Handbag Care

[ZTAngel]

Have any of you ever cleaned one of your designer handbags? How did you do it?

I have a black Fendi in that cloth material. Since the bag rests right under my arms, it gets some of my deoderant flakes on it if I'm wearing a tank top. I know...ew. It doesn't look bad or anything but I feel it's probably time to clean it. How would I go about doing that?

My Burberry needs a good washing. It's the vinyl kind. I threw it into one of my desk drawers the other day without realizing there was a capless pen in there. The pen attacked my Burberry. I tried soap and water but that didn't do the trick. I'm afraid to try anything else unless it's a tested method!

Oh, and I don't trust any of the local drycleaners with my designer stuff. I've heard too many horror stories about drycleaners "losing" items or ruining them.

Any help?

[WCUgirl]

For the deoderant spots, try using Gal Pal or another deoderant removal system. You can purchase Gal Pal through drugstore.com, and a lot of times Belk or another department store will have a similar product.

[TriDeltaGal]

ZTAngel,

Ahh, I know how you feel, I had a similar mishap with me vinyl Burberry (After signing a credit card sales slip, I was closing up my purse with the pen in my hand and it got all over the inside flap of my purse).

A few weeks later I went to get my magnetic clasp fixed on the same purse and I asked the man at the shoe/purse repair shop if there was anything he could do to get it out. He told me that with the texture of the bag, I would have only had a chance to get it out if I had treated it immediately after the pen had gotten on it. So, supposedly it's permanent

So, if you find anything that works, let me know because I am desperate to get it out, it's one of my most favorite everyday bags!

Good Luck!

[ladygreek]

I am bad with my handbags. I need to do better. Speaking of cleaners "losing" things, I had one lose a St. John's suit.

[FSUZeta]

walk around in the city-you many see your suit going down the street!! some cleaners lost an ourfit of mine and then mysteriously it showed up months later. their explaination was that they must have sent it home with another customer who just put their cleaning away and didn't take the bags off until months later, but i don't buy it. i think one of their employees was wearing it(a la seinfeld). i am just glad that i got it back!

ztangel, you might try rubbing alcohol on a q tip to remove the ink. my husband is famous for leaving his pens in his pockets and then we have ink all over the laundry. i would try it on a part of the purse that would not be easily seen -dab with the alcohol soaked q tip and then dab with a cotton cloth. good luck.

[ZTAngel]

Originally posted by TriDeltaGal
ZTAngel,

Ahh, I know how you feel, I had a similar mishap with me vinyl Burberry (After signing a credit card sales slip, I was closing up my purse with the pen in my hand and it got all over the inside flap of my purse).

A few weeks later I went to get my magnetic clasp fixed on the same purse and I asked the man at the shoe/purse repair shop if there was anything he could do to get it out. He told me that with the texture of the bag, I would have only had a chance to get it out if I had treated it immediately after the pen had gotten on it. So, supposedly it's permanent

So, if you find anything that works, let me know because I am desperate to get it out, it's one of my most favorite everyday bags!

Good Luck!

I never thought of this before but I'm desperate enough now....

Maybe those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers? They get almost anything off the walls in your house so maybe they work on handbags too! I'll test it on a small area and let you know.

[valkyrie]

If there's a Fendi or Burberry store near you, you might want to see if they could clean the bags for you. I know you can get Louis Vuitton bags cleaned at their boutiques -- I have one with GUM and water stains on the bottom, and I keep meaning to take it there because I'm afraid to do anything myself.

[AGDee]

Hairspray is the item of choice to take ink out of anything.