Hi Ladies,

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I receive many questions from you about the how, what and why of the refinishing process for leather bags and the end results.  Maybe I can shed some light on the mysteries of leather restoration.

After all these years working with leather, I am still amazed at how the results of refinishing seem to vary so much.  There are lots of factors that affect the process and I have listed a few of them below.

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• Type of leather - lamb, goat, cow

• The tanning process used to create the leather - vegetable tanned, chromium tanned or syn-tanned (synthetic)

• Condition of the leather - wear, pH damage, etc.

• Whether certain products have been used on the leather that would cause pH damage (such as strong cleaners that contain soap or detergents)

• The dyes and/or pigments used as the finishing process

• The top coating treatment such as protein finishes

• Sun damage, oxidation of the leather

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In any restoration process, the key is to do the least amount of refinishing.  This ensures the leather remains as genuine as possible and retains as much of its originality as possible.

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Color matching is the most important skill in leather restoration.  We have dedicated years of training in order to perfect our color matching skills, which is why we can restore those very bright and high chroma reds and purples and the complicated browns that require base and print to achieve the JND (just noticeable difference) match - the industry standard.

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For some handbags the feel will be slightly compromised.  After all, once an unfinished lamb is stained and worn past the epidermal level, the only option is to restore it by adding a leather finish.  It will look like new but wont feel like naked leather.  The benefit of the restoration process is it offers new life for your bag as well as cleanability that was not there before :-)

In order to safeguard your handbags, I recommend you protect them with pH-matched products and moisturize them regularly; keep them out of the sun and keep them away from anything that may transfer dye such as jeans, some sweaters and leather car interiors.  This way you can keep you bag looking fabulous for years before any restoration work is needed.  Also, it is best to attend to minor repairs for your handbag rather than wait until the it is at its worst before sending it in.  Ongoing maintenance keeps the leather at its best and the restoration results are always much better.

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I go over all of our products right here :   

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Lovin My Bags Luxury Leather Handbag Spa products are the result of technological advancements in leather care and have been formulated specifically for handbags.

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