Nick and I have recently returned from a 23-day road trip. It was an awesome adventure and we've been easing back into the real world.I took a laptop for photo processing while away. The bottom of the carry bag was deteriorating though and I'd started thinking of a better option, preferably one that was in keeping with our Gladstone bags!
We had a couple of outings over the weekend. One was to collect a "new-to-us" mower and from there we ventured further to explore some local-ish areas we hadn't previously visited.
There were a few op-shop stops along the way and one of those had all items listed at just $2.00 each.
This bag caught my eye. I could see it had been very well made, though was in serious need of TLC.
On the way home I googled and found a new one listed on Amazon for $304.92 as well as a few on Etsy for varying prices. Yep, a great $2.00 bargain!
It was a little different working on this bag than when I've given my Gladstone bags their spa treatments, because this leather is softer.
As usual, I started with a saddle soap clean - and then decided the best approach would be some rejuvenating shoe cream. The local bootmaker had the right tint for just $9.95. (The bag has an expansion section that looked to be it's original colour and I matched the cream to that).
I applied several coats of cream yesterday, buffing with a soft brush between applications. I did a lot of hand-washing also!
You can see how well the bag now looks. A vast improvement, eh?!After the leather was nourished, a lot of the rub marks/fading were far less noticeable.
The bag had obviously been extensively used but now it looks cared for, which was my aim.
A great outcome for just $11.95 total spend!
