How a $4,000 Chanel vanity case is professionally restored
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 My name's Freya Bath, and I own Bags Amore, a handbag
00:13 restoration company in Sydney, Australia.
00:16 Today, I'm going to walk you through how I restore
00:18 a $4,000 Chanel vanity case.
00:21 Typical of a bag of this age, the lining
00:23 is disintegrating as it is a coated fabric.
00:26 We also have wear and tear to the outer corners.
00:34 This bag was purchased 10 years ago for $1,500 US.
00:38 It is today worth between $3,000 and $5,000.
00:42 So in its restored state, it will be worth more towards $5,000.
00:47 To begin the process, I'm going to remove the strap
00:50 from the bag.
00:51 So I'm going to do this using some small pliers
00:53 to gently remove the chain from the link.
00:56 The strap is very worn, so there is color wear, dirt buildup,
01:00 and the metalwork is tarnished.
01:02 I'm then going to take a quick unpick
01:05 and undo the stitches at the end of the chain.
01:08 I now need to unthread the leather through the chain
01:11 so that it's completely separated from the metalwork.
01:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:18 Now I've fully removed the leather from the chain.
01:27 I'm going to clean the strap.
01:30 So the leather strap will just be cleaned initially
01:32 with foam cleaner.
01:34 So I'm doing this with a horsehair hide
01:36 brush, which is nice and gentle to get
01:38 into the grain of the leather.
01:44 I'm then going to continue this process
01:46 throughout the exterior of the bag.
01:48 So I'm just applying foam cleaner to the bag surface,
01:51 doing one panel at a time.
01:54 I'm gently massaging the foam into the grain of the leather.
01:56 It's always important to clean the bag
02:02 before applying pigment.
02:04 This will mean that the pigments will bond to the leather better.
02:07 If there's anything left on the surface of the bag,
02:09 such as silicons from protector sprays or day-to-day dirt
02:13 buildup, this could hinder the bonding process.
02:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:19 Now I'm going to clean the interior of the bag.
02:29 I just need to clean as much of the debris away as possible.
02:33 So I'm using a much more gentle cleaner here,
02:36 which is like a luxury leather cleaner.
02:38 So it's a water-based cleaner.
02:40 And I'm basically just going to gently wipe inside the lining.
02:45 This has to be done really gently,
02:47 as if any pressure is put on, or if a product that
02:51 was incorrect was used, it will then start to remove
02:53 even more of the lining.
02:56 We need to preserve as much of the original lining
02:58 as possible to make the job easier in the restoring stage.
03:01 Now we've fully cleaned the bag inside and out,
03:09 I'm going to move over to the repair process.
03:13 The interior of the bag is disintegrating.
03:15 This is quite common with this age bag,
03:17 as it was made from a coated fabric.
03:20 Over time and due to humidity, the surface of the lining
03:24 will start to crumble and come away.
03:26 We need to restore the lining as close
03:28 to the original as possible.
03:30 So we're going to rebuild the surface
03:31 using fillers and pigments.
03:34 So here I'm going to use a flexible filler.
03:37 This filler moves with the surface of the leather
03:39 or fabric.
03:40 So I'm just going to apply this using a very soft and small
03:43 paintbrush, so I can get a nice even surface
03:47 across the whole interior lining.
03:49 The idea is to restore the original
03:52 and avoid having to replace something like this.
03:54 This means we retain the original Chanel logo.
03:58 I'm going to do this very slowly to make sure
04:00 that I get a good even coverage all the way around.
04:03 I'm going to start using the filler along the top rim
04:06 and then work my way down into the main crevices
04:09 of the lining.
04:10 Once applied, this filler needs 24 hours to cure.
04:14 Now I've left the filler for 24 hours.
04:17 I'm sanding down the surface.
04:19 This is to remove any bits of grain or lumps or bumps
04:24 and try and get a smooth finish.
04:26 I'm just going to start sanding around the top really gently.
04:29 I'm using a very fine sandpaper so it
04:32 doesn't grab or wear down the surface of the original lining.
04:36 And I'm then going to wipe over with some alcohol.
04:40 This will remove any of the surface dust
04:42 that has been created from the sandpaper.
04:45 And then it will also slightly soften the filler
04:47 to help it smooth and blend into the original surface
04:51 of the lining.
05:00 So before airbrushing, I'm just going to remove the CC lock
05:03 hardware.
05:04 This makes it much easier to get an even coat around the lock.
05:08 I'm just going to unscrew this with a small flathead
05:10 screwdriver.
05:12 Once I've removed that, I'm going
05:13 to tape up the remaining hardware on the bag.
05:16 So now I'm just going to move on to mixing
05:22 a color for the bag.
05:24 I custom mix every color by eye.
05:26 I tend to use about three or four paints
05:28 to mix each color.
05:29 So here I'm using caramel, gold yellow, and citron.
05:34 I'm mixing these together.
05:35 And I'm just going to test the color on a small area
05:38 in the bag to make sure it matches.
05:40 This can take a few attempts sometimes,
05:42 just to make sure that the color is absolutely spot on.
05:44 Now I've got my color.
05:49 And I'm good to go.
05:50 I'm just going to pop it into an airbrush.
05:52 I use an airbrush as it allows me
05:54 to create lots of fine coats of pigment,
05:58 rather than painting it on, which would go on too thick.
06:02 It's really important not to too heavily coat
06:05 a bag with paints, pigments, and fillers.
06:08 Less is always more.
06:09 So we still want to preserve the original look
06:12 and feel of the bag.
06:14 I'm just going to work my way around each section of the bag,
06:18 concentrating on the areas that have more wear.
06:21 Now I've managed to get a nice coat of pigment
06:25 over all of the bag.
06:26 I'm then going to use a finish.
06:29 A finish is a clear coat sealant,
06:30 which goes on top of the pigment to protect it
06:33 from wear and tear.
06:35 Here I've mixed about 2/3 high gloss to the 1/3 matte
06:39 to get a nice satin sheen, which reflects the original leather.
06:44 I'm just going to airbrush this finish over the whole bag
06:49 and then leave it to dry.
06:50 Now moving on to the leather in the strap,
06:53 I'm actually going to paint this on with a paintbrush
06:55 so as not to have too much wasted paint.
06:57 So I'm just going to run all the way along the strap with one
07:01 coat, leave it to dry, and then repeat the process.
07:05 I'm then going to finish this off again
07:06 with airbrushing the finish for a nice, even layer
07:09 across the whole strap.
07:12 Now I'm going to move on to the lining.
07:15 I'm going to take my paintbrush and paint in
07:18 over all of the areas where the surface had chipped away.
07:22 This may take a few coats, as it was shown white underneath,
07:26 but I need to rebuild the color back up
07:27 to match the surface lining.
07:29 Once I've done that, I'm going to apply a finish.
07:45 Due to the severity of the condition of this lining,
07:47 there will still remain a few imperfections.
07:50 But what we have done is we've sealed and recoated
07:52 the surface, so this will prevent any further damage
07:55 from happening and give this handbag a new lease on life.
07:59 Now that I've completed all of the airbrushing,
08:06 I am now going to polish the hardware.
08:10 Here I'm going to use a fine gray metal polish
08:12 to just gently polish the surface of the metal.
08:15 This will remove any of the tarnishing.
08:17 As I'm doing so, you can see the dark color
08:20 of the tarnished metal work coming off onto the cotton bud.
08:24 I'm going to polish all the links on the strap
08:28 to bring them up to a nice, shiny gold.
08:30 Now all the color work is done, I'm
08:35 going to reattach the strap.
08:37 I'm going to firstly rethread the leather
08:39 through the strap.
08:41 It's really important that you align the leather up properly
08:44 so that you get the same amount each end.
08:46 I am now using the pliers to reattach the chain to the bag.
08:52 Now I need to stitch the leather back together
08:54 through the original holes.
08:56 I'm taking some matching color thread
08:57 and using a very fine needle so I can get
08:59 through the original holes.
09:01 It's really important to go through the original holes,
09:04 as if you make a new hole in leather,
09:06 there's no way of reversing that without then going
09:09 through another repair process.
09:11 I'm just going to secure with a couple of stitches
09:13 and then tie it in on itself to keep it neat.
09:17 And now I just need to thread the end back
09:20 through the leather and then secure
09:22 with a little bit of glue, just like it was originally
09:24 done so.
09:27 And now I'm going to apply a leather protector
09:29 to the surface of the leather.
09:30 This will protect the bag from dye transfer from jeans,
09:34 UV damage, and liquid and oil staining.
09:38 It's really important to protect your leather bags
09:40 for future wear and tear.
09:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:45 I'm really happy how the restoration of this bag
09:49 turned out.
09:50 The interior is now ready to be worn
09:52 and the lining is all fixed up.
09:54 The outside is no longer showing any signs of wear and tear,
09:57 and the gold hardware is looking nice and shiny.
10:00 I think my customer is going to be really pleased
10:01 with the outcome.
10:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:23 [Music]