The theme of this post can be best summed up as follows:
What results can someone reasonably expect when it comes to the
hand cleaning of a handbag? The perfection one would find in an
identical, brand new handbag on display in a boutique? Or the very
best achievable results based on the application of the appropriate
skills and judgement to the existing condition of the handbag?
A new client dropped off a 6 year old Louis Vuitton Batignolles
Horizontal Tote
with the traditional brown monogrammed coated canvas and natural
cowhide leather trim and handles.
Now, we hand clean many Louis Vuitton coated canvas handbags every
month at RAVE FabriCARE. Many of these handbags arrive through our
Nationwide Clean By Mail service. For examples of our work on these
coated canvas handbags, click here, here, here and here. For
examples of our work on other high-end handbags, click here.
Fact is, most of the handbag departments at high-end boutiques and
department stores in Scottsdale and Phoenix, refer their clients
directly to RAVE FabriCARE. Why? Because they have personally
experienced our work and they trust RAVE FabriCARE to achieve the
very best technologically achievable results.
Now, back to this 6 year old Louis Vuitton Batignolles Horizontal
Tote....
When you examine the handbag in the "before" photos below, you'll
notice a number of defects:
• The natural cowhide leather trim is a very dark
shade of brown as a result of aging and usage.
• The natural cowhide leather trim is oil stained on
the handles and along the circumference of the opening.
• The natural cowhide leather trim along the entire
opening has small ridges or indentations as a result to exposure to
moisture/humidity and subsequent drying.
• Every piece of hardware is scratched.
• The piping on every corner is badly scratched and
scuffed.
• The lining is ink stained in various places.
• The brown monogrammed coated canvas has a half inch
long "cut" on one side.
In addition, the interior of the handbag smelled like the inside a
locker room that hadn't been deodorized in a while.
Apparently, this client believed, that if she brought her Louis
Vuitton handbag to RAVE FabriCARE, a hand cleaning would return the
handbag "like new" condition -- to the look it had when it was
purchased brand new 6 years ago.
Apparently, she claims not to have understood or realized
that
• manufacturers of handbags never ever intended that
their handbags be cleaned
• the cleaning of a handbag involves a combination of
art, science, skills and judgement
• every handbag is different because of a multiplicity
of factors such as the nature and combination of the materials used
(leather, exotic leather, suede, patent leather, fabric, canvas,
nylon, vinyl, etc.), the colors, the dyes, the finishes, and the
conditions of usage and storage over time
• perfection -- defined as the look and feel of the
handbag when it was brand new and had never been used -- can never
be achieved
• most manufactures do not offer a handbag cleaning
service for all the above reasons.
The results that we were able to achieve are illustrated in the
before and after photos below:
BEFORE
AFTER
So what did we do to achieve these results?
• We hand cleaned the exterior brown monogrammed
coated canvas, removing the light film of dirt that had accumulated
over the years.
• We hand cleaned the natural cowhide leather trim,
extracting as much of the accumulated oils as possible.
• We hand cleaned the interior lining, eliminating all
the small ball point ink marks and significantly reducing the
intensity of the large permanent ink marks.
• We treated the interior lining with a virucide,
killing 99.9% of all bacteria and germs
• We deodorized the interior of the handbag,
neutralizing the locker room smell.
The client now claims -- without citing any specifics -- that we
"ruined" her handbag.
Imagine that!
Because we were unable to return her 6 year old handbag to "like
new" condition, she claims that we "ruined" her soiled, scratched,
scuffed, torn, ink stained, smelly handbag. Accordingly, she
refused to pay for the work we had done and sued to be compensated
for the original purchase price of her handbag.
What do you think?
To comment on this post, please use the comment section
below.
To ask a question relating to any of your garments or accessories,
please email us.
Now, we hand clean many Louis Vuitton coated canvas handbags
every month at RAVE FabriCARE. Many of these handbags arrive
through our Nationwide
Clean By Mail service. For examples of our work on these coated
canvas handbags, click
here,
here,
here and
here. For examples of our work on other high-end handbags,
click
here.
Fact is, most of the handbag departments at high-end boutiques
and department stores in Scottsdale and Phoenix, refer their
clients directly to RAVE FabriCARE. Why? Because they have
personally experienced our work and they trust RAVE FabriCARE to
achieve the very best technologically achievable results.
A new client dropped off a 6 year old Louis Vuitton Batignolles
Horizontal Tote with the traditional brown monogrammed coated
canvas and natural cowhide leather trim and handles.
When you examine the handbag in the "before" photos below,
you'll notice a number of defects:
- The natural cowhide leather trim is a very dark shade of brown
as a result of aging and usage.
- The natural cowhide leather trim is oil stained on the handles
and along the circumference of the opening.
- The natural cowhide leather trim along the entire opening has
small ridges or indentations as a result to exposure to
moisture/humidity and subsequent drying.
- Every piece of hardware is scratched.
- The piping on every corner is badly scratched and scuffed.
- The lining is ink stained in various places.
- The brown monogrammed coated canvas has a half inch long "cut"
on one side.
In addition, the interior of the handbag had a musty smell,
typical of an older Louis Vuitton coated canvas handbags.
The results that we were able to achieve are illustrated in the
before and after photos below:
BEFORE
AFTER
So what did we do to achieve these results?
- We hand cleaned the exterior brown monogrammed coated canvas,
removing the light film of dirt that had accumulated over the
years.
- We hand cleaned the natural cowhide leather trim, extracting as
much of the accumulated oils as possible.
- We hand cleaned the interior lining, eliminating all the small
ball point ink marks and significantly reducing the intensity of
the large permanent ink marks.
- We treated the interior lining with a virucide, killing 99.9%
of all
bacteria and germs.
- We deodorized the interior of the handbag, neutralizing the
locker room smell.
The client now claims that we "ruined" her handbag because we
were unable to restore the look of the leather to original
condition, we were unable to remove all the ink stains
from the lining, and we were unable to repair the cut in the fabric
to "invisible" status.
Imagine that!
Because we were unable to return her 6 year old handbag to "like
new" condition, she claims that we "ruined" her soiled, scratched,
scuffed, torn, ink stained, smelly handbag. Accordingly, she
refused to pay for the work we had done, sued to be compensated for
the price that her handbag could sell for on the open market if
Louis Vuitton were to replace all the leather trim and leather
piping and filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General
(Office of Consumer Affairs).
Clearly, this client believed, that if she brought her Louis
Vuitton handbag to RAVE FabriCARE, a hand cleaning would return the
handbag "like new" condition -- to the look it had when it was
purchased brand new 6 years ago -- and she could save the
substantial cost of sending it to Louis Vuitton to replace all the
leather trim and leather piping.
Clearly, by her demonstrated actions, she is claiming that she
has no idea that
- manufacturers of handbags never ever intended that their
handbags be cleaned
- the cleaning of a handbag involves a combination of art,
science, skills and judgement
- every handbag is different because of a multiplicity of factors
such as the nature and combination of the materials used (leather,
exotic leather, suede, patent leather, fabric, canvas, nylon,
vinyl, etc.), the colors, the dyes, the finishes, and the
conditions of usage and storage over time
- perfection -- defined as the look and feel of the handbag when
it was brand new and had never been used -- can never be
achieved
- most manufacturers do not offer a handbag cleaning service for
all the above reasons.
What do you think?
To comment on this post, please use the comment section
below.
To ask a question relating to any of your garments or
accessories, please email us.