Coach Purse Clean Up │ Vintage 1995 Coach Willis Handbag Purse

At an estate sale last week, I found a beautiful vintage Coach purse for a fabulous price ($10). She is the "Willis" style with a strap and top handle.

She had seen years of wear (is from 1995) and didn't look like she'd ever had a good cleaning or conditioning. I've had many people ask me how I clean my bags, or what my process is, so, I took her home, and here's what I did:

Here is the beautiful "after" photo because I want you to see how pretty she is.
But keep scrolling to see the steps I took to get her this way.

Here is the before photo. The two "dots" on the left are from my wet hands, ha.
So ignore that, but this is how I found her. A little lighter than her "after" photo, she had fading and marks, and scars. And a big ink stain on the back. She was looking for some TLC for sure.

I started by using a classic perennial saddle soap by Fiebings. It's available here and isn't expensive, and will last for many uses. One basin can last for years. (They also have
a black saddle soap, which is great for black, dark brown, or blue bags.) All you have to do is mix it with water, and it will create a rich lather with your choice of horsehair brush. Once you lather a section, wipe it off with a towel. Do one section at a time.

This is the dark spot on the back of the purse. It ended up being an ink stain, which is quite common. I pretreated it for a few extra minutes with the cleaner and dabbed at it with a cloth, without spreading it into the leather. It will probably be there forever, but such is life with a vintage purse. There will always be patina! Which is lovely, in my humble opinion ...

Here I am lathering the soap onto the back of the bag, trying not to lather the ink spot. I don't want it bleeding into the rest of the bag! It's like waking a sleeping dragon... leave it well enough alone, if you can. Besides, this stain is on the back of the purse. I'm the only one who's going to see it!

Here is the wipe down of the soap and water mixture on the back of the bag. It may seem easier to clean the whole bag at once, then wipe it down all at once, but this is not recommended. It's best to clean the bag one section at a time. So, clean the front, then wipe it down; the side, wipe down; the back, wipe down ... etc. I use a basic micro-fiber cloth, and they're perfect for the job.

Here's the lovely "creed," as it is called, which is the patch on the inside of the purse that lists where it was made and its serial number. This is telling me it was manufactured in the United States in August of 1995.

The inside was very clean, so I didn't even have to treat it other than dust it and make sure all debris was wiped out. If I needed to clean the suede, I have a suede cleaner by Leather Honey that works fabulously. You can find it here.

While the bag is drying, I stuff it with newspaper to restore it to its original shape - a shape that will hold once the bag is dry.

Here is the ink spot... still drying here in the photo, but believe it or not, it is actually lighter than it was. It would take many, many treatments to get this to fade even more, so I probably won't do anything else to it other than love it just the way it is. This battle scars gives this purse all of its character.

Here is one of my favorite parts: conditioning! This is a wonderful conditioner called Leather CPR. (Many Coach and leather bag lovers swear by it, and I can see why!) It is not too greasy, dries well, and gives your dry purse a good drink of conditioning to last for decades more. I swear by this too and can't live without it now. I also use it on all of my leather boots! It's available here.

I use a horsehair brush to buff out the leather conditioner. After letting it sit for a minute, that brush buffs out the residual remains and works them into the leather. I love it. I was able to get a set of horsehair brushes inexpensively, and it comes with the smaller brush that I use to apply the cleaner. You can get them right here.

Here she is! A touch darker (this happens to lighter colored leather bags), but it's the drink of water she's needed for years. What a lovely bag in the British tan color. She still has a few marks and small stains, but as I said before, what's a good purse without a few battle scars? Just like we humans, the more stress, the stronger we become. And to me, the better we become.


So, I really only use six products for all of the leather purses I buy for myself, and for those I buy and sell in my Etsy shop. All of these items cost about $60 and will last for years. I clean and condition one or two bags a month, and have had this latest set of products for at least six months. The containers are still nearly full.

Here they are again: 

Saddle Soap
Black Saddle Soap
Suede Cleaner
Leather Conditioner
Microfiber Cloths
Horsehair Brushes

Thank you for checking out my Coach purse clean-up!
Hope you enjoyed it.♥




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