Care and Cleaning For Your Lucite Purses
I've been asked a lot lately how do I clean or repair my
purse? Well after a few e-mails I thought it might be a
good idea to put together something that you might find
useful. I must stress though that if you try any of
these methods I'm not responsible for any
damage! Test any treatment in an inconspicuous place first
before going over an area one can see!
Cleaning
What I do when getting ready to clean a bag is make up a weak
solution of washing up liquid and wet a soft cloth in the
solution. Wring out the cloth first until it's nearly dry then
work in small areas and wipe over the area. Then quickly take a
clean, soft dry cloth and wipe over this area. I continue until
the whole purse is done.
Never submerge a purse even if it's all Lucite. If you want
when done you can take a super soft cotton flannel cloth and
wipe again and rub to a lustre. Be especially careful of like
the warmer tones of purses. If in doubt about using any liquid
on it test on say the inside lid where no one will see it. I have
done this with my tan lids but only after testing that it
wouldn't ruin it first.
Be careful with any hardware on the purse as exposing it to
anything wet might eat through the lacquer on the brass and it
will then begin to tarnish (personally I like this - it shows
its authenticity to me and character - but 'collectors' in
general want to see brass like new).
You can view this site
which mainly talks about Bakelite but the suggestions for me are
a bit drastic - I won't use any product on my purses. This
site
also recommends some cleaning products but again tread with
caution.
Care
Although thought to once be thought of as indestructible,
Lucite does have a few pitfalls. My first recommendation
is never store it in a plastic bag. This prevents the Lucite
from breathing and will result in an ammonia smell to
occur. This means that the Lucite is degrading and over
time it will affect the purse - who knows it will probably
become a puddle of liquid plastic given enough time! Store
your bag in a soft cloth cover. I use old pillow cases but
you can use whatever you have to hand. Never
put Lucite in the direct sun! It will bleach the plastic
and will cause it to warp. You will not be able to restore
the Lucite once it has been exposed to any of the above.
Repairs
I know of no way to repair Lucite and I haven't found any
site that states that they do so. I have repaired one
Lucite purse I have that had a piece of the Lucite broken off in
a clean break. I used a glue specifically for plastics
(forget the brand but as long as it is for plastics it should
work). I should state my purse was the sparkle kind and a
yellow/off white colour which didn't show much of a seam when
looking at it. I only chanced it because it was now not
worth a whole lot because of the broken piece. Only
attempt this type of repair if you think it will work and the
seam won't be seen. Solid colour purses I would say would
be the the worst as you could see the seam a mile away.
Lighter or sparkle purses would likely not show much due to
their changing colour.
Revised: 28 October 2006.
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