REMOVING VARNISH FROM AN OLD LOUIS VUITTON TRUNK

When we were given this Louis Vuitton trunk from the United States, the visual shock was great. A thick shiny coat of varnish covered the canvas. Unfortunately, many Louis Vuitton luxury trunks from this provenance were varnished during their lifetime. This damage, banned in the world of collector's trunks , is detrimental to the value of the luggage and distorts the trunk and its history by preventing any restoration.

It is practically impossible to remove varnish without attacking the stencil of the canvas, so old and fragile. There are a multitude of types of varnish, water-based, polyurethane-based, polyester-based ...

So many products that must be  mastered . Most varnishes are not reversible, so it will be impossible to remove them without damaging the original support. But in our case after several dozen attempts we managed to remove 98% of the varnish from this trunk! This wardrobe trunk is one of the largest Louis Vuitton luggage, its exterior surface area is nearly 3 m2.

It took us several long days to get it all out. Under the varnish was trapped dirt and pollution , which we also had to remove. After cleaning the canvas the result was incredible : a canvas in perfect condition , a Louis Vuitton Mark 5 canvas, often very dull, this one was brilliant.