Do you have a smoke smell on your leather? Without panicking, you must hurry and try to get it out of your leather accessory before it starts to damage it. It can be tough to get rid of, but with the right stuff, it is possible

Does Smoke Absorb Into Leather?

The porousness of leather makes it easy for smoke to absorb into it. If you smoke or vape close to any kind of leather items, even furniture, the smell will linger on for days on them. Cleaning of leather items such as leather interior cars will require a special cleaner to get the smoke out of the fibers.

Leather Cleaner

Remember, a small amount will go a long way. Pour it onto a microfiber cloth or an old t-shirt and lightly wipe down non-absorbent leather to minimize the smell. For deeper cleaning, use a soft-bristled brush to work the cleaner into the leather. Be gentle and avoid scrubbing too hard. Doing so can damage the leather.

Sprinkling Baking Soda

Sprinkle baking soda on the leather and leave for 20 minutes. But if you have certain leather items you don’t want coming into direct contact with baking soda, place the leather item in a container with a cover alongside 1-2 uncovered boxes of baking soda. Wait a day before removing it to check if the item is odor-free. You can even wrap it in plastic and put it inside a bag or inside a jacket.

Charcoal

If you have shoes, for example, that soaked up the smell of smoke, you can put a bowl of charcoal between them for as long as 3 days. It doesn’t just come in handy for heating up a grill but works great as an absorbent too. In the case of leather interiors, you can place a bag of charcoal in the car and leave it there for a minimum of 2 days.

Leather Deodorizer

These are a safe bet when it comes to keeping the leather intact. Oftentimes leather may react to substances such as vinegar or sunlight. However, leather deodorizers are made for the purpose of ridding leather of any bad odors that may engulf it. So in order to keep the quality of your leather safe, it might be slightly pricier than the rest, but at least won’t damage it.

Vinegar

A mixture of white vinegar and water can instantly get the job done for removing the stench of smoke from leather. Vinegar works efficiently to deodorize, disinfect and neutralize the smell of smoke from leather. Spray a thin layer over your leather item. Give it a couple of minutes for the vinegar to absorb into the fabric before wiping it down with a clean, dry cloth in circular motions. It cuts through odors naturally.

Alcohol Spritz

1 part rubbing alcohol mixed with 1 part water in a bowl applied lightly with a soft, clean, and lint-free rag is all the magic you need. Apply the damp cloth all over the surface of the leather product, making sure to target the larger and more exposed areas. ½ a cup of a cheap bottle of Vodka could do the trick as well.

Leather Conditioner

After cleaning the leather, condition it to restore moisture. This will protect it from future damage. Therefore, apply a leather conditioner that’s formulated for your type of leather. Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use.

Dish Soap

Take a large spray bottle and mix dish-washing liquid and warm water in it. Mix well after covering the spray bottle. You can spray the mixture on leather handbags, sofas, leather jackets, or purses to get rid of the unpleasant smell. Before spraying, ensure the item is clean so that any build-up on it doesn’t create a foul smell.

Wrap The Leather In Newspaper

As with leather, the newspaper is equally as porous, if not more, making it ideal to soak up the smell. Wrap smaller leather items in the newspaper and let them sit in it for a couple of days, allowing enough time for the newspaper to do its job. For bigger items, use more sheets of newspaper on top of the leather covering as much as possible. Recycle the newspaper after this process or after a few days.

Sunlight

The Sun is an all-natural deodorizer that requires no longer than 5-6 hours at max. Sunlight and fresh air are great solutions for bad odors. Put your leather item out in the sun for a couple of hours, allowing the air and light to help the smell escape. Make sure you put a timer on because longer exposure to sunlight will dehydrate the leather as it will lose its natural oils. Exposure to sunlight for several hours each day could help deeply embedded smoke odors be released.

Dry Clean

Not all leathers can be subjected to household items like dish-washing soap or vinegar. For that purpose, dry cleaning is great for removing smoke odor from more sensitive leathers that are inclined to crack or react to any other substance. Let the professionals do their job and take the worry off your shoulders. You don’t want to end up ruining your big-ticket leather items just to save a couple of cents.

Hang in Fresh Air

Faint smoke smells can easily be dealt with by ventilating your leather jacket in airy environments. Ventilation is one of the safest and easiest methods to clean smoke smells from leather. Simply hang your leather jacket and place it out in a dry, open, and breezy area.

Whatever route you decide to take to restore your leather’s smell, make sure it is specific to the leather type you are dealing with. Leather is a precious fabric that can get ruined with a very mindless mistake on your part.