Dany McDonald
Well-Known Member
Hello,
Recently I acquired a gently used Buzz B-15B modified to B-15C from japan. I will not go into details here but the quality is impressive and attention to details is spot on. I will post pictures in the appropriate forum soon.
Now, the seller properly describe the jacket smelling tobacco...oh yeah it did...
Upon reception of the parcel, I could smell it! It reeked tobacco to a point where I thought it was wasted. I do bring back old Belstaff and Barbour form the dead, but that chemical stench seemed like an improbable
challenge until I did this.
First, soak the jacket in the machine with mild detergent for a couple of hours, no spinning, just soak and regularly stir by hand. Rinse and let dry. At that point the tobacco smell turned into a chemical odor that filled the room! This initial soaking is to remove dirt and other stains.
Second, soak the jacket in the machine with one cup of vinegar and one cup of sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda for another couple of hours. Again regularly stir by hand (no spinning), rinse and let dry. Now the stench is gone. Optional, repeat step one if you want your jacket to gently smell detergent.
Some will state that nylon flight jackets must not be soaked. In my case it did not affect the nylon or color, zipper tapes or insulation. Everything stayed in it's initial state and the tobacco stench was gone.
You could probably skip the first soaking, I prefer to work with a clean jacket and then evaluate the problem.
Note that the USAAF print was affected with all the soaking, it can start to flake because it's nylon not cloth!
I think this simple technique will work great with other garments.
Regards,
Dany
Recently I acquired a gently used Buzz B-15B modified to B-15C from japan. I will not go into details here but the quality is impressive and attention to details is spot on. I will post pictures in the appropriate forum soon.
Now, the seller properly describe the jacket smelling tobacco...oh yeah it did...
Upon reception of the parcel, I could smell it! It reeked tobacco to a point where I thought it was wasted. I do bring back old Belstaff and Barbour form the dead, but that chemical stench seemed like an improbable
challenge until I did this.
First, soak the jacket in the machine with mild detergent for a couple of hours, no spinning, just soak and regularly stir by hand. Rinse and let dry. At that point the tobacco smell turned into a chemical odor that filled the room! This initial soaking is to remove dirt and other stains.
Second, soak the jacket in the machine with one cup of vinegar and one cup of sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda for another couple of hours. Again regularly stir by hand (no spinning), rinse and let dry. Now the stench is gone. Optional, repeat step one if you want your jacket to gently smell detergent.
Some will state that nylon flight jackets must not be soaked. In my case it did not affect the nylon or color, zipper tapes or insulation. Everything stayed in it's initial state and the tobacco stench was gone.
You could probably skip the first soaking, I prefer to work with a clean jacket and then evaluate the problem.
Note that the USAAF print was affected with all the soaking, it can start to flake because it's nylon not cloth!
I think this simple technique will work great with other garments.
Regards,
Dany
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