The bag below is made of soft, untreated leather, which means that the leather is easily worn, faded and stained. We will show you how to easily get the bag in almost new condition. After a good cleaning, we will use Furniture Clinics Pigmented Leather Conditioner to restore the handbag to its former shine and luster.
Please note that leather conditioner only works on so-called "absorbent" leather. This means that the leather is untreated and has no protective surface finish. If your bag is top-dyed, i.e. has color and a protective finish on top of the leather, this method should not be used, then you must instead dye with real leather dye and seal with leather finish.
Step 1: The first thing you do is a proper cleaning. The best thing to do on this type of soft untreated leather is to use a leather cleaner in foam form. This way you have time to clean the surface of the leather before the cleaner has time to penetrate the leather. By using a brush, we also get into the pores, and in this way open up the leather for the next step. Let it dry properly at room temperature.
Step 2: Once the leather of the handbag is thoroughly cleaned, it is time to use a sponge or cloth to buff in the pigmented leather balm, Leather Re-Colouring Balm. It is a softening leather balm that contains color pigments. The balm enhances the underlying color, it regains its luster without losing the leather's natural color variations. The balm is buffed into the leather in the same way as shoe polish. The colored balm should penetrate the leather, it must not remain on the surface of the leather, otherwise it can stain clothes and the like.
Please note that the conditioner is not a real leather color, but only enhances the underlying color. This means that color shifts and stains are visible even after a treatment. Dark stains that do not go away when cleaning are further accentuated, if you avoid applying conditioner to these, they will become less noticeable. Similarly, the color will become a shade darker if you apply another layer of conditioner.
When you are satisfied with the result, let the conditioner dry thoroughly for a day at room temperature before moving on to the next step.
Step 3: After dyeing with the colored leather conditioner, the leather should be treated with a protective cream . It protects against future staining, wear and sun fading, and simply keeps your handbag looking great for much longer.
