What you should pay attention to when cleaning vintage bags

Vintage bags are timeless treasures that deserve careful attention. If you decide to buy a vintage bag, care is a crucial factor in preserving its beauty and longevity. Here are some valuable tips and tricks on how to properly clean and care for your vintage bags.

Before you start:

Before you start cleaning, carefully check the bag for any damage or signs of wear. First, remove any loose particles or dust with a soft cloth. To clean the outside, first stuff the bag with a towel or soft paper so that it retains its shape. Before you start using the cleaning product, test how the cleaning product and the leather react on an inconspicuous area.

Cleaning

Always clean and care for your bag from the outside first before cleaning the inside.

The GLOW CLEANER is ideal for thoroughly cleaning vintage leather. Due to its natural ingredients and particularly mild surfactants, the cleaner removes stains, discoloration and dirt or residues from incorrect care products from deep within and is particularly gentle.

Spray the bag generously with the Glow Cleaner and lather it up with the GLOW BRUSH. This allows the surfactants to work properly. Then wipe the bag dry with a soft cloth. Avoid rubbing excessively or too hard.

If you notice during the product test that the leather absorbs the cleaner immediately, avoid spraying the bag directly with the cleaner. Instead, moisten a soft cloth with the cleaner and wipe the bag gently and carefully.

If the cleaner comes into contact with the metal fittings, it doesn't matter. Since it doesn't contain alcohol or other chemicals, it's enough to simply wipe these parts dry with a soft cloth.

After cleaning, let the bag dry thoroughly (if necessary) but keep it away from direct sunlight or other heat sources. This is the only way to ensure that the leather dries evenly.

Note and warning:

There are many supposed tips on how to care for leather using household products circulating on the Internet. To name a few of the more well-known ones: olive oil, Nivea cream, baby oil or even cream. But these are myths, and we expressly warn against trying them out.

Intensive care

The leather of vintage handbags in particular needs good care due to its age. The leather may have become a little brittle in some places or the color may look crumbly. This requires a lot of moisture and nutrients to restore its suppleness.

For intensive care, apply the conditioner generously and evenly with a soft cloth and allow the conditioner to absorb well. If the leather is particularly dry, repeat the conditioner treatment. Especially for vintage treasures, we recommend using the conditioner regularly every few weeks to preserve the beauty of the vintage bag in the long term. Lanolin, soy and orange oil provide the leather with everything it needs, refreshing the color and visibly plumping up the leather. Scratches are reduced or even disappear completely. On top of that, the orange oil it contains offers protection against sunlight, dust and moisture, basically an all-in-one beauty balm for your handbag.

Finally, it's the turn of the bag handles, bag straps and finally the bag lining. If the bag lining is made of leather or fabric, the cleaner is also suitable here. If the lining is made of fabric and you can remove it, you can also try to wash the lining carefully over the sink with a mild baby shampoo and distilled water if it is stubbornly dirty (this is why the bag should be waterproofed on the outside beforehand so that water stains don't stand a chance).

Restrictions for special types of leather

We advise against using the cleaner on Vachetta leather. The conditioner can be used without any problems. However, we recommend testing it on a hidden area first. However, we recommend using products specifically designed for Vachetta leather to clean Vachetta leather.

Suede: Glowbag is only suitable for smooth and grained leather. Glowbag is NOT suitable for open-pored leather types such as suede or nubuck leather. A special suede brush or leather eraser is usually sufficient for their care.

Where can I buy beautiful vintage bags?

Do you fancy a beautiful vintage bag? Then we would particularly like to recommend SolVintage 's online vintage shop. Here you will find a carefully selected selection of curated and authentic designer vintage bags.