How To Clean A Leather Purse From Thrift Store

Sometimes a thrift store, a consignment shop or a fleas market is the right place to shop for a nice leather purse.

Think of the many times you've wanted to own that high-end Gucci, Bottega Veneta or Tom Ford but your budget fails you.

At a fraction of the price, you can get a good condition second-hand classy purse that will make you stand out from the crowd.

You probably have one right now and that is why you are seeking to know how to clean a leather purse from a thrift store, a consignment shop or a fleas market.

Yes, with good cleaning and restoration, no one will know or tell that you bought yours from a thrift store.

This post guides you on how to clean a purse from a thrift store, consignment shop or a fleas market. It provides the procedure to restore the leather purse to a brand new look.

Before we go through the process of how to clean a purse from a thrift store, let's go through some preliminaries.

Pick a good condition purse at the shop

The success of the steps covered in this post depends hugely on the condition of the leather purse you get from the thrift store. The less damaged and stained the purse is, the better results you are likely to get.

Of course, nothing is new at the thrift shop. However, some items there are more worn out than others. Some are used with more care than others.

It is therefore important that you make the right choices. Give a hard look at the purse you are about to buy. Watch out for tearing and scratches.

Also remember that once you make the payment, you hardly have an opportunity to return the purse.

The things you need to clean and restore your leather purse

Some of the things you need especially to just clean a leather purse are easy to come by. Others you need to buy but you do not have to spend a lot of money.

Let's go through the list of the specific things you need before we look at the process of how to clean a purse from a thrift store, consignment store or fleas market.

Water in a basin

It is important to point out that water and leather are not a great combination. The leather is damaged when it absorbs water.

But we can use water sparingly in our leather purse cleaning.

With water involved, there is a tendency to bring soap into the picture. We do not need soap to clean our leather purse because it tends to create water stains that are hard to get rid of.

The temperature of the water does not really matter but lukewarm is better.

Several clean pieces of rag

You can get these from old clothes or towels. The fluffier they are the better so that you avoid creating scratches on the surface of your leather purse.

You should also prefer white colorless rags because they are least likely to leave color stains on your leather purse.

Leather shampoo

This is what you need to use in the place of soap. The leather cleaners or shampoo products are made with great care given to PH balance.

Too much acidity or too much alkalinity can damage the leather.

I recommend Leather Honey cleaner, which you can buy on Amazon.

Disinfectant

You do know what environment a purse from a thrift store has been used, stored and carried.

You also do not know what kind of items it was used to carry. It is not impossible that a purse was used to carry laboratory specimen—extreme example but possible.

It is therefore important to disinfect the purse before you begin using it. That way you protect yourself from possible contact diseases and ailments.

The best disinfectant you can use is medical grade anti-bacterial wipes. Unlike spray disinfectant, wipes not only reach every part of the surface, but they also clean dirt from the surface.

I recommend Zogics Antibacterial Wipes sold on Amazon as well. The product is registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and comes in a reusable wipe bucket of 800 pieces.

Even though the pricing is a little high, it is value for money especially for the health safety the wipes provided. They can kill up to 99.9% of germs, bacteria, and viruses. They can protect you from Flu Virus, Strep, E-coli, Salmonella, HIV-1, H1N1, MRSA, VISA, and VRE.

Also, you can use the wipes from a single purchase on other surfaces such as on gym equipment, leather seats or even door handles for weeks.

Leather recoloring balm

This does two things. It gives the purse leather its color back and it also seals scratches on the surface so that a smooth look is regained.

The challenge with getting this product is making sure that you get the exact color of the purse. A slight mistake in choosing the colors might have a huge impact and probably give you results you might not like.

You should buy a leather recoloring balm only if the cost is worth it. Obviously, you do not want the cost of cleaning and restoring your purse to be more than what you would use to buy a brand new.

It is especially important to consider for this particular item because after you buy the recoloring balm, you might use it only on the purse. You may never use it elsewhere.

But if we are talking about a restoring a wallet that costs $700, $800 or $3000, then it makes economic sense.

I recommend Furniture Clinic Leather Recoloring Balm, which you can buy on Amazon.

Leather conditioner

This is supposed to soften, moisturize and make the leather tender. It also at the same time makes it firmer and therefore long-lasting.

Unlike the recoloring balm, you can use leather conditioner on many other items including leather seats and even shoes. Therefore the cost of this item is easy to accommodate.

I recommend Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, which you can also buy on Amazon.

Leather protector finishing

This will protect the leather from water and damp environment. It will also give your purse a shining and attractive look.

I recommend you buy Tandy Leather Eco-Flo Super Shene on Amazon.

With the necessary tools ready, let's get to the actual process of how to clean a purse from a thrift store, a consignment store or a fleas market.

Get rid of stuff from the previous owner

Go through the compartment of the purse and make sure they are empty. Of course, normally the previous owner has to have checked it to make sure none of their items was left in the purse before they handed it over to the thrift store.

But it is possible to have a few things left. Or things like papers, cards, and receipts that they did not really need could be left in the bag.

Pour out all the trash from the compartment. You may need to hit it a bit to unstuck some particles in the compartments.

Wipe the dust

Take one of the dry pieces of rags. Use it to wipe the entire purse. This process should be methodical and you should try to cover the entire of the inside compartments as well as the outside surface.

Shake the rag after every few wiping steps to avoid smearing back the dust it collects.

Make sure every compartment of the purse has been covered.

Clean the purse with an anti-germ wipe and damp cloth

Wipe all the compartments and then the outside of the purse with the disinfectant wipes. One piece is enough to cover the entire purse.

Once you are done disinfecting the purse, you should put one of the clean rags into the water and squeeze it until it is mildly damp.

Clean the purse while concentrating on spots with stains.

But if the stains seem to be stubborn, do not put a lot of pressure on them because that might damage the leather.

Stubborn stains are removed in the next steps.

After you are done, you can put the purse in an open and airy place to have the dampness go. You can put some clean and dry fabric sheets in every compartment to marinate for an hour or so.

If all you needed is to clean the purse then you only need to apply leather conditioner and the protector finishing—we will go into detail on how to do this later—and the purse is ready for use.

But if you need it fully restored, we have more steps to follow before we apply the condition and the protector finishing.

How to recondition leather purse;

Clean the purse with leather shampoo

Take the purse and apply the leather shampoo on its outer surfaces. Take a soft brush and scrub the surface with attention given to stain spots. If you do not have the leather brush, a toothbrush can do a good job.

The leather shampoo will create foam as you scrub. It works by pulling out stain particles from the surface of the leather. It will also remove loose strands of the leather hence increasing its smoothness.

The scrubbing should go on for about half a minute per spot.

When you are done scrubbing, take your damp cleaning cloth, put it in water and squeeze it until it is mildly damp and then wipe the shampoo off the leather surface.

Keep the purse away for about 20 minutes to get the surface dry again.

How to remove scratches from leather

How to recolor leather purse. Knowing how to remove scratches from leather purse is perhaps the most important of this process.

Take the purse and identify and mark scratches on the surface of the leather. Use a spatula to scoop and apply the leather recoloring balm. Spread it evenly and make sure it is pressed in firmly into the cracks.

You can add several layers of the balm to get to the look you want.

Add the condition and the protector finish

Take a clean rug. Preferably white and add the condition on it and apply it on the leather. Make sure it is evenly spread on the top surface of the purse.

After about 10 minutes, take another clean rag, apply a finishing protector on it and wipe the entire of the outer surface of the purse. This will give the purse a clean shiny look. It will also protect the leather from water and harmful stains.

Now your purse is ready for use. Just keep it in a dry and airy location for a few hours to have everything get in place.

That is how to clean a purse from a thrift store, a consignment store or a fleas market.