About Restorations

Message from Barbara: My status

 Barbara Crouthamel

Hi Ladies,

I have received a lot of questions from you  about how, what and why regarding the refinishing process and the results. Maybe I can shed some light on the mysteries of leather handles restorations.

After all the years working with leather, I am still amazed at how the results of refinishing seem to vary so much.  A few reasons for this are:

  1. The type of leather - lamb, goat, cow.
  2. The tanning process used to create the leather - vegetable tanned, chromium tanned or syn-tanned ( synthetic)
  3. Condition of the leather - wear, pH damage.
  4. Whether certain products have been used on the leather that would cause pH damage - such as strong cleaners that contain soap or detergents.
  5. The tanning process used - aniline or semi aniline.
  6. The color and top coating treatment.
  7. Sun damage, oxidation of the leather.

In any restoration process, the key is to do the least amount of refinishing; this ensures the leather remains soft and smooth.

Color matching is another key component in leather restoration. We have dedicated years of training to perfect our color matching skills - which is why we can restore those very bright and high chroma reds and purples and the complicated browns that require base and print in order to achieve the exact match.

For some handbags, the feel will be compromised slightly - after all, once an unfinished lamb is stained and worn past the epidermal level - the only option is to restore it by adding a leather finish. It will look like new, but wont feel like naked leather - the benefit to the restoration is that it offers clean-ability that was not there before :-)

The suggestion I have in order protect your handbags is to protect them with pH matched products and moisturize them regularly; keep them out of the sun and  keep them away from anything that may transfer dye such as jeans, some sweaters and leather care interiors - that way you can keep you bag looking fabulous for years before any restoration work is needed - also - it is best to send your handbags in for minor repairs than wait until the bag is at its worse before sending it in.  Ongoing maintenance keeps the leather at its best and the restoration results are always much better for it.

How we started:

See how we began on You Tube :-)

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