Oct. 5, 2007
No one ever said love was easy, especially if you love couture handbags. While not many will purchase Chanel’s Diamond Forever tote (available in December 2007, for those of you making a wish list, with the diamond-encrusted price tag of $260,150), the demand for high-end handbags has skyrocketed. Online retailer eLuxury.com saw sales of luxury handbags (those over $500) increase 11% last year.
With this kind of investment, proper cleaning and maintenance is essential. Hallak Cleaners, a leading couture dry cleaners that specializes in high-end products and handbags, recommends the following tips for keeping handbags and purses looking their arm-candy best:
- Store it in the dust cover or a soft pillow case when not in use
- Handle your bag with clean hands
- Avoid handling after applying beauty products, face foundations or hand creams
- Keep newspapers, photocopies or other printed materials at a safe distance
- Always avoid contact with ink
- Most important: If your purse gets dirty or stained, don’t experiment with cleaning methods yourself. Doing so might permanently damage your bag. Seek expert advice
“The most important thing is not to try cleaning it yourself,” said John-Claude Hallak. “Even simple stains can ruin a purse, and special leather, suede and fabric each take different cleaning methods to bring them back to life. The ‘ring’ left by an improperly cleaned stain can render an expensive bag unwearable.”
For best results, Hallak recommends having all handbags cleaned when they are lightly to moderately soiled.
A good cleaners should hand-clean the bags and refinish them to original beauty. Fabric handbags are protected against future stains with DuPont Teflon or Scotchgard. Suede handbags are evaluated to determine which cleaning processes are best suited for that type of skin. Oils and colors are restored to the bags after hand cleaning to make the appearance look as rich as they day you bought it.
Hallak also provides service to many famous New York boutiques including Tod’s, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Burbery, Chanel and many more.
Barbara Moss is a media professional from Paramus, N.J.
My Name is Javon I have a Micheal Kors Suede Bag when I brought it I did’nt notice that it had a price thing on it an one of the sales person’s took it off an it left a sticky stain on the back of it an i tryed to steam it an know it looks very bad an I was wondern if u had any tips on how i can fix it
Thank You Ms Javon
How do I clean a pink bag that has green slurpee all over it?
To remove glue from leather use odorless mineral spirits found at Art Supply stores (dont use too much – dampen a cloth) rub lightly. This should work.
Lovin my Bags’ Luxury Cleanser will remove glue from finished leathers as well.
Barbara
Green slurpee means dye – try Lovin My Bags Luxury Cleanser Plus – it was created to remove dye transfer from handbag leather and is safe for all leathers even unfinished leathers- it is pH matched to leather – so you can use it safely –
Last resort is professional refinishig which is also available at Lovin My Bags.
Good Luck!
Barbara
Tengo una cartera de gamuza, la compre hace 2 meses…
para mi suerte me la presto mi cuñada y ahora q me la trajo esta toda descuidada, ( esta limpia pero parece sucia o polvosa, pues asi se ven las cartera d gamuza una vez q estan descuidadas) y me preocupa xq practicamente no la he utilizado y ya eparece vieja y hasta como verguenza me da sacarla ..
que puedo hacer? la puedo lavar? con que tipo productos?? tengo miedo q al lavarla su suavidad se pierda (ya me ha pasado con otras prendas) me podrian recomendar algo,..
me salvarian la vida
Hi !
my name is Isabell, My Husbend just got me a coach hadbag it is fabric/lether its a light coloer brown well all in all i was in a gathering with family and my mother in law droped some coke on to my bag i was really mad now its in one side of the bag plz dont tell me my bag is no good any more!!! i really need your help how do i get the stain out
I’ve found that for dirty leather bags use Nivea handcream and a white cloth. It cleans and shines and even gets out scratches. To clean suede, use an eraser and brush it lightly in the direction of the grain. Brush surface dirt off first.