How to Care For, Clean And Store Designer HandBags And Purses?

Designer handbags worth millions of dollars are sold across the globe every year. The problem, however, lies with after care and maintenance.

Most women do not know how to care for, clean and store purses and bags in a manner that will make them look like new and also add to their life.
Unless you have enough money to throw down the drain, you would treat your designer handbags as investments and would want them to last you a lifetime.

How to Clean Designer Handbags?

Here are a few easy tips that will tell you how to clean your designer handbags:

1. The very first piece of advice I would want to give fashionistas who often wait for years to own a Fendi or fantasize over owning an original Louis Vuitton bag some day is to choose the color of their hand bag very carefully. Logically thinking, darker colors like black, navy blue, dark tan are ‘safer’. Stains will not show them on such colors easily. Besides, such colors can also help hide up minor signs of aging like wear and tear.
2. Again, be very careful about what you carry INSIDE your bag. Hand creams and lotions, baby food, pens, liquid lipsticks, etc are a strict no-no. Anything that is capable of leaving a stain or a tell-tale mark behind is best carried separately.
3. Use alcohol free baby wipes to clean your designer handbags if you see slight traces of dirt. You could use a damp soft cloth too. Just make sure that the cloth you use for the purpose of absolutely clean for obvious reasons.
4. If the stains turn out to be more stubborn than you had initially bargained for, use a little dish washing detergent and then take off the soap with a piece of clean damp cloth.
5. Lint brushes are great for cleaning linen or canvas bags. They can help take off some dirt without damaging the fabric.
6. If there are big or stubborn stains on the outer surface, avoid fixing them yourself. Your efforts at doing so might make the stains worse. Take your bag to a leather expert who will know best how to handle stains without causing any further damage.
7. Clean the inner fabric lining of your bag, pull the lining out gently and dust it clean. You could clean it with a vacuum cleaner too or with a lint roller.
8. Avoid touching your precious bags with dirty and soiled hands at any cost. Dirt and oil from your hands are the biggest culprits. Take care to avoid that.

Suggested Reading: How to clean gold jewelry?

How to Store Handbags?

After you have cleaned them, you also need to know how to store handbags properly. Follow these simple rules for the purpose:

1. Never ever throw away the duster bag you get with an authentic designer handbag. Simply because no other bag later will match the size of your bag as accurately later than the bag which was meant for it! Most women who throw off their duster bag regret doing so later.
2. A designer piece always comes with a certificate of authenticity and a serial number. Store the certificate in a safe place and also note down the serial number.  You might need them later for repair or maintenance. Minor repairs might not cost you a dime later if you take care to preserve both of these.
3. Do not throw away the stuffing either. When you take out the bag for an evening, take out the stuffing and put it in the duster bag. Once you get back, store the bag with the stuffing inside. Retaining the original shape and structure of the bag helps prevent the leather an plastic from cracking and showing creases.  If you have thrown it away, you could use old newspapers or bubble sheet for the purpose.
4. Do not store expensive bags in the attic or basement. Such places are more moist than the rest of the home and that could take off some of the sheen off your leather or metal accessories.
5. Now, once you have put the stuffing back inside and put the bag inside its duster bag, you need to know how to store your bags and purses in closet. It is best to store handbags on the top shelf of your closet, standing upright. Never just throw away your bags in your cupboard in a hurry if you love them!
6. If you are storing them in storage bags made out of polythene or fabric, just check whether your bag would be able to breathe through that material? Storing them in air tight bags causes the leather and PVC to crack up.
7. Tuck the chains inside the bag is possible to prevent it from scratching the outer surface of the bag and other bags next to it.
8. If the leather straps are detachable, take them off and wrap them in a tissue paper or bubble sheet and store them inside the bag to prevent them from cracking up.

Following these simple rules to clean and store your precious designer handbags so that they can add to your style quotient for years!
If you have any tips on how to store handbags, clean and care for them do share them with us!