Caring for your Louis Vuitton

Caring for Your Louis Vuitton

Are you lucky enough to own a classic Louis Vuitton? For decades, the Louis Vuitton handbag has been a symbol of luxury leather and designer style.

If your Louis Vuitton is a treasured investment piece, you’ll want to make sure it maintains its beauty and shine, with glowing leather and bright metal fixtures. Or if you’ve always wanted your own little piece of Vuitton, but felt hesitant about investing in such a prized piece because you’re unsure how to maintain it, these tips will put your mind at ease.

First Things First – How to Store Leather Correctly

The most important part of looking after your leather handbags and purses is making sure you store them away from moisture and light.

Always store handbags in their custom dustbag, or a similar light fabric covering such as a pillowcase. This will protect them from dust and prevent any darkening of the leather. Don’t ever store your bag in an airtight plastic container, like a storage tub, as the leather needs to breathe.

You should also invest in a high quality leather moisturiser – because leather is an animal product it has the potential to dry out and crack if not cared for properly. Using a proper leather moisturiser will provide the proper moisture, increasing the lifespan of your handbag and preserving its beautiful look.

Removing Stains from Your Bag – Inside and Out

It can be devastating when you open your handbag and find that a makeup bottle or eye shadow quad has spilled product all through your bag’s interior. Lipstick is another common offender, with lids quite easily coming off in bags, leaving highly pigmented stains inside.

Even if you’ve stained the outside of your bag, there’s a quick trick you can use that is surprisingly effective for use on leather goods. It’s also a wonderfully easy way to restore a vintage handbag, with very little cost!

Steps for Cleaning Leather

Baby wipes are a fantastic emergency treatment to quickly remove any spots and ensure they don’t set in to the leather.

The important thing is to only use baby wipes containing no oil, alcohol, or fragrance – be sure to check the ingredients list on the back. Using a product with oil has a tendency to darken leather, and alcohol and fragrance will both dry out leather.

The cloth wipe will most likely pick up a slight yellow, orange, or brown colour, depending on how dark the leather is. After you have thoroughly wiped down the leather, it will temporarily be darker due to dampness. Don't worry, just allow the leather to dry. After drying, you'll notice that the leather is slightly lighter in colour and wonderfully clean!

Get a Fresh and Clean Smell for Your Handbag

You can also freshen the smell of the interior by putting a tumble dryer sheet in the bag – the sheet will quickly and effectively draw out any cosmetic or musty smells. This is a particularly useful tip if you’ve purchased a second-hand Louis Vuitton.

Making That Metal Shine

The other part of your Louis Vuitton that is important to maintain is the metal hardware – the zipper, metal fittings and lock. Over time, they will naturally lose their lustre. Vintage bags may show a dull bronze, instead of bright gold.

Steps for Cleaning Metal Hardware

To bring that gold back to life, use a dry paper towel to wipe off as much of the rust around any of the fittings. Then, using ear buds (‘Q-Tips’), buff the small metal fitting pieces with a small amount of metal polish cream. Try not to get any of the cream onto the leather.

Using a dry paper towel, firmly buff the metal pieces that have received metal polish treatment. Keep buffing until the metal is shiny and no longer giving you black residue. Buff larger metal hardware such as the lock as well, using paper towel for both polish cream application and buffing. Locks may require this step to be repeated a few times before they become shiny.

Follow these tips regularly to keep your treasured Louis Vuitton in beautiful condition for a long lifetime. You can also use these steps to bring vintage second-hand Louis Vuitton back to life, with healthy clean leather and shining metal fixtures.