Help! I think I ruined my croc strap

bozman52 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:01 am

After wearing my Navi 01 for a couple years, I decided the croc strap could use a good cleaning. I read up on all the previous posts on the topic and found that I should either use soap and water, as Roff says, or I could a proper leather cleaner, such as Autoglym, as Driver says. As I needed to get some stuff to clean the leather in my car, I decided on the Autoglym route.

I sprayed a little of the leather cleaner on a damp, soft towel and spot tested it on the section of strap that the deployant buckle covers. All was well. I then moved onto the main part of the strap. After a few seconds of light rubbing, I lifted the cloth up and was horrified- it was black. Unfortunately, it wasn't black from the dirt it was lifting out, it was black from removing color from the leather. Some of the black even rubbed off onto the white stitching, which really pissed me off :guns:

.

I let it dry a little and applied Autoglym leather moisturizer to the strap in hopes of remedying the issue. It didn't really help at all. Basically, the "shine" that the strap used to have is gone and the surface now looks "spotty." It visually does not appear uniform. I tried to show it the best I could in the pictures, but they don't do it justice. It looks pretty bad.

Does anyone know of a way to get the strap looking normal again? I use shoe polish and a brush on my leather shoes to get them to look shinier, but with the white stitching, this is not a great option for a watch strap.

No hard feelings, Driver. The soap and water may have ended up the same.

P51 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:16 pm

Hi Bozman,

Yes, I have had the same appearance on one or two of my straps but not as a result of cleaning.

Couple of questions for you;
1. I assume this strap is a Breitling? If not, what brand is it?
2. Have you noticed the colour coming off at any other time before you cleaned it?

AutoGlym is very, very good on leather surfaces and pretty gentle. So I am as shocked as you to read that the colour is coming out of the strap.
My only guess is that the colour has not been cured to a higher degree in the process. Some leeching out of the colour may occur naturally and perhaps what you are seeing is a tiny infinitesimal amount, but as its black it notices more.

As you can’t restore the finish, I think the surface protection (looks like the band is patent or slightly glossy leather) may have broken down.

Alan M · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:33 pm

Watcha,

Two year old croc, hmm. That still looks pretty good to me.

The white stitches will always darken but with a little lightly applied olive oil via a cotton bud to the leather portion you should achieve a great patterna.

Hell, getting old is fun, enjoy.

Driver8 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:50 pm

Wow Bozman - really sorry to hear of a bad experience there. I can only say from my personal experience that Autoglym leather care products have always worked a treat for me. I've not experienced any colour bleed like that, or of a "spot-matting" of the surface. I'm really surprised as the cleaner and cream are very mild products : certainly not harsh detergents.

EDIT - As I was writing the above post, I vaguely remembered a really old black croco strap I had that did bleed a little when I cleaned it, so I went back and had a look at my old posts and I found this from four years ago in 2009 -

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7539&p=61243

My second post on that page mentioned just that - a very old black croco strap that bled slightly, but both newer blue and brown croco ones were fine. At the time I put it down to it just being old and assumed that the surface finish may have broken down over time, but maybe the tanning process on black straps just means they are less colour-fast? Dunno.... just surmising here.

And as my third post on that thread says - "Anything people do with, or to, their straps is done entirely at their own risk".

But again, really sorry to hear you've had a bad experience with it Bozman.

Watch nut · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:12 pm

Just get a new one, what's another $500

bozman52 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2013 2:04 am

P51, the strap is genuine Breitling. The only thing unique about it is that it's the short version, as opposed to the regular length. I've never noticed the color coming off before. Prior to this deep cleaning, I have only wiped the strap down with a slightly damp cotton towel. I would do this after nearly every time I wore it, but never noticed any color transfer.

Driver, please know I place absolutely no blame on you. You've clearly used Autoglym on your straps with great success in the past, so there must be something wrong with my strap. As you had a bleeding issue as well with one particular strap, it may be that black Breitling croc straps are somehow not sealed as well as the other colors. I'm not sure why this would be, though. A more likely hypothesis is that my regular wipe downs described above may have broken down the outer sealant after a couple years, allowing the strap to bleed when I used something slightly harsher than water.

Alan M, I'm not so sure about the olive oil thing. I worry about it being too greasy. Have you done this before with good results? Also, I worry about it staining the white stitching. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

It's worth noting that I did use the Autoglym cleaner on the inside of the strap with great results. I had a very slight amount of the light tan color come off, as I rubbed pretty vigorously, but it's not noticeable. Also, the suede feel is still there. It looks and feels the same as before cleaning, albeit a little cleaner! However, I did not apply the leather conditioner to the inside of the strap.

Finally, I'm still toying around with the idea of using shoe polish, as I know for certain this would bring the shine back. I could tape off the stitching to ensure it doesn't become black. Has anyone done this?

bozman52 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2013 2:07 am

Watch nut wrote:

Just get a new one, what's another $500

Here in the UK, I think it's about double that :shock:

Watch nut · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:26 am

bozman52 wrote:

Watch nut wrote:

Just get a new one, what's another $500

Here in the UK, I think it's about double that :shock:

Holy cow, better keep that one for a while.

P51 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2013 4:18 pm

Hi Bozman,

I think you might be right. The surface protection might have been removed.

sharkman · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:14 am

bozman52 wrote:

Alan M, I'm not so sure about the olive oil thing. I worry about it being too greasy. Have you done this before with good results? Also, I worry about it staining the white stitching. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

Yes. Listen to Alan on this one. It won't be or appear greasy at all. It soaks in and I always wipe it down. Virtually all my crocos have been treated with EVOO for darkening and semi-gloss. Really, at this point there isn't much to lose. It took me quite a while after Alan gave me the secret for croco straps via PM to screw up the courage to do it.

bozman52 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 2:23 am

Sharkman, I appreciate the input. You're right about not having much to lose at this point. I'm assuming the OO didn't stain the white stitching on your straps . . . ?

Alan M · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:04 am

Thank you for the kind words Sharkman.

I have been searching for a pic to illustrate this on the tobacco croc and would like to see yours Sharkman.

Not the best piece of photography ever but I hope it illustrates.
Apply sparingly only to the middle section of the strap, I actually used the tip of my little finger.

breitlingsource · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:18 am

I have successfully restored brown crocodile straps with neutral colored kiwi wax (I did not want to risk it and use brown and taint the stitching!). Just remember to do it like you would shoes.. rub a bit in, and let it sit and dry good before trying to buff it off. Don't rub it off right away. I read all sorts of strange things when looking into it a couple years back.. everything from clear acrylic paint to clear nail polish to restore gator/croc... not sure I trusted any of it. But like you, I had little to lose so I tried the Kiwi wax first and it turned out quite well for me. My strap was simply dull from age, however. Not from using Autoglym

sharkman · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:37 am

bozman52 wrote:

Sharkman, I appreciate the input. You're right about not having much to lose at this point. I'm assuming the OO didn't stain the white stitching on your straps . . . ?

Not at all. I use Q-tips (Cotton dabs as Alan said) and start with a very fine coating. I let it sit for a few minutes and then rub down firmly with a cotton ball. I continue after it has dried (sometimes I hit it with hot heat from a hair dryer). I find the Breitling brown crocos, or at least the current batch, to be too light, so this is mostly a darkening process for me on new straps. But it adds character and a luster to the strap - especially at the scale end indentations. Really brings out the natural grain. WatchFred has at least two straps I treated that way (one of my past and regrettably necessary "sell offs"). Somewhere on here is a thread I started with before and after pics.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

sharkman · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:19 pm

Alan M wrote:

Thank you for the kind words Sharkman.

I have been searching for a pic to illustrate this on the tobacco croc and would like to see yours Sharkman.

Not the best piece of photography ever but I hope it illustrates.
Apply sparingly only to the middle section of the strap, I actually used the tip of my little finger.

First one is a Burgandy croco I treated with EVOO –

And a brown croco simply darkened a couple shades overall from the light brown of the current Breitling straps –

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