A Miu Miu crocodile leather bifold wallet was burnt by a portable charger in the handbag 5 years ago.
Since I was reading up on retouching colour on leather, I was handed that wallet to try and do something about it.
Preparing & Deglazing
To deglaze the wallet, I am using Angelus Leather Preparer and Deglazer. This gets rid of the old paint and gloss, which will help the new paint cling onto the material.
It was kinda heart pain to see the whole layer get wiped off.
Let the wallet dry for a while, then it is time to paint.
Painting
The wallet’s colour was obviously not the same as brand new. This is also a limited edition colour so there wasn’t much reference online. I had to wing it and try to mix the paint the best I can with my own eyes.
I chose to mix Beige with Dark Taupe.
Then with a flat brush, I put spread the coat out really thin. I would continuously stroke the paint over an area till my brush became kinda dry. The paint is quite thick so this process of putting very thin coats is very important.
I wanted the lines between the scales to remain light, so I mixed more Dark Taupe and painted the scaled individually to make them darker, avoiding the lines.
In total, I applied 4 coats with 15 minutes drying time in between each coat.
Now to let it rest for a couple of hours.
Finisher
Like any paint job, you will need to coat it with a finisher to protect the paint. Angelus has normal and high gloss finishers, this time I am using the normal which is actually quite shiny.
Same with painting, I applied thin coats. Don’t try to brush too hard as it will make air bubbles, go gentle and spread it nicely.
I applied 3 coats with 15 minutes drying time in between each coat.
Before & After
So here are the photos. I can’t get the colour 100% perfect but I guess this will do for now.
Fail
I failed on my first attempt actually, I didn’t know how thin to go for each coat and the wallet ended up looking like this.
I painted the whole wallet the same colour, even in between the lines. In the end it felt really sticky so I deglazed the whole thing and started again.
Photoshoot
Since I was doing some product photography for another post, might as well put the wallet in it.
I bought my paint from Original Fook. I had to go to their shop to see the paint with my own eyes to choose the closest colour.
Original Fook
Website
https://www.originalfook.com/
Main Office/Warehouse/Showroom ( via appointment only)
1 TAMPINES NORTH DRIVE 1
#03-24 T-SPACE BUILDING
SINGAPORE 528559
Operating Hours
Mon/Wed/Sat: 2pm – 630pm
Tues/Thurs/Sat: 2pm – 6pm
Closed on Sundays