Taking the plunge...cleaning your Lonchamp tote

I've had my Longchamp le Pliage tote for well over two years now.  It was practically abused for the first (as a college bag stuffed with folders and textbooks), and then rehabilitated slightly and used as an everyday handbag for the following year.  The handles have definitely worn, and I've had to seal up the corners with superglue - there's also a little cracking of the vinyl interior where the most creasing has occurred.  (I have asked in the Longchamp store in London about cracking vinyl, and they will carry corner repairs out free of charge - but I don't think I could be without a tote bag for over a month!)  However, now that it's being properly looked after I think I'll be able to get good few more years out of it.  The one thing I'd been avoiding though, was giving it a good wash.  I'd been wiping it out with a damp cloth every month or so, but had never given it a proper clean (some people fling theirs in the washing machine, but I could never be brave enough to do that!)

But last week, disaster struck.  I'd (as per the usual) popped a bottle of water in my bag, to keep hydrated for the day.  We were on a long car journey back from holiday, and I'd just left my bag on the seat of the car whilst I had a nap.  Upon reaching our lunch stop, I reached in and encountered approximately 3-4 inches of water in one corner of the bag...immediate panic ensued.  Luckily, the phone was safe, but various other items were drenched - and I'm forever thankful that I'd chucked in several packets of tissues for the journey as these had absorbed a lot of the water.  In the end, after leaving the poor bag and its contents on the dashboard to dry out everything was okay - but the bag itself had a massive black tide mark where the water puddle had sat for several hours...

Anyway, once we got home I decided to give the bag a gentle cleanse in warm water to see if it could be returned to an acceptable state.  I'd taken a few pictures along the way, just so I knew afterward what I'd done - and as it was so successful I thought I'd share it with you all!  (Excuse the rather dodgy quality in some photos - these were originally just for personal reference so I didn't worry about the lighting at the time.)

The red area indicates where the staining was
(as being rather disorganised I've managed to lose the picture
of the original damage...oops!)

First of all I filled a washing up bowl with warm water,
and gave the bag an initial rinse.  In the end I didn't
bother keeping the leather dry, as it would've been too fiddly.

I then added a capful of gentle detergent to a fresh
bowl of water, and set to work... 

After thoroughly rinsing all the soapy water off
I then patted out as much of the water as I could
with a clean towel.  Especially focussing on the leather.
I then stuffed the bag with several towels and put it in
 the airing cupboard overnight.  The leather flap was still
a little damp the following day, but it had completely
dried after 24 hours. 

I then used some clear shoe protectant (this is the 'Natural' one
from Clarks) to recondition the handles and flap closure.
I also sprayed the bag with a canvas protectant (also from Clarks)
to give it a little more waterproofing.  I'll also be going in with the
superglue again to tidy up the corners when I get round to it...

And here's the finished product! Good as new, and smelling
fresh as a daisy :)

xxx