USED, BUT FRAGRANT! SOME TIPS TO FIGHT ODORS
I have always been a vintage lover, of bags unearthed from dusty closets, flea markets, and second-hand shops, but this great passion has always been at odds with a trait of my personality that unfortunately causes me an existential conflict. Used and dirty cannot go together in the same sentence! The mere thought of dirt gives me hives. I see germs everywhere like a germaphobe, and that is why I have turned my “neurosis” into my way of working. Every time you send me a bag, I ask myself: “How would I like to receive it?” Answer: “Clean and sanitized, of course.”
Every day you offer us hundreds of used bags. Following our selection criteria, we buy only a tiny fraction of them (we prefer to speed things up by avoiding consignment) based on taste, condition, originality, and, of course, resale value. Once we have reached an agreement and you have paid, we send a courier to pick them up. From then on, we wait for them like a Sunday daisy after a week of dieting.
Once they arrive, the phase begins on which I could write a treatise on advanced psychology. In fact, based on how your bags arrive, I could create a psychological profile worthy of an FBI profiler. The personality types that stand out range along an axis that sees on one side the obsessive-compulsive person who would put duct tape on the courier’s van, and on the other, the one who would put the bubble wrap on the bag and write our address on the flap. In the middle of these extremes flows the sea.
Over time, in the bags I have found: lighters, money, ID cards, credit cards, condoms, sanitary pads, love letters, steamy messages, and a thousand other memories that, if I wrote a book about them, I would climb the charts as fast as Giulia De Lellis.
Now, if you are a bit of a germaphobe, know that you should love me just for this reclamation work I do on your behalf. Know, in fact, that when you choose one of our used bags, you can rest assured that it has been inspected as if it were an artifice or by a member of the CIS di Parma!
That said, I wish I could fulfill your entire wish list of luxury used bags, but I know I cannot always do it. However, if you have the patience to read me a little, I will give you some useful tips for cleaning the one you buy elsewhere.
I’m telling you now that you might not have all my tools, but it doesn’t matter—use what you have and you’ll surely do great!
“BLOWING”
First off, the first thing I do when I open a bag is use my beloved yellow submarine, which you can see in the photo. My compressor friend! You might be wondering why I use it, since there is nothing to inflate in a vintage shop like ours. You’re right, we don’t inflate anything, but for us, it is essential! Thanks to the powerful blast of air from the compressor, we can remove dust from the most stubborn… (you know what I mean) spots in the bags, such as corners, the inside of pockets, and seams. Thanks to this operation, they are freed from all the remnants of the years gone by! This action is closely linked to the second one:
“SUCTIONING”
Once I’m done with the compressor, the Ryan Gosling of household appliances comes into action: THE DYSON,
My girls, if you want to improve your quality of life, get yourself this gift. My son Angelo uses it with ease too. I know it will seem like a miracle to you that a man uses a household appliance that isn’t a razor, but believe me! I have proof if needed.
Okay, back to business. What is it for? Here the answer is obvious: to vacuum up everything the previous owners had left inside. From breadcrumbs from 2007 to tobacco residue or similar remnants from their naughty evenings. Now the bag is free of any foreign bodies, but almost always there remains my worst enemy: THE SMELL!
Here is how I fight it.
After spending several minutes getting to this point (girls, believe me, it’s a lot of work), these products for real sanitization come into play. After 7 years of experience and continuous research, I give you my personal opinion by recommending one of these two. Personally, I love the one with white musk, which we have also given as a gift to a few loyal customers, but the other one has also given us great results. What distinguishes them from normal deodorants? These that I recommend are bacteriologically sanitizing products (clinically tested) that do not cover up the odors, but eliminate them thanks to their specific characteristics. I can assure you that 9 times out of 10, the result is truly excellent.
I’ll end with a little secret that I am extremely jealous of, but if you have made it this far, you deserve a prize! This is my favorite moisturizer! Of course, I’m not talking about the personal one (For me, I spend much less. I swear) but the one I use when I have your future leather bags in my hands. Those who have followed us for years know our thinking: The leather of the bags needs to be moisturized from time to time so they don’t lose their shine, and this is the best cream I have tried so far.
Where to buy it? ON THE INTERNET—don’t make me play the influencer at 58 years old! You will find it without a doubt!
