Leather jackets have not gone out of fashion for several decades. In addition to a stylish look, such clothes are practical. It will last a long time and will have a presentable appearance. But what if this item of clothing “smells” bad? Let's talk about how to remove the smell of sweat from a leather jacket.
Hyperhidrosis is a common problem among all population groups. Although sweating is a normal physiological process, over time, leather products become saturated with various odors much more than clothing made from other fabrics. Eliminating odors is quite difficult and is one of the biggest problems with leather clothing. Indeed, in some cases it is almost impossible to remove the ingrained stench of sweat. In this article, we’ll look at how you can get rid of the smell of sweat on leather products, and also share the secrets of dealing with unpleasant odors emanating from them.
How to get rid of second-hand smell on a leather jacket
Leather, especially natural varieties, easily absorbs various odors, which are subsequently quite difficult to get rid of. Therefore, a leather jacket purchased at a second-hand store, without radical intervention in this process, will be a source of a specific amber for a very long time. Second-hand clothing acquires a strong unpleasant odor due to its preliminary sanitary treatment with formaldehyde and methyl bromide. This is done with the aim of destroying various kinds of pathogenic microflora, fungal formations on clothes, especially black mold, which can develop rapidly when stored in conditions that are not always in specially adapted premises. And long-term storage of clothes almost in a compressed form and sometimes in conditions of high humidity gives them, among other things, a smell of bloom and mustiness. Second-hand clothes and unpleasant odors have become almost inseparable and often common nouns. Therefore, when purchasing even trendy items in stock stores, you must first think about how to get rid of the second-hand smell. After all, proper care of a leather jacket will allow you to get rid of a strong unpleasant odor and in the future enjoy a beautiful and comfortable thing for a long time.
You can get rid of the strong unpleasant odor of a second-hand leather jacket by regular ventilation. To do this, the jacket must be hung as freely as possible in the fresh air (on the balcony or in the courtyard of the house, if technically possible) and left for several days. At the same time, for more complete ventilation, you can turn the jacket several times from the front side to the wrong side and vice versa, which will allow the most inaccessible areas of the fabric, such as, for example, the internal seams, to be more fully in contact with fresh air. Sun rays have a very good property of destroying formaldehyde, but it must be taken into account that with prolonged exposure, especially in hot weather, the skin can become very rough, warped or cracked. Therefore, it is preferable to hang a leather jacket in direct sunlight early in the morning or late evening, and in the hottest weather, if this happens in the summer, it is better to keep it in a shaded place. If second-hand clothes are ventilated in the winter, this will make the task of getting rid of the second-hand smell a little easier, since the frosty air, and even in combination with the sun’s rays, will contribute more intensively to this.
Second-hand clothes will get rid of a specific smell much faster by first using adsorbents, which are easily accessible and almost always available in the kitchen or in a home medicine cabinet. Common table salt, sugar, baking soda, vinegar, potato and corn starch, activated charcoal, charcoal, talc and a number of others absorb foreign odors well. To do this, you need to pour one of the listed drugs into several linen bags and place them together with a leather jacket in a tightly closed plastic bag and leave for 2 - 3 days. At the same time, a significant part of the unpleasant odors will be absorbed by the adsorbent used, which in the future will significantly simplify and speed up its weathering in the fresh air. Ground coffee beans will not only help get rid of unpleasant odor, but will also give your skin a lasting coffee aroma. When using table vinegar or ammonia, you need to wet a napkin with them and place them in the bag in the same way. At the same time, it is extremely undesirable for a napkin moistened with vinegar to come into contact with the surface of the skin to avoid damaging it.
In addition, vinegar can be used in other ways to remove odors. To do this, pour hot water into a bathtub or other suitable container, add white vinegar to it and hang a leather jacket over it. Under the influence of temperature, vinegar vapor will permeate the skin and eliminate a strong unpleasant odor. Naturally, during this period it is undesirable to be in the bathroom where the jacket will be treated, since a strong concentration of vinegar vapor can negatively affect a person’s upper respiratory tract. A steam generator can greatly simplify this process, but such treatment must be carried out in an actively ventilated room or outside in a good draft.
Ammonia actively neutralizes formaldehyde, which is the source of the specific second-hand smell, but it cannot be used in its pure form, as this can damage the leather or its color. To use it, you first need to make a soap solution, for which laundry soap is best suited, then add a few drops of ammonia to it and mix thoroughly until smooth. Treat the surface of the leather jacket with the resulting solution, and after a while remove it with a damp cloth. It is not advisable to wet the skin too much. After drying, the skin should be treated with glycerin or castor oil, this will give it elasticity and a unique shine. For this purpose, you can also use special products to clean, impregnate and renew the leather, after which the leather jacket will acquire a completely presentable appearance.
If the jacket purchased at a stock store is not too large in volume, then you can effectively get rid of the second-hand smell by freezing it. To do this, carefully place the jacket in a plastic bag and tie it well so that odors do not spread throughout the refrigerator. There is no need to pack the jacket too tightly to avoid additional creases and dents in the skin, which will be quite difficult to get rid of later. After this, you need to place the bag with the jacket in the freezer, where it should stay for at least a day, then dry it well in the fresh air, and then treat it with glycerin or castor oil.
In some cases, it is recommended to wash with pre-soaking of the product. However, it must be borne in mind that with excessive and prolonged wetness, the structure of the leather may change and the leather jacket will be irrevocably damaged, and it will be impossible to do anything to put the leather in order.
Masking the smell of second-hand clothes with the help of perfumes (deodorants, eau de toilette, perfume, etc.) is not recommended, since this problem may be resolved for a short time, but the overlay of different odors can ultimately lead to an even more disappointing option. In addition, alcohol-containing perfumes can negatively affect the condition of the skin and its color; under the influence of alcohol, it can become very dry and brittle, and additional stains will appear, which will then be quite difficult to remove.
Newsprint and wrapping paper
A little-known fact, but paper can absorb unpleasant odors, provided that the leatherette item is completely dry. Newsprint will provide better results than office paper. The process consists of the following steps:
- Take an ordinary cardboard box and put crumpled paper in it, then, directly, the source of the unpleasant odor.
- Close the box tightly and leave for several days.
- If you still feel this smell when opening it, then wait another couple of days.
How to Clean Stains and Dirt on a Leather Jacket
With prolonged use of a leather jacket, no matter how carefully we treat it, dark stains from sweat appear on the collar, sleeve cuffs and usually in the pocket area, which can be removed in several ways. The simplest of them is using laundry soap. To do this, use a sponge soaked in a soap solution (it should not be too wet), you need to thoroughly wipe the entire surface of the skin, paying special attention to problem areas, and this should be done at least once a month.
Glycerin softens the skin well and makes it elastic, so it is recommended to periodically treat the jacket with this preparation. For everyday wear, a leather jacket should be wiped with a slightly damp cloth or sponge. At the same time, even the most minor impurities will be easily removed, which will prevent them from penetrating deep into the pores of the skin.
Professional products
Today, in almost any hardware store you can buy a cleaner for dermantine products. Carefully read the instructions of the purchased product to ensure that it is exactly suitable for a certain type of material. Modern professional products do not affect the color and shine of the product and do not cause any damage. They are applied using a cloth or, if the product is in the form of a spray, then by spraying.
An alternative replacement is shoe polish, suitable for treating bags, wallets, and linseed oil, more used for removing odors from clothes.
How to kill mold on a leather jacket
If stored improperly for a long time, which most often happens in second-hand stores, mold may appear on a leather jacket, which will also give the clothing an unpleasant odor. Most often this occurs due to high humidity and limited access to compressed or tightly packed items of fresh air. To get rid of mold on a leather jacket, you first need to thoroughly dry and ventilate it. Then treat with a soapy solution; for this, laundry soap with the addition of a small amount of table vinegar is best. In addition, you can get rid of mold by placing a jacket and a tampon soaked in vinegar in a plastic bag for several hours. This procedure will happen more quickly when using a steam generator with the addition of a small amount of white table vinegar. After this treatment, the jacket must be thoroughly dried until the vinegar smell disappears completely. Baking soda can also help fight mold.
Vinegar solution
As you know, vinegar is a universal cleaning agent; it is also suitable for dermantine. You should not be afraid to use the solution with it, just because it also has a pungent odor, as it quickly dissipates.
Stages of cleaning leather substitute with vinegar solution:
- First of all, it is necessary to carry out a small test to check whether the material reacts to acetic acid, namely, whether it will lose color. For this process, take equal amounts of distilled vinegar and water, mix, and use a piece of cloth to apply the solution to the item. If the surface remains the same, proceed to the next step.
- Take a clean soft cloth, soak it in the resulting product and apply it to the item, or use the spray method using a spray bottle.
- Wait 2-3 minutes and wipe the treated surface dry with napkins
- If the nasty aroma remains, soak the product in the solution itself for 7-10 minutes, then dry with a hairdryer, or hang in a warm place.
How to remove creases and bruises from a leather jacket
In most cases, various kinds of creases and bruises on a leather jacket can be smoothed out on their own. To do this, the jacket dressed on the trempel must be placed in free space. Under its own weight, the folds in the skin will straighten out. However, this will take too long and it is not a fact that strong creases will disappear. This can be achieved using an iron with a steam function or a steam generator. Under the influence of steam, the folds on the leather will be smoothed out much faster and better; you just need to be careful, especially when using an iron, so that the leather on the jacket is not damaged by too hot steam. To soften creases on the leather of the jacket, they can be pre-lubricated with Vaseline or castor oil. This simple procedure will simplify and speed up the process of ironing a leather jacket.
If the measures taken did not allow you to independently cope with unpleasant odors and stains on your jacket, then specialists from specialized dry cleaners will help you deal with the problem.
You can learn in detail about effective ways to solve this problem on how to remove the smell of second-hand items, how to get rid of the second-hand smell on things made of fur, leather and suede shoes, bags.
Weathering of the smell
The first and safest method for removing persistent leather odor from an item is to air it out naturally. Leather quickly absorbs odors, such as cigarette smoke, sweat, the aroma of “new leather” after treating the product with tanning agents, etc. Usually, odors disappear on their own during wear.
You should not interrupt the aroma with perfumes or deodorants, as this will only enhance it. To quickly neutralize the smell, you need to wear leather items more often. The stronger the aroma, the more often you should wear the product. With frequent wear, the skin softens, the pores open, and bad odors disappear.
If this method does not help or you can no longer tolerate the strong aroma, then use the following tips.
Drying
Let's say you bought a new fashion accessory and are now wondering how to remove the smell of a leatherette bag? If it is damp and damp, then you can simply dry the material. By the way, the same drawback can occur if you get caught in heavy rain and your jacket gets wet - it will start to smell.
You need to dry the item carefully:
1. Place the product in a place well lit by the sun. But so that direct rays do not fall on it, since this will damage the thing. The optimal place would be a position near a window covered with light curtains;
2. Use a hair dryer with a minimum heat level. Moreover, keep it at a distance of at least 25 cm from the surface of the thing;
3. Wipe the material with dry cloth wipes.
Potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide
The sharp, unpleasant smell of clothing or accessories from leatherette can be removed using potassium permanganate. Take a couple of drops of it and dissolve it in water, you should get a pale pink solution, which we use to treat the product. If the aroma does not disappear, then add 3-4 tbsp to the consistency. l. peroxide and wipe again.
Pay attention to the fact that the solution must be mixed strictly according to the instructions, otherwise an excess of both peroxide and potassium permanganate will leave unpleasant marks on the surface of the material.
Unconventional methods
Any method of ridding a leather product of the smell of sweat or cigarettes is in one way or another connected with cleaning the material. However, there are other options for removing such “odors”, for example, you can replace the lining in the armpit area.
This method will help in the fight against the smell of sweat, since it is associated with the installation of new lining fabric.
So, carefully spread the lining at the junction of the sleeves on the back of the jacket. Cut out squares with sides of 30 by 30 cm under the armpits. Cut out a similar shape from the new lining material, leaving a margin for allowances. Carefully sew on the new lining.
