Help - It gets worse the more I try

[Beercules]

Would greatly appreciate advice on clearing up the black spots on my leather bag

 

Background:

Started off with a couple of faint black spots but started spreading to the current in state in my pics (it looks worse in person).

 

I have tried the following after doing some research on here but the number of spots seem to be increasing and getting darker:

1. Leather Cleaner - did nothing
2. Fiebing’s Saddle - spots increased 
3. Lemon Juice - spots increased
4. White Vinegar - spots increased

 

Currently looking for oxalic acid around my area, but would like to kindly seek any alternative views on the cause/solution.

https://imgur.com/a/2nqOkc0

https://imgur.com/a/dKs64GP

[RockyAussie]

Cant think of any solution myself as I would have to know what is causing it first I think. Crazy things come to mind like oil from a push bike chain throwing up on to it or resting up against something like an ostrich skin product that is either badly set in the colouring stage or an imitation ostrich ....the list goes on and the mind boggles. Sorry cant help any better.

[TonyV]

If using acids like vinegar and lemon juice increased the spotting, using oxalic acid would logically likely increase the spotting as well.

If you have a piece of scrap of that same leather try experimenting with neutralizing the acid effect with baking soda or such.

There is a thread with recent posts that discusses spotting like this.  It seems the consensus was the problem was the quality of the leather.  Sorry I can 't find that thread.

[TonyRV2]

It doesn't look like mold to me, which was my first thought. I wonder if it isn't something in the leather itself that's starting to come through...bug bites for instance. By scrubbing with acidic liquids I see you've removed a good deal of the finish from the leather which would in turn expose more of what's underneath. This would explain why the spots have become more numerous as you scrubbed. My advice is to have the purse redyed and refinished.

[JRodz]

IMHO, looks like characteristics of that side of leather not something that you’ll be able to clean off. I have had that happen to me, so now I take a flashlight to leather when selecting.

[mikesc]

Are you certain that you are dealing with leather and not plastic? I ask because the surrounding pieces have a "repetitive" look to their "grain", like PU ..

[Beercules]

On 5/26/2019 at 5:38 PM, RockyAussie said:

Cant think of any solution myself as I would have to know what is causing it first I think. Crazy things come to mind like oil from a push bike chain throwing up on to it or resting up against something like an ostrich skin product that is either badly set in the colouring stage or an imitation ostrich ....the list goes on and the mind boggles. Sorry cant help any better.

No worries. It could have been anything, never exactly took care of the thing when in use. Then again, this is in line with my other leather products, and none have stumped me like this one.

It has been a while since this issue surfaced, and I have only just decided to try and clean it up.

On 5/26/2019 at 7:12 PM, TonyV said:

If using acids like vinegar and lemon juice increased the spotting, using oxalic acid would logically likely increase the spotting as well.

If you have a piece of scrap of that same leather try experimenting with neutralizing the acid effect with baking soda or such.

There is a thread with recent posts that discusses spotting like this.  It seems the consensus was the problem was the quality of the leather.  Sorry I can 't find that thread.

I will try to look for that thread, thank you.

On 5/26/2019 at 7:20 PM, TonyRV2 said:

It doesn't look like mold to me, which was my first thought. I wonder if it isn't something in the leather itself that's starting to come through...bug bites for instance. By scrubbing with acidic liquids I see you've removed a good deal of the finish from the leather which would in turn expose more of what's underneath. This would explain why the spots have become more numerous as you scrubbed. My advice is to have the purse redyed and refinished.

Shall not dabble with oxalic acid then. Seems like the spots got lighter over 3 days of basically dousing it in vinegar. None of the spots dissappeared though - as you said, it is likely that I am just stripping away the finish, rather than clearing the spots, hence the lighter appearance.

Considered re-dying as my worst case solution. Will take your advice if nothing else comes up. Thanks.

19 hours ago, JRodz said:

IMHO, looks like characteristics of that side of leather not something that you’ll be able to clean off. I have had that happen to me, so now I take a flashlight to leather when selecting.

Unfortunate, it was supposed to be a utilitarian brand that puts out decent quality stuff and I barely used the bag since I got it. Though I must admit, I never babied it during it's calls of duty. Only ever applied Obenauf as a protectant. 

The couple of hundreds I spent on it is the only reason why I am trying to save it.

19 hours ago, mikesc said:

Are you certain that you are dealing with leather and not plastic? I ask because the surrounding pieces have a "repetitive" look to their "grain", like PU ..

No doubt it is leather. Quality of leather, however, is debatable.

[Sheilajeanne]

So, this is something you purchased, rather than making it yourself?