Hello!
I'm Wanlapha (known as Wan), I was born and brought up in Thailand, a place well known for treating leather.
I have been interested in leather care, since I was young, but it was not until I settled in Ireland and could not find somewhere to repair my handbags and make them as new again that I decided to specialise in leather treatment and offer it as a service to bag lovers.
View My Work
Why Handbag Hospital?
I established a handbag facility in Cork with the Irish market in mind. Drawing on the parable of Lazarus, I wanted bag owners to be aware that their handbags may be old, shabby, chemical stained and perhaps thrown in the back of the closet, but this same bag could with loving attention be rejuvenated and made as new again.
We at the Handbag Hospital are trained to recondition leather & fabric. Designer bag repair is our speciality and we are highly skilled in its restoration. "Put the lustre back into your bag at The Handbag Hospital"
See Handbag Cleaning
"Collected my handbag today from handbag Hospital. I'm thrilled the work that went into it. Had my bag years but thought I would have to retire it .it was in very bad condition. thanks to handbag Hospital it is like new. Thank you so much!!!"
— Kath
"Wan knows everything about genuine real deal handbags so if you want to buy a great designer handbag or bring your old one back to life, give Wan a call at the Handbag Hospital! You won't be sorry! "
— Deborah
"Omg what a fantastic service,just got my 8 year old mulberry bag back,totally resuscitated.would highly recommend"
— Siobhan
How Leather is produced
Step 1: Prep
Fresh hides are cured in salt for several days, then soaked in acidic then solution. The hair and flesh are removed.
Step 2: Splitting
The hide is separated into tow layers;
1. The hide quality Full Grain.
2. Lower quality split grain, which can be turned into Suede.
Step 3: Tanning
Hides recieve an initial soak in plant-based tannins, or a chemical equivalent. These tannins break down the collagen in the hide.
Step 4: Retanning
Hides are given a second round of tanning to preserve to preserve the colagen and add any dyes or conditioning agents.
Step 5: Deying/Rolling
Tanned leather is stretched, dried, and rolled by machines to soften the leather.
Step 6: Finishing
Hides can be finished with a coating of pigment or polish, depending on grade and application.
How to take a good care of your designer handbags
Walk in the rain?
Leave on the floor?
Leave in wardrobe?
We have some answers for those questions.
Have you ever realised when you buy designer handbag that you would expected to get the best item and it will be last long. Well there are some guidance to help you to achieved your goal.
1) Store, use acid free tissue for stuffing inside the bag for keeping shape. You may also keep it in the dust bag and make sure that the bag stay right up. For than handles and strap you may wrap up by issue to prevent them touch the body of the bag.
2) Avoid the grease from your hand cream, lotion or oil. Those chemicals will went through the leather, sometimes there is impossible to clean up. It will leave you the mark. In the worse case it will become the deep stains.
3) General care, you may use the dry clothe for cleaning, if it is in need for chemical cleaner, you may use small drop on the dry cloth and test on surface before applied to a whole bag.
Best of luck and if you need more help, please contact us wan@handbaghospital.ie
