What NOT to do to your Beautiful Luxury Bags

To protect the beauty and value of your beautiful Hermes bag 
DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING:

Hang the metal lock from the turn lock or have it swinging loose from the tirrette it can cut the leather into arch pattern (leather or exotic skin covered locks are usually ok)

Spray perfume into or on to your bag.... this is very difficult to remove Also be careful of spraying perfume on to yourself with your bag near by...




Let your pets use them as toys or bathrooms

Use baby wipes to clean them it can remove the finish of your bag!


Let mean and or jealous people near your bag with a sharpie penif you like them and they like you then its ok

Keep them in a lighted display case or window unless you want color fade and zoning 
Let some company treat your bag with a spray on plastic coating to try and keep it looking new forever eek the leather will dry out below and it will look like heck guaranteed in a couple of years down the road

Use products made for human skin on your bags like sun block or tanning lotion, face or hand cream 

OCD care cleaning or conditioning too often can remove the bag's finish and can overly soften it leading to losing its shape and stretching out. Yes cleaning or conditioning with a product every day is way too much, a simple wipe down with soft dry clean cloth will suffice most days after use unless you had a spill or greasy or sticky stuff on the handles then clean it of course


Placing your bag on top of your car while multi tasking and driving off with your bag on top of your car ... yes this has happened!

Leaving the plastic on the hardware ... this can lead to pitting when moisture sneaks up undeneath

Bring your bag to the hair salon where it can get spilled on with hair dye! do yourself a favor and bring a plastic bag to cover it or leave it at home!

refuse to do basic up keep or send it to the pros for general spa services at least every few years

Send your bag to have it sprayed with leather paint to change the color because you are bored with the orginal

Make art on your bag if you don't like your own Art ! Avoid Sharpie pens....in such a case...
And i'm sure there are more.... feel free to add some other don't  do this to your bag cautions in the comments section below :)

Box Calf, Veau Charmonix and Box Napal Care and Up Keep

A bit about Box Calf , Box Napal and Charmonix Leathers  Their Care and Up-Keep

Spills>>> can be wiped down quickly with a soft dry wash cloth and followed with a leather cleansing wipe or even a damp wash cloth, take care to remove any excess water.


Tarnish marks from hardware > gently remove with a soft pink eraser

Color Loss or discoloration to handles > Handles can be recolored and touched up with leather restoring paints or dyes.. if your feel comfortable with mixing a color match that is otherwise send the bag to a professional , some brands which make touch up colors include, Tarrago, Angelus,Saphir ,Luxury Again,Saphir, Woly,Kelly,Esquire

Worn away corners or color loss to corners > You can use touch up colors or leather paint touch ups on this leather if your feel comfortable with mixing a color match that is otherwise send the bag to a professional , some brands which make touch up colors include, Tarrago, Angelus,Saphir ,Luxury Again,Saphir, Woly,kelly, Esquire

Scratches > A light conditioner ( brands I like are Meltonian ,Saphir,Tarrago,Woly,Kelly, Luxury Again ,etc) on a wipe can help blend them back in to the patina always condition the whole bag lightly rater than spot correcting, then treat the bag to a nice neutral polish and buff.. eventually all those light scratches will blend back into the patina...deeper scratches which are more like cuts, may be helped by a professional who can add filler if needed. Neutral polishes are uncolored, brands I like are Saphir, Lincoln, Griffen,Kelly, Woly, Tarrago,

NEVER use baby wipes these can remove the finish.

Water,weather and water blister prevention / protection> I do not recommend Black Rocks or Obenauf's LP any longer as too many people were having trouble using these products, (if you have been using them with sucess then super, carry on)Brands I prefer are Aqua Seal, Luxury Again weather, Saphir water repellent etc,, google for other options always test a small hidden area first before treating your whole bag. Normally I say absolutelyno silicone but some silicone particularly on this leather may really help prevent stains... personally I prefer not to use silicone and push the patina with multiple thin treatments of neutral polishes...Griffen, Saphir,Lincoln,Woly, Tarrago etc...

Conditioning cautions> Take care when using conditioners, the very greasy type conditioners must be used sparingly as a heavy hand can remove the finish and lead to color change and blotchiness, as well as weakening old stitches, because like disolves like oils can dissolve the bees wax on the stitches. Saphir Renovator is a nice product but has a very high oil content, Also avoid mink oil type products or neatsfoot oil, or Hermes saddle baume or oil, Anyhow those oily type conditioners can be tricky and so unless you are very confident I would avoid these and leave these oily products to the professionals.

Conditioners> I like best for Box Calf ,Veau Charmonix, and Box Napal, are creamy light and lotion type conditioners rather than heavy waxy or oily ones. Saphir Universal, Meltonian Baulm, CPR, Luxury Again, Woly, Cadillac,etc... always test a small hidden area first and make sure you like the results before going over the whole bag!

Removing polish> Although a Box Calf bag may look beautiful and shiny it might not be healthy underneath the polish, I recommend removing old polish and conditioning your Box Calf,Box Napal and Charmonix at least every 2 years. A greatproduct for removing old polish is Saphir Reno Mat, Other products less harsh which work nicely are most the creamy conditioners,( because like dissolves like)

Why we should do up keep to protect our beautiful Heritage leathers like Box Calf,Box Napal,Veau Charonix, > The surface Cracks and textured rippled finish result from the leather shrinking due to the leather drying out.. having lost much of the internal conditions, fat liquors, oils etc. To keep these leathers looking their best and performing for generations learn to do some basic upkeep or send your bags to Hermes spa every few years.

The Nice thing about Box Calf Veau Charmonix and Box Napal is that with care these leathers can last generations and they also tend to be the leather which restore the best! I love them and I hope you do or will to!

When should I clean and condition my togo clemence and box calf bags?

Hello All,
                I received this question recently and thought I'd share this answer here.

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Hi Doc. At what point/age should we start conditioning our Togo/Clemence bags? Box calf? Thanks for your advice.

Click to expand...

Togo and clemence are both upholstery leathers, these are modern tanned finished leathers which are produced specifically to be low maintenance , with that in mind they can use a cleaning and light conditioning as a mater of course if the bag gets dirty a (non oily and non waxy) light lotion cleaner & conditioner combination type product would be ideal for these sorts of leathers. Suffice to say , cleaning and conditioning a modern finished leather too often can be harmful and can actually break down and remove the finish if done too often and or with excessive pressure and undo rubbing.

Box Calf can do well with conditioning and polishing more regularly. If you want to protect it from wet weather damage specifically and the bag is in daily use then conditioning and polishing can done up to every 4-6 months would not be outrageous in my opinion If the bag is new and hasn't developed a patina or isn't covered already in layers of polish which does tend to help shed water. For box calf I personally prefer creamy type conditioners followed by good neutral polishes . Does this make sense? I hope I have not been difficult?

When it comes down to it there isn't a set number of weeks or months to abide by to keep in mind for good bag upkeep, When in doubt I think this is a good way to make sure bags get a standard amount of care
Simply give them a going over after you are done with them for the season before resting them
So after the summer spa your Spring/Summer bags and then rest them so they'll be lovely when you rotate them back into your wardrobe again next spring
And same for your Fall/Winter bags simply spa them before you rest them for the warmer months.
Finally you year round neutral bags could get a spa every 4-6 months depending on how much use they are getting and how harsh the conditions are.
I personally like cleaning and conditioning leather wipes for convenience and not getting in to trouble with using too much product on a bag.

I hope this helps?
All the best,doc