5 Tips to Take Good Care of Your Handbags
Expressing your love towards your handbags is more than taking them out on dates every now and then is not enough. Just like how there are ways to care for your pets, there are also proper ways for you to keep your handbags in a good condition for a longer period of time. Here are 5 tips on maintaining your handbag.
1. Wash with Care
Wait, wash? Yes, but carefully and not too much. If your bag is made of nylon, you will need to gently hand-wash it with mild soap and rinse it with water. After washing, press all areas of the bag with a large towel before you air dry it for a couple of hours. If it’s a leather handbag, what you can do is to prepare a solution of warm water mixed with dish soap. Dip a soft cloth into the solution and gently wipe the cloth onto the leather surface. Then, take a clean and damp cloth to wipe the soapy liquid on your bag. Use another clean and dry towel to dry it down. Be careful not to use any kind of highly concentrated soap.
2. Store it Right
Don’t get rid of the dust bag that comes with your purses/clutches/handbags. It’s there for a reason. Store your handbag in the dust bag and keep it away from direct sunlight. This will prevent your bag from discoloration and stains in the long run. If your handbag doesn’t come with one, you can always search for an eco-friendly bag online to store your handbag in. This is a great tip to maintain the luster of your bags until the end of time.
3. Avoid Putting the Entire Household in it
We completely understand how tempting and “convenient” it is to store everything you think you’ll need for the day or the week in your 12 inches wide handbag. However, you might want to control the habit and keep a cleaner handbag by only storing absolutely necessary items. This is because overfilling the handbag will cause stress on both the handle and interior, and can lead to damage to the fabric.
4. Protect it from Liquid
We can’t stress this enough, but anything that can potentially spill should not be stored in your handbag. If you’re carrying along a bottle/thermos flask, make sure to seal the lid tightly to avoid any possible spillage within the bag. But guess what can be worse than spilled drinking water? Spilled perfume! Pretty much every popular perfume contains alcohol, and alcohol will discolor leather surfaces faster than you can say “oh no!”. One way to avoid this from happening is by storing your liquids in a smaller clutch or purse before putting it inside your bag.
5. Don’t Hang it
You just got back from a long day at work and all you want to do is wind down and lay in bed in peace. What about the handbag hanging from your shoulder? Let’s leave it for the doorknob to handle (pun intended). Well…let’s not do that, shall we. This is especially crucial if your bag is made of leather because hanging it by the handle for a long time will cause the leather to distort and this might affect the shape of the handle permanently. The better way to rest it is by placing it upright on a shelf instead.
Happy trying!