Club Obi Wan

This is just a warning to those who might use Oxi Clean to clean there MKVII, beware that it may bleach your bag as it did mine. I only added a teaspoons worth to my wash and it bleached several areas of my bag to the point where it looks tied dyed If anyone has any suggestions for Rit dye combinations to restore my bag to it's former glory it would be appreciated.

Wow that is sad news. My bag stunk of 60+years of funk so I put some coffee grounds inside. Seems to do the trick.

I've used Dylon dye with good results... I have a repro bag and an original MkVII. You could try dyeing yours with 1/3 but no more than half a package of the olive-colored dye - I did that to my reproduction bag and it came out very similar to my original MkVII.

Here's the 2 bags side-by-side (the lighter areas on my repro bag are just some Fuller's Earth - part of my non-destructive distressing):

Vindy wrote:I've used Dylon dye with good results... I have a repro bag and an original MkVII. You could try dyeing yours with 1/3 but no more than half a package of the olive-colored dye - I did that to my reproduction bag and it came out very similar to my original MkVII.

Here's the 2 bags side-by-side (the lighter areas on my repro bag are just some Fuller's Earth - part of my non-destructive distressing):

That looks great Vindy! I actually mixed some of my gouache paints together and touched up the spots that were bleached. Amazingly enough it worked quite well. I may just use your method, because this most likely won't survive another wash.

Vindy wrote:I've used Dylon dye with good results... I have a repro bag and an original MkVII. You could try dyeing yours with 1/3 but no more than half a package of the olive-colored dye - I did that to my reproduction bag and it came out very similar to my original MkVII.

Here's the 2 bags side-by-side (the lighter areas on my repro bag are just some Fuller's Earth - part of my non-destructive distressing):

who made the repro bag? it looks pretty good & i might have to try the trick...
thanx!!!
Charlie

whipitgood wrote: I actually mixed some of my gouache paints together and touched up the spots that were bleached.

Gouache paints are just opaque watercolours. Not a very permanent solution.

Vindy,

That repro looks dead on. I might have to buy another Mk VII.

- Ron

That blows! I used Oxi Clean on my vintage MK VII and it only made it clean and removed the musty smell.

-Nebraska

bruce wayne wrote: who made the repro bag? it looks pretty good & i might have to try the trick...
thanx!!!
Charlie

The repro bag was done by none other than Indy Magnoli. He does very nice work (I got my Indy trousers and shirt from him as well). I wish the closing snaps on the repro bag were more like those on my original bag (I just find the original bag opens and closes more easily - I think that's due to the single post design on the original), but that's a very minor thing and other than that the replica is dead-on.

My Magnoli bag is now my go-to bag for hiking and other adventures!

And the color is fine as is, but I just wanted to try and match my original bag a bit more closely.

Nebraska Brad wrote:That blows! I used Oxi Clean on my vintage MK VII and it only made it clean and removed the musty smell.

-Nebraska

I was really surprised it had bleached mine as I used so little of the stuff. I should have gone with my first instincts and used baking soda and white vinegar. After I get some dye it should be okay. I can also hide most of the damage with some Fuller's Earth.

Vindy wrote: I wish the closing snaps on the repro bag were more like those on my original bag (I just find the original bag opens and closes more easily - I think that's due to the single post design on the original), but that's a very minor thing and other than that the replica is dead-on.

I dont think those snaps are inaccurate at all: I have two orriginal Mk VII's and one has the post snaps and the other one doesn't.



Both snap designs are accurate for the real Mk VII's.

Regards, Geert

gwyddion wrote:
Both snap designs are accurate for the real Mk VII's.

Regards, Geert

Oh, cool, I didn't know that - my original MkVII is the only sample I've seen, so I didn't realize that they varied in snap designs. That's interesting and good to know.

So I'll just amend my previous statement to state that the Magnoli bag snaps are indeed accurate for variants of the original, I simply have a preference for the snaps with the post design.

Thanks for the info and example pic, Geert!

Regards,
- Vince

Vindy wrote:

gwyddion wrote:
Both snap designs are accurate for the real Mk VII's.

Regards, Geert

Oh, cool, I didn't know that - my original MkVII is the only sample I've seen, so I didn't realize that they varied in snap designs. That's interesting and good to know.

So I'll just amend my previous statement to state that the Magnoli bag snaps are indeed accurate for variants of the original, I simply have a preference for the snaps with the post design.

Thanks for the info and example pic, Geert!

Regards,
- Vince

if i am not mistaken, the thing about the mk7's is that they were made by so many different companies throughout the british empire (including canada!!!) that there is a lot of variation between one companies offering & another, some even changed year to year i think...

according to this link, there were sixteen companies producing mk7's throughout the empire, in various shades, including mustard yellow

http://www.indygear.com/igbag.html

Well, at least 16 companies: I don't think that list includes the Indian MkVII's. Ok they look quite different, but they are still MkVII"s

Regards, Geert

I just let my MK VII soak in the tub for about an hour and then let it dry in the sun and VOILA!- No smell


NIBS

knibs7 wrote:I just let my MK VII soak in the tub for about an hour and then let it dry in the sun and VOILA!- No smell


NIBS

It really wasn't so much about getting rid of the smell for me as it was eliminating harmful mold spores. This is why I used OXI CLEAN. Baking soda & vinegar seems the way to go for killing mold.

While we're on the subject of bleaching... PLEASE, if you're going to try to distress your bag Todds way, be careful with the bleach solution. It looks like he took the link down, but following those directions ended me up with a repro bag that looked fit for a jungle movie... George of the Jungle that is!

To my horror, the bag was light green with stark YELLOW highlights. I had to take the bag all the way bleached yellow bring it back olive, just to find that I did too much olive, and take it down a few shades with a few half bleach washes. What a mess. I should have just bought an original bag - they're now about the same price as a repro!

I decided I didn't want to put bleach anywhere near any of my gear. I'm just hanging the bag out in the sun everyday until it is as light as I want it.