How to keep leather handbag looking like new?

January 3, 2009 3:25 PM

I need some handbag care advice for my girlfriend. She has a golden-tan leather Furla bag that is starting to get a little dried out. We're not in a big city, so going to a professional probably isn't an option. What can she do to treat the leather so it stays looking like new? Specific brand names of products we can order are preferable.
posted by stopgap to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

My husband and I ride a Harley so we have a lot of leather to take care of. The product we both like best is made by Maguire. Just google Maguire's leather cleaner. We use it on all our leathers. My chaps are several years old and still look great.
posted by Jules22871 at 3:36 PM on January 3, 2009

Oh yeah, you can usually buy Maguires at Autozone or any car parts place and it isn't that expensive.
posted by Jules22871 at 3:37 PM on January 3, 2009

Mink oil, a generic name for leather-care oil, is a good choice.
posted by IAmBroom at 3:40 PM on January 3, 2009

I have a lot of leather gear and some of it is used frequently. It all gets treated with Lexol about once a year. My brown jacket is pretty old - 1986 - and I've been using Lexol on it once a year plus whenever it gets soaked in a rainstorm or the like. It is unusual in cut and color, I value it highly and it looks really, really good.
posted by jet_silver at 3:49 PM on January 3, 2009

get some leather conditioner. you don't even need to order it online. a good cobbler should have some or any shop that specializes in leather.
posted by violetk at 4:15 PM on January 3, 2009

Seconding Lexol-- works really well on all of my leather horse gear, which gets really dirty and often gets wet. If it's not really dirty, skip the cleaner (orange bottle) and just get the conditioner (light brown bottle) to keep it from drying out. Don't use a lot or it will take a long time to dry and freak you out by staying wet/dark a long time.
posted by weezetr at 4:39 PM on January 3, 2009

Lexol is great. Both the cleaner and the conditioner work really well and a little goes a long way. It's under $10 on amazon.
posted by gofargogo at 6:00 PM on January 3, 2009

apple leather care is great for purses:
http://leatherstuff.com/shop/index.php?id=290
posted by rxrfrx at 6:53 PM on January 3, 2009

I bet if you have a cobbler or any kind of show repair place near you they could probably help you out. I don't know what your definition of "big city" is, so I'm not sure if there would be one near you. There's one in a city near me of less than 50k people.
posted by NHlove at 6:57 PM on January 3, 2009

I'm quite fond of Zaino Z9 and Z10. Heard Lexol is almost as good, never tried it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:42 PM on January 3, 2009

I use Fredelka leather dressing-- designed for restoration and preservation of old leather-bound books-- on my stuff.
posted by jamjam at 9:11 AM on January 4, 2009

Thanks for the advice everyone. I found a shoe repair place that recommended a product for light leathers that seemed to do the trick, though I can't remember the name right now.
posted by stopgap at 5:38 PM on February 8, 2009