How to Dye a Leather Purse

How to color a leather purse.... This one happens to be a Prada bag. Yup, real deal. Here's the story behind this Instructable. I bought a beautiful Prada bag at an estate sale earlier this year. Sadly, we had a fire in our house (in May 2013), and whatever could be salvaged went out to the professional cleaning service. It came back to me physically intact, and not reeking of smoke. But.... it needed (ahem) color adjustment.

This step is a "no duh" step, but sometimes it really needs to be said. I got the purse, latex gloves and a can of Meltonian Nu-Life Color Spray in 645 Chocolate. I made sure sure to read the can, since the dye in this can is basically a can of spray paint that is suitable for use with vinyl, plastic and leather. The directions state very clearly to use this in a "well-ventilated area", so I decided to take this project outside. 

Put the gloves on. Shake the can well, and spray in light layers. Of course, let the purse dry well in between layers. Also, check out al lthe seams, folds, etc. I had to rotate the bag a couple of times to get even coverage.

After letting the purse dry (I am so glad that humidity was low), I took off the gloves. See??? This is I recommend gloves.

Then, enjoy the salvaged bag. It is now up to its glory.