Caring for your designer handbags can sometimes feel like caring for a child. You need to ensure they are in a safe place, protected from the elements, and healthy. Proper bag maintenance can lead to your bag becoming a future vintage statement piece in your children's wardrobes or fetching a high price on the resale market.
Whatever your reason for caring for your luxury handbags, the winter months are the most important time of year to stay mindful of your purses. With harsher weather conditions, it can be difficult to know how to maintain and protect your designer bags. We put together this guide on winter care for your handbags, bringing together five of the most helpful tips for maintaining the beauty of your bags.
1. Invest in an Umbrella
As basic as it may sound, it's critical to make sure that every time you leave the house, you have an umbrella large enough to cover both you and your beloved bag. Luxury handbags are made of the highest-quality materials, including suede, which isn’t something you want to get wet.
Depending on your region, winter months can often be the rainiest times of the year. By keeping a large umbrella with you at all times, you can keep your bag safe and dry.
If your bag is splashed with water from a passing car or you are caught by surprise in the rain, it is essential to wipe it dry as soon as you can. The minerals in the water can dry onto your bag and cause staining or other damage to the material you don’t want.
2. Control the Temperature
Your bag's longevity often depends on the conditions in which you store it, which gives you a great excuse to upgrade your closet. In the winter months especially, it is important that your closet, or wherever you store your bags, maintains a relatively constant temperature.
When you keep your bag's storage conditions constant, it helps slow its aging and wear and tear. Maintaining it well allows your purses to be the mainstays of your closet for years to come.
3. Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
We don’t know about you, but we certainly have to lather up the lotion on our legs, arms, and faces in the winter. Even though it can be rainy or snowy, the air always seems dry, which has us reaching for our favorite body lotions, face creams, and lip balms. Your leather handbags aren’t much different from your own skin. They need some moisturizing from time to time, and that is especially true in the winter months.
Investing in a high-quality leather moisturizer is one of the best ways to keep your luxury purses, especially your favorite gently used designer handbags, in the best shape possible. These leather lotions help condition and maintain the materials of your bag and prevent dry air from causing cracks and discoloration.
4. Waterproofing
Many options are available for waterproofing sprays and creams for authentic, preloved designer bags. These products help waterproof and weatherproof your luxury handbags, providing a barrier between the materials and the elements.
When you invest in a high-quality option, you have more peace of mind during the winter months. You know you are doing your part to protect your purse’s life, and a few rainy or snow days won’t cause too much damage to your baby…err, bag.
5. Keep Your Bags on Rotation
While you may not want to be toting around your summery second-hand Bottega Veneta bags in the cooler months, it is essential that the winter bags you have go through a proper rotation. Cycling through your bags can make sure that your inside bags don’t get dry and cracked throughout the winter and that your well-used bags don’t get water damage and daily wear and tear from constant use.
Ensuring that you make full use of your amazing purse collection is actually a way to protect them in the colder months.
If you don’t have a wide selection of winter handbags to cycle through, it may be worth investing in a few more designer bags. If you are looking to expand your collection, shopping for second-hand luxury handbags is the way to go. There are so many options for both vintage and newer handbags for sale, all at satisfyingly great prices.
Don’t let fear of the cold keep your beautiful bags closeted. With the right care, you can enjoy your dreamy accessories yearlong.
Video
Infographic
Regardless of why you care for your luxury handbags, the winter months are crucial for maintaining their condition. This infographic provides a guide to winter care for your purses, featuring five helpful tips to preserve the beauty of your bags.
