Taking Care of Your Handbags

There is a scene at the end of the first Sex and the City movie where the main character Carrie walks into a closet that is at least twice the size of two Manhattan studio apartments to find the man of her dreams waiting. While the major crux of this closet’s room was being used for Carrie’s unnecessarily large collection of heels, I can only assume that a good section of the closet would hold her collection of designer handbags. This got me thinking, ‘How does someone take care of that amount of handbags? In fact, how does one take care of a handbag in general?”

Here are some tips about taking care of your western style handbags:

• Always carry your handbag the correct way – by the strap. You don’t want to put any strain on the overall structure of the handbag.
• Make sure that you don’t get any hand crème or makeup on your hands and then touch the sides of your handbag. Any makeup has the ability to react negatively with the fabric that your purse is made from. Never mind getting any (gasp!) stains on your handbag.
• When you store your handbags, make sure to stuff them with bubble wrap to ensure some extra padding in case of a storage problem.
• Chains are very important to store inside the purse when it is not in use, even when you are out shopping or eating.
• DO NOT put any sharp objects inside your purse – this could destroy the lining or even the exterior of the bag’s structure.
• When cleaning your bag, use a dry cloth to wipe out the inside of the bag. Depending on what kind of bag you have, you should clean appropriately.
• Always check with the manufacturer’s instructions to determine the best way to clean your handbag collection.