Somebody put unwrapped CAKE in my new Longchamp leather bag... stain advice PLEASE?!

[HepburnKNotA]

At a birthday party for 8 year olds... I still don't know who did it, but I got home to find that someone had (possibly kindly?) put a piece of birthday cake wrapped in a napkin inside my handbag. Obviously the napkin had come off and cake/buttercream was all over everything.

Most importantly there is a grease stain from cake crumbs in one inner bottom corner and sticky buttercream stain on the inside near the zip pocket.

WHAT DO I DO???!!

It's an UN-LINED leather bag, one of Longchamp's summer-type range, so no polyester lining to be able to wipe. The grease stain is on what I suppose is kind of the 'raw' leather (forgive my crap terminology, but it's that un-treated type of leather that kind of flakes a little bit if you rub at it, if that makes sense? A sort of soft, suede-like texture. The buttercream stain near the inner pocket is on what i'd call 'proper' leather, the kind on the outside of normal leather bags.

the bag is a light colour which doesnt help :(

I'm so upset, I only took the bag to the party because I'm trying ever so hard not to save stuff for 'best' - yes, it's a posh Longcha,p bag but it's also meant to be a bag I USE rather than just occaisonally take out. I had no intention of getting it near any small people with sticky hands/cake, I just left it in a quiet corner of the party, but I think the hostess may have decided to pop some in when she saw I was gathering my things, and in the rush I didn't notice :(

Specialist clean? If so, where? A dry cleaners that does leather cleaning? I've had a bag done (badly) by a special bag-cleaning company before, it cost a FORTUNE and didn't really work.

It's the grease spot that worries me most, i think...

I'm sorry I don't have any stain removal advice, but NOOOOOOOO! What were they thinking

It's the inside it's not ruined and unusable

If you are on facebook then message Louise at Lovelolo with some pictures of the stains and she will advise if there is anything you can use yourself. She stocks lots of cleaners, protectors for high end bags.

If that doesn't work then contact The handbag restoration co for a quote. I haven't used them myself but they get lots of recommendations on the Mulberry and LV forums. Good luck!

The OP is allowed to be upset about the inside of her bag being wrecked, is she not 30not13

Especially when the inside of the bag is raw leather.

Whoever did that was a knob OP. There’s no way I’d do anything other than hand it to you/put the cake inside the party bag. I would be gutted if I were you.

I’m sorry I have no advice. Taking it to a dry cleaners would be dicey. I wonder if you could try, cautiously, with some suede cleaning spray? Collonil is a good brand.

I’d wipe it with a baby wipe until you’ve got it as clean as you can. That’s probably the best you will be able to do, and much cheaper than having it cleaned.

Sorry about your bag! I know it’s painful when it happens but you have to be philosophical about it or you would only use it for ‘best’. I don’t baby my bags at all, so a couple of my Mulberrys have got minor marks. I try not to mind too much. But maybe in the future don’t take it to a children’s party (not kicking you when you’re down at all, please don’t take it that way!), there are probably some sensible limits to using it.

Hope you manage to get it looking good!

But don’t try my tip unless you’re willing for it to mark. It probably will. I’d personally take the hit though and just get it as clean as I can -I would want any possibility of mould growing on old food.

*I would not want any possibility of mould growth, obviously...

Could you try wipes like these? www.amazon.co.uk/XGreen-Shield-Conditioning-Leather-Surface/dp/B00T3U8EUG?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21 I use similar (but not in the UK so not that brand) on my white leather trainers and they shift most of the muck!

Thanks everyone!

Ninkaninus, I think I will try that baby wipe tip tbh - my main concern is to get the 'food' element off and get it clean so that mould doesn't grow - that (mould) is EXACTLY what happened to an even more precious bag of mine that I STUPIDLY left chocolate in one day, and then put the bag away for years as DD was tiny and I didn't want to use it... cue getting it out of the cupboard 5 years later to find mould growing in the whole thing. Specialist bag cleaner didn't help - the mould just came back a few months after cleaning as it was so ingrained. (which is why even though it's 'only' the inside of the bag, 30not13, I want to make sure the food/stain is GONE as otherwise I know from experience that mould will grow and trust me, mould does NOT just stay on the inside of the bag... it spreads through the whole skin, inside and out...)

Going to try the wipes thing now as just want the food element OFF the bag asap.

Thank you!

those leather wipes are probably your best bet unless you get it professionally done

Use a foaming leather cleaner that's good for suedes, something like this.

Oh I remember your story - I read the thread at the time! Poor you!

If it were I’d clean off all trace of food with baby wipes and then when that is dry, swipe over it quickly and not too harshly with a proper cleaning anti-bacterial wipe. Then a few min later dry it as much as possible with a clean towel.

But I’m not an expert - just saying what I would do! So please proceed with due caution.

I remember your other thread, I was so sorry for you at the time, and can’t believe anyone would do such a daft thing to your new bag. I have used leather cleaning wipes (the kind intended for leather furniture), with some success, (in that it lifted the food right out and didn’t grow mould) but I imagine getting the actual stain out of unlined leather will be near impossible.

OMFG why?! Why would anyone be so stupid? I have no idea what to suggest, but the foaming leather wash sounds promising. Like it might be able to properly remove any food.

Awful though. What a bonkers thing to do.

I've heard of using talc on grease stains (but have never tried it myself) maybe worth a go?

I'm wondering if it was a small person who put the cake in the bag?

I would try talc. I dropped cake on some lovely suede boots of mine talc, left on overnight or longer, I can't remember, got it off perfectly.

@HepburnKNotA how did it go? I hope you managed to get it clean!

I would be so upset. Off topic, but I always find that napkins are useless at wrapping birthday cake. It was a revelation to me when I realised that tinfoil is so much better.

I have successfully used bicarbonate of sofa to treat grease stains on leather before. Clean off the food remnants and then when dry, apply a good pile of bicarbonate in the stains and leave over night. Brush of the bicarbonate and repeat. The bicarbonate abseils the oil. It’s worth a try and shouldn’t damage the leather. What a hassle, sorry OP