Stinky jackets

[Andrew]

It's cool enough here for a jacket now so threw on my 8 month old GW Dubow- first time in months. My Wife just did the recoil thing and said "it stinks!", I said "of what", she said "old!", I said "it's not an old one it's new" (was a bit worried then about whether she'd start to ask more difficult questions like when and how much).

Anyhow, despite being aired it's still got its original (well documented by now) wierd smell. Has anyone had any luck in actually doing anything to theirs other than airing/wearing it to remove it? This is serious as I may be banned from wearing it when she's around...

 

[deeb7]

Anyhow, despite being aired it's still got its original (well documented by now) wierd smell...

Does it smell like 1942 in a box, Andrew?

I can't offer anything GW specific, but it's supposed to fade with time. Here's my standard post ... a couple of squirts with the pet spray should work.

Try airing it outside, but out of the sun, this should do it, but otherwise .....

Place it in a plastic bag, sprinkle with bicarbonate of soda, and seal it in for a few days.

And/or spray with an animal odour eliminator from a pet shop.

This combination has worked well for me, others on the forum like to toss the jacket into the clothes drier with coffee grounds. The debate about whether to use them first continues .....

 

[Andrew]

Anyhow, despite being aired it's still got its original (well documented by now) wierd smell...

Does it smell like 1942 in a box, Andrew?

Yes it does Dave- just goes to show how seriously John takes his work.

Thanks for all the other stuff, i'll try out the first ones- though i'd rather the jacket smelt of leather than coffee- I wonder if you can buy "leather smell" in a spray bottle. One of the things I like about RMNZ jackets is the fanatastic leather odour they have.

 

[deeb7]

I wonder if you can buy "leather smell" in a spray bottle.

Apparently yes ...

 

[Chandler]

I once had an old G-1 that had belonged to a smoker... heavily laden with the stench.

At the time a friend was selling ozone cleaning devices (for any purpose, but restaurant kitchens mostly) -- we let the machine run through the jacket's sleeves and inner body for about an hour total -- no more cigarette smell at all! Amazing.

Chandler

 

[zoomer]

I own a couple jackets acquired of VLJ'ers, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, fellas, but your choice of eau de toilette* would not necessarily be mine.

*Not what I mean by eau de toilette.

 

[CBI]

"Kids n Pets" stain and odor remover works pretty well. Its for carpets but works on most anything including leather - no discoloration, drys very fast, etc.

 

[Atticus]

I only have one GW and it is made of capeskin. It has very little smell. Even when it was new, it didn't have much smell. Maybe capes are just cleaner animals than are goats or horses.

Truthfully, unless a jacket smells like cigarettes or Mr. BO, I don't worry too much about it. I have old nylon jackets drycleaned when I first get them, but I do this to get the piojos out. If my leather jackets begin to smell funky, I hang them on the porch to air for a couple of days. Other than that, I just wear 'em. I expect that they generally smell better than I do, anyhow.

AF

 

[CBI]

Lots of vintage items do really stink though. I have a "vintage" office with lots of period items in the room. Some things have not worked out: old typewriters - really smelly. I Just purchased a WWII era wallet from a guy on eBay (you might have seen it as it was listed in under "A-2 jacket"). Kind of a cool wallet but it really smells like mold. Right after I hit BIN, I thought -"oh, what about mold, etc." I have done a few treatments on it but the mold smell is still very much there. Oh well. Have had some bad luck with moldy/smelly orginal jackets as well. Even when the buyer states "no odors".