Owning a leather jacket is always a cool addition to your fashion accessories that make a statement wherever you go. But there is one aspect that nobody is talking about which includes the obvious smells that can build up that make wearing a leather jacket feel gamey and not very pleasant smelling.
Here are several ways to clean and freshen up your favorite leather jackets making them smell fresh and clean once again.
Remove smells from a faux leather jacket
Whatever you want to call it, faux leather has often been called pleather, fake leather, and even Vegan leather, but the fact remains it can absorb scents just like every other leather-like material. The reason that smell gets into faux leather is very simple and has to do with the materials used to make it.
The surface of a material is coated with polyurethane-based plastic and sometimes even has a leather-like surface stamped onto it as it dries.
Polyurethane leather (or PU leather) will absorb smells such as cigarette smoke, and body odors, and typically has a plastic-like smell to it. As this smell goes away, other smells are easy to notice after a short time.
Even the smells from working around a kitchen including cooking oils, onions, and spices will easily be absorbed into PU leather. To get the smell out of this material you can try a couple of different tricks.
Use a household deodorizer
The easiest method is to go to the store and buy a spray bottle of Febreze. This product works wonders at removing unpleasant smells from faux leather within hours and has a very nice scent that smells fresh. It can be sprayed onto the surface of your jacket and also sprayed inside the jacket as generously as you like. It only takes a few minutes to soak in since the spray mist is so fine.
Afterward, all you need to do is to wait until your faux leather jacket is dry, and the smell is completely gone. There is no need to clean the surface unless you want to use a stronger cleaning method to get deep penetrating smells that haven't come out while using Febreze.
Use household kitchen products
A combination of white distilled vinegar mixed 50/50 with water and a bit of lemon juice placed into a sprayer bottle is a natural choice for getting a deep clean. The white vinegar by itself will have an odor that needs time to dissipate, but this is why lemon juice will help neutralize this odor.
This mixture is applied with a spray bottle and is used on the outside first. You can also use a sponge to clean the surface by wiping the outside of your jacket.
The inside of the coat is turned inside out and then sprayed with this solution and allowed to soak in. After this, flip the jacket inside out once again and allow it to dry in a spot that gets plenty of air. It can take at least a day or two before the vinegar smell is totally gone but will completely remove the bad smells inside faux leather after this.
Don't use baking soda, since this can get messy and doesn't work like they say it does for faux leather smells.
Remove smells from a genuine leather jacket
Real leather is made from animal skin, so the chance of getting everyday smells into this material is greater than faux leather. The easiest method may surprise you but is 100% safe and kills the germs that often get into leather skins which typically make odd and funky smells.
All you need to do is find the cheapest bottle of vodka you can find and put it into a spray bottle. Now add your favorite perfume or scent into the vodka and mix this together.
You can then spray your jacket inside and out and everywhere your leather surface is exposed. Vodka is a grain alcohol that works very quickly to absorb through leather skins and even within liners. The alcohol kills bacteria and bad smells that are buried inside the leather skin.
It won't take more than one night for your jacket to smell completely fresh again. One last tip is to add a leather conditioner spray to help refresh the oils in these leather skins.
This will further give your jacket that familiar smell that makes it feel like you bought it when it was brand new. Keep in mind that the smell that most people feel is that familiar new leather smell is actually formaldehyde.
This is the same stuff that helps preserve people at mortuaries. So you can also choose to find a scent that is more suiting to your liking if you don't want a new leather jacket scent.
How to Remove Mold Smell from Leather
How to remove mold smell from leather? Mold on leather can be dangerous to your health and can also ruin the leather items as well. However, if your leather clothes or bags or shoes have been affected by mold, you don't need to throw them away because there are some simple ways of removing mold smell from leather which you can do at home.
Even if it's too late and mold has already invaded the leather, you should still follow these steps to stop the growth of mold further.
1. Fill a little spray bottle with inexpensive vodka or white vinegar.
Mix this vinegar or vodka with baking soda, it is sufficient to remove the smell from the leather. Just spray the mixture onto the leather and leave for 15-20 minutes. The smell will be absent from the blanket after spraying.
2. Spray your leather jacket both inside and out with a little water.
Lightly spritz your leather jacket on the inside and outside with cheap vodka or white vinegar to help kill the mold. The smell will be absent in 2-3 days.
3. Only lightly mist the leather jacket; do not soak it.
Now you should try not to drench the leather jacket, only a light mist is enough. The light mist will dry the leather very fast. The vodka or vinegar will help cut through the mold and kill it.
4. Get rid of the odor by letting it air dry.
After a while, wipe the leather again with a dry cloth. You should do this at least twice a day to get rid of the smell completely. The mold will not grow after the first day. The leather will be disinfected and you can keep your leather clothes or bags for a long time.
5. To keep the leather jacket supple and prevent cracking, follow up with a leather conditioner.
When the mold is gone, you need to follow up with a leather conditioner to keep the leather jacket supple and avoid cracking from leather. The conditioner will keep the leather moisture and elastic.
How to Remove Smoke Smell from Leather
1. To absorb strong scents, place a cat litter container next to the leather.
The cat litter can absorb heavy odors, it will also absorb the liquid if smoke has seeped into the leather.
2. For 20 minutes, sprinkle baking soda on the leather to absorb the smoke odor.
The baking soda can absorb the smoke odor for 20 minutes. Just be careful when the baking soda touches your skin, it may cause some skin irritation.
3. For two to three days, leave a bowl of charcoal by the leather to absorb the odor.
The charcoal absorbs the smells very well and it will remove the odor which seeped into the leather. If you can't find charcoal, you can change it to another absorbent material like baking soda.
4. For two to three days, wrap the leather in newspaper to allow the paper to absorb the smell.
The newspaper absorbs the smells very well and it will remove the odor which seeped into the leather. The smell will be gone after a few days, but it will take longer time for the leather to get back to its normal condition.
5. To clean and freshen the leather, mist it with white vinegar.
You can use white vinegar as a leather cleaner because it is a good deodorizer and also used in cleaning. Vinegar can be used to clean the stains on the leather and of course, it will help remove the smoke odor from leather. The vinegar will also help remove stains and neutralize odors.
6. To use leather as a natural deodorizer, expose it to the sun for 5 to 6 hours.
The sunlight can deodorize the leather naturally, as well as remove the smoke smell from leather. When you remove the smoke smell from leather, please make sure that the sunlight is ultra-violet light. The sunlight should be strong to dry out all of the wet liquid in your leather easily.
The cat litter can absorb the liquid, the baking soda can absorb the smoke odor, and the charcoal can absorb the smell which seeped into the leather. The newspaper and sunlight works to deodorize and clean the leather from inside out.
You should remove mold smell from leather as soon as possible because if you don't look after your leather, it may be destroyed by mold further.