When exposed to sunlight the leather takes on a tan just like our skin. Ageing of the fatliquor lightens the color intensity thus we see them as lightening marks or fine micro light cracks and eventually with further diminishing fatliquor replenishing. Body oil, grease and sweat darken the leather by penetrating below the surface. Besides the stains created by them, the sweat ferments and shift the protein fiber ionic negative (-ve) from ionic positive (+ve) thus denatures the leather. The effect of such phenomenon turns the leather tacky or slimy with wet hands. Smells of fermenting also is a direct telltale sign of leather denaturing back to rawhide.
To make the color lighter is possible and seasoning it with richer color intensity is also possible. And if we know the characteristic of the leather how it behaves and the products available and its purpose we are then in control and adjust to whatever the desired shades satisfy.

The foreign contamination interferes with the original appearance need to be removed.

Commonly in light to medium soiling severity with no potential signs of cracking is by Degreaser-2.2 > Acidifier-2.0 for surface degreasing (This is why good pictures will help me to help you see better).
In this process the leather surface soiling is pre removed with brushing with horsehair Brush-1 and Eraser-4.
Degreaser-2.2 needs to be shake to gel that becomes one color from separation. In practice it is usually transfer to the Brush-1 and begin applying onto the grease areas with agitation letting the products goes below the stains if possible. Extraction is follow-up with terry-towel extraction. Deep extraction is done with placing the handle round a terry face towel and the handle is squeeze press with a smooth object like a spoon handle until the stain is transfer to the towel and until it shows clean. Rinsing is done with Acidifier-2.0 by spraying and letting the leather soak in prior to squeezing them out with the roll-up towel and spoon handle or the smooth side of the brush handle to extract the suspended soiling. The rinsing process is repeated until the towel shows clean.

It is recently discovered just a few months back that for obvious sign of cracking or potential cracking or the percentage readings shows below the up to 14% moisture level (modern tannery leather fatliquor moisture standard) or the sweat contamination is severe and contaminated oil and grease removed the leather fibers being stripped dries empty becoming stick together, stiffen and when mishandled cracks. From a few of these observation I decided to introduce the Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system as the preconditioning the leather prior to degreasing it. Better be safe than sorry.

The above paragraph is for background reading and since I guess that we may not need the degrease under medium to heavy or extreme body oil and grease decontamination and will also skip this part on the how-to to avoid confusion.

In light degreasing to browning treatment Vachetta-2.8 alone will do most of these triple purpose – general cleaning, light degreasing and correction of browning and blotchiness form sun tanning, and other liquid stains that browns.
This is the much preferred and the simplest of the cleaning process. The leather surface is Brush-1 and Eraser-4 to remove surface soiling. Vachetta-2.8 is sprayed and agitates with Brush-1 to saturate the leather with an even appearance starting from the heaviest soiling area. A terry towel works over it to extract the suspended soiling until it shows clean. Leave the leather natural drying allowing the continuous working of the product by chemical redox reaction.

Recommendation:

Use the Vachetta-2.8 as describe above and shows GOOD pictures before we proceed further.


Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
[email protected]

[Cat3633]

Hi Roger, I bought this handbag as preowned, I don't know what are those stains/marks. According to the data code, this handbag is 12 years old. Just to make sure I have the correct first step,(according to your recommendation,) use vachetta 2.8. Right?

[Roger Koh]

>>> Hi Roger, I bought this handbag as preowned, I don't know what are those stains/marks. According to the data code, this handbag is 12 years old. Just to make sure I have the correct first step,(according to your recommendation,) use vachetta 2.8. Right?

No!
Reschedule cleaning system modules based on unfavorable answers.
A preventive care need to be in place prior to Vachetta-2.8.

[Cat3633]

Hi Roger, what is the "preventive care" you are referring to?

[Roger Koh]

following, interested if there is any way to clean this vachetta

>>> if there is any way to clean this vachetta

Here is an example of just using Vachetta-2.8 to remove such mentioned stains with a cotton swab.


#1 Body oil grease and sweat stains removing progress



#2






http://www.leatherdoctor.com/leather...g-removal-kit/
Leather Doctor® Kit V4 specialty problem solving kit include Vachetta-2.8 for browning removal and Degreaser-2.2 for body contact decontamination systems in a holistic approach. Kit V4 is a combination kit from Kit V3 and Kit V5.dr without duplicating of products for these common related problems.
Darkening appearance from body contact and browning from liquid stain are two main inevitable common problems associated with naked unfinished vachetta leathers. Leather being absorbent absorb and accumulates body moisture from contact and when neglected resulted in a darkening appearance. Besides appearance the sweat with traces of urea may cause the protein fiber from shifting ionic negative (-ve) manifesting as tackiness and reverting to rawhide.
Degreaser-2.2 solves the darkening effect by penetrating, lubricating and suspending the soiling particulates and simultaneously protonate the protein fiber ionic positive (+ve). The amphoteric protein fiber is further rinse and ionic positive (+ve) charge with Acidifier-2.0 to strengthen the ionic attraction between its other non-amphoteric ionic negative (-ve) leather constituents like the tanning agent and the fatliquor. This dual duty removes the unwanted soiling particulates and pH balance the pH chemistry integrity of the leather at the same time.
Browning of vachetta leathers is associated with alkaline over-exposure, vachetta being a lower pH value than most other tanned leathers averages pH 4 is more sensitive to alkaline cleaning or stains and even water at pH 7 will cause discoloration and browning.
Vachetta-2.8 with its low pH works by oxidation-reduction reaction to reduce the discoloration or browning effect to a more even appearance when the leather is left to dry naturally.
Leather rejuvenating is mandatory and comes next when appearance become satisfactorily. This is accomplished with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system. Hydrator-3.3 plays a significant role in absorbent leathers like vachetta where stains are usually penetrated. The hydrator’s surfactancy helps internal leather structure colloidal movement by moving suspended soiling particulates to the surface at each wicking process until exhausted and is often used as part of the rinsing process. Besides hydrator is used to check for surface tension and relax the leather fiber prior to ionic negative (-ve) charged Fatliquor-5.0 replenishing. Natural slow drying in between application until saturation produces a softer leather.
Protecting the leather with Protector-D impart a natural draggy-feel and reduces wear to the grain of the leather, conceal scuff with its healing properties that also allows transpiration to take place or breaths naturally. Note that the mentioned products suffix numbers denotes its pH value in this holistic approach to removing the common problems associated with vachetta, saddlery and veg-tan leathers.

[Cat3633]

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