How to Repair Peeled Faux Leather Bag [Easy and 5 min repair]

When you are using a faux leather bag, the faux leather especially the fringe section starts to peel off, doesn’t it? I have a favorite bag with faux leather peeling off.

Normally, I would just throw it away, but the rest of the bag is still usable, so I still want to use it. But I didn’t want to take up much of my time by repairing it, so I googled to see if I could do it easily myself, and found some useful goods!

The state of the tattered, peeling faux leather bag before repair

The faux leather bag I’m repairing is a Patrick Cox Tote Bag, which costs around 20,000 JPY (about US$200). The appearance of the bag seems to be a pretty usable condition from my judgment.

But if you look closer, you can see that the faux leather on the edge is actually in such awful condition…It’s kind of embarrassing to use the bag as it is.

After some research, I found out that faux leather is supposed to last only a few years even if you use it normal way. It’s true that I’ve had a number of faux leather bags where various parts have peeled off with few usages.

Applying a faux leather repair tape to fix the peeled section

To repair the peeled leather, I used CAPTAIN’s “Synthetic Leather Repair Tape, Fine 25mm x 1m,” which is a strong adhesive type. This tape is very easy to use for repairing a long, thin handle of bags, umbrellas, or the like.

The 25mm width type comes in three colors: black, dark brown, and translucent. This time, I chose the black color because the part to be repaired is black.

When you open the package, you see a piece of black tape that is flimsy like shown in the below image. I was a little skeptical when I first saw this tape, and I had a feeling that it might not succeed. Well, let’s see what happens…

Steps to repair the peeling faux leather of the bag with the repair tape

The edge of the peeling bag is about 5 mm wide, but the tape I purchased is 2.5 cm wide. In that case, you just have to cut the tape with scissors to a width of about 1 cm to match the edge of the bag (5mm x 2 (front and back)).

Then, neatly attach the tape to the edge of the bag. The rear of the faux leather tape is firm glue, so you just have to peel off the backing paper and stick the tape on the edge of the bag.

Note that if the area to be taped is wet, dusty, or greasy, the adhesive strength will weaken, so be sure to check and dry the area beforehand!

The image above shows the tape applied around the front part of the bag. The tape stretches a lot more than I expected, so it was very easy to apply and attach. I guess faux leather is naturally stretchy if I am correct.

Also, even after peeling off the tape several times to adjust and reattaching it, the adhesion did not degrade at all.

Here is a picture of the back of the tape being applied.

And it’s done!

I proudly showed it to some of my friends, and they complimented me, saying, “I can’t tell if it’s been reapplied at all! All of them were amazed at how quickly and easily the peeled section was repaired.

It took me about five minutes from the time I cut the tape into 1cm pieces with scissors to the time I finished applying it, even though I had been sitting on it for weeks before I bought the tape and started applying it.

In fact, I was so lazy that I didn’t even bother to cut the tape into 1cm pieces and just cut it by eye, but I was surprised at how quickly it was done.

I was surprised at how quickly I was able to complete the project. With this 1 meter long tape, I was able to cover the entire area around the edge of the bag with just one piece of tape.

This captain’s faux leather repair tape costs only around 500 Japanese yen, a mere one coin. Considering the price of the original bag, it was a good decision to repair it instead of throwing it away.

It’s really easy to do, so if it’s your favorite bag (or even though it’s not your favorite but if it’s an expensive bag), it’s worth a try before you throw it away!

Repairing my favorite backpack with the faux leather part peeled off

I was so pleased with how easy it was to repair, that I decided to repair another bag.

This backpack is quite old, but I really like it because it’s so easy to use and I just couldn’t throw it away, and if possible, I want to use it again!

However, just like the black bag I mentioned earlier, the brown faux leather part of this backpack is peeled off and it’s falling apart. I really don’t know why faux leather peels off like this…

With this backpack, the surface of the faux leather part is peeling off, so it is not usable as it is… So, the next step is to use a repair sheet for the faux leather in a dark brown color.

This is the same dark brown version of the CAPTAIN “Synthetic Leather Repair Tape 11cm x 20cm”. The dark brown one is 11cm x 20cm in size.

I don’t know if it’s because of the wide width, but the name of this one is “faux leather repair sheet” instead of tape. All you have to do is cut the tape into 1cm pieces and stick them on.

Here is the completed image. What do you think? Isn’t it beautifully done?

Well, this repair tape is a civilized tool. The best thing about the tape (or sheet) is that it stretches well.

Thanks to its elasticity, you can apply it to anything, even curved areas, even if dexterity is not your strong suit. You can even have your child do it for you. I think it’s a fun crafty way to fix things for them!

Captain’s faux leather repair tape can also be used to repair other colors of bags!

Don’t worry. It’s not only black or brown that can be repaired.

You can also use Captain’s Synthetic Leather Repair Tape to repair other colors of bags

The 11cm wide “faux leather repair sheet” comes in six colors: black, dark brown, camel, off-white, white, and translucent, as well as black and brown.

This article explains “Renapur” in detail, a convenient leather cream that can be used to care for everything with just one bottle.