Follow or at least consider these tips when you use your handbag. Your priority is to keep your bag looking good and stain free, yet to enjoy using it.

1. Look after your bag and store it in its dust bag cover or use a natural fibre soft pillowslip.

2. Handle your bag, especially lighter bags with clean hands.

3. Avoid handling the designer bag after applying beauty products, face foundations or hand creams.

4. If the weather is really bad and raining consider using a less special handbag.

5. Be careful when you visit a hairdressers with your bag, as hair products can easily splash onto handbags left on the floor at your feet. Clippings of chemically treated hair can land on the bag and leave marks.

6. When carrying a light coloured bag consider using pencils rather than Biros - biro can be difficult to remove. Don't use your bag as a rest to place paper and write notes. Pointed pens can leave impression tool marks through paper rested on firm leathers.

7. If your bag has a chain handle, store the chain inside the bag to avoid scratching the outside leather when the bag is resting.

8. For storage, use bubble wrap to stuff your bags as it does not attract moths in the same way as tissue paper does.

9. If you are doing a big weekly shop then unless you are planning to impress a prospective Mr. Right, avoid taking your special bag to the supermarket! Trolleys can scratch your bag and mark it permanently, as can spillages from foodstuffs such as yoghurts, cream, dips, squashy fruit, milk and even leaking cleaning products.

10. For long term storage, undo strap buckles so that impressions are not created. Then if you wish to wear the strap across the body messenger style and need maximum strap length or need to shorten it to wear underarm style at a later date, this unbuckling of the straps before storage will stop areas becoming impressed and unattractive.

Today even street handbags come with dust bags so use that dust cover well to protect your treasure whether it cost $50 or $500.

Store your bags in dust bag covers or pillow cases. Don't use plastic bags to store your best bags. When your precious bag is not on display, protect it with the dust bag. There is no reason why you cannot just drop your handbag into your dust bag even when you are at home and the bag contains your worldly goods. This way, a bag is less likely to get scuffed or scratched by pets and family or have odd spots of coffee dripped on it as others pass by.

If you have to store your bag in your desk or filing cabinet at work, check the drawer first for rough splinters or sharp edges that could damage and scratch your bag. Consider keeping a spare pillow case in the drawer to cover your bag.

Saliva is a suggested method by museums to clean leather, particularly carved leather in panels in ancient homes. Such carved leather panels may be dirty with age and smoke. So this 'spit' technique should also work on leather bags.

Saliva is used too by those who sew, to remove a fresh blood stain from a pin prick stain mark that can happen when sewing. But you do need to act quickly so the saliva can in effect digest the blood. So you can see where this idea is coming from - it's a very old method which may seem distasteful, but which can work when all else proves futile. Always trial any cleaning or repair method on an inconspicuous part of the bag and make sure you do not get bits of lipstick in the mix if you do try the saliva method!

Many bags today have a great deal of hardware. This ironmongery can be an integral part of the design of a bag and if it is looking a little tired it may need a clean. Some people use Silverware cleaner or Brasso wadding for the hardware, but if you do use any of the metal cleaning products be sure you completely cover the leather or other material of your bag with a protective layer of material. By inserting layers of kitchen roll, you can protect any Brasso or silver cleaning fluids going on the bag cloth or leather bag materials.

If you are not sure what I mean, test the idea on an old bag you have no care for. You will see how black marks can be left if you are not super careful. Also watch where you do this cleaning as it's very easy to also stain a pale kitchen work surface with these products as well as your hands! I suggest laying things on an old towel kept for household jobs. Tiffany silverware cleaner is also used for chains and locks. These cleaners do all work, but you must be very careful and even more careful to remove every last bit of residue in a thorough final buffing.

Contralto cards are important extras that come with your top range designer bag. Keep the contralto cards, original tags and authenticity cards inside the dust bags. Some manufacturers will not repair bags without this proof of authenticity.

However, don't be obsessive with your designer handbag. It cost you a lot of hard earned money so use your bag and enjoy it.