Hooray, a question! From LM in Melbourne…
“i recently went to savers and the brotherhood of st.lawrence (both in footscray) and bought two bags- a plain brown sort of clutch/purse and what seems like a tiny snakeskin bag, to a total of $5. however, when i got home i saw that the plain brown bag had this extra mint gum patch stuck to the black lining and that the snakeskin-esque bag had some sort of glue/tree sap looking thing stuck near the inside zipper. my question to you is how would i go about removing these without causing significant damage to the bags? i think it would be a great idea if you could give advice to others on how to remove stains and such on vintage clothing, bags etc. through a blog entry.”
Yeah. Stain removal’s a bitch.
As someone with a house full of op shop stuff, cats, curry powder, vino and sweaty gym gear (I mean, I wash it, but gym clothes are always kind of gross even when clean. I think that’s because my gym smells anyway, but That’s Irrelevant) I know all about the heartache that comes with a great whopping stain tainting an otherwise loverly vintage/op shop item.
Firstly, the gum. I totally sympathise here. Gum is gross at the best of times; I think we have Kylie Moll to thank for her community service in showing us all the dangers of insistent gum chewing (ie you look/sound/begin acting like a moll). So there is nothing worse than discovering that you are the innocent victim of someone else’s filthy habit. At school/uni and on public transport, there have been numerous occasions on which a stray finger of mine has brushed something oddly pliant under the table/seat/window sill and come out with a fine layer of Eau de Second Hand Peppermint. Or worse – once my knee came in contact with a bit of pre-loved Hubba Bubba and there were strings of it hanging down my tights. Repulsive. Not to mention the stepping in gum experience we’ve all had…
Anyway, ranting and raving aside – how can one get the dangblasted stuff out?
Well, the time honoured method is to freeze it. This can be done in a number of ways – stick a plastic bag of ice cubes on the offending gum; jam the whole bag in the freezer; jam the bag in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer (this makes it freeze faster). But the principle is the same – freeze the gum. This will harden it, after which you can pick it off – hopefully it will come off in one foul lump. If not, use tweezers.
If there’s residue, what you can do depends on the fabric. If it’s something sturdy, like most synthetics and cotton, dab it with eucalyptus oil (dilute the oil for pale fabrics) and it should come off. I’ve heard other people recommend heavy duty stuff like petrol and lighter fluid, but quite frankly these seem like rather high-risk toxic ventures to me and good ol’ eucalyptus should do the job.
OK, now the second problem – glue/tree sap. I’m not sure whether this stain is on the outside of the bag or on the lining, but assuming it’s on the bag…
The best advice I can give is that what you do should depend on whether the bag is real snakeskin or not. If it is real snakeskin (and this is old/flaky) then exercise Extreme Caution, as it’s probably very delicate. In this case, I’d recommend going to the dry cleaner. If they can’t fix it themselves, they should be able to provide specialist advice and tell you exactly what the stain is.
However, if it’s ‘mock’ snakeskin, or the stain is on the lining (and the lining is a sturdy fabric) the problem is a whole lot easier. If it’s a waterproof glue, a spirit solvent such as methylated spirits should do the trick (but if it’s any kind of real skin, don’t use spirits – see below). Just whack some on a soft cloth or some kitchen paper and away you go. If this doesn’t work, there’s a chance it’s not an adhesive (or it’s a Super Adhesive) in which case I’d again go and harangue the dry cleaner for answers.
If your bag is skin, you can use tea tree oil as a natural solvent instead of spirits. It also smells nicer. You can use it on synthetics as well, but it probably won’t be as immediately effective.
OK, LM, hope that helps! Let me know how you go.
As an Interesting Aside, did you know that various exotic leathers, such as snakeskin, alligator etc became incredibly mainstream and popular during the early 1940s, as regular leather was mostly going to the war effort? So if you see notably old exotic leathers, there’s a good chance they’re from this period. There you go.
Anyway, are there any other cleaning/stain removal/storage/repairs questions out there? This could become a regular thing.
