Many of us have been fascinated by leather since childhood after seeing all of those cowboy serial movies. Cowboys and leather are synonymous whether the old time cowboys or the modern day cowboys. After all, there is nothing more masculine or, feminine for that matter, than leather. I personally love the stuff and especially the smell of new leather. Depending of course, on what type of leather it is. However, like everything else we use and wear eventually it will lose its nice smell and begin to stink and a good leather odor remover is necessary.
There are many types of leather: Buckskin is a suede-like leather; patent leather is a high gloss leather and usually has a plastic finish; Vachetta which is usually used to trim luggage and handbags (used in Louis Vutton products); Slink made from the skin of unborn calves used in making gloves, and Deerskin one of the toughest leathers; as well as ostrich and kangaroo the newer leathers. These are the ones that I know of and I am sure there are more. All of these and other leathers eventually become inundated with body odors and household odors with natural and normal use. All odors are caused by certain odor producing bacteria, each one indigenous to its own environment i.e. body odor bacteria would be different from bacteria causing urine odor, etc. Let’s talk about either making or purchasing a leather odor remover.
To remove the odor caused by urine from leather upholstery, use one teaspoon of mild dish detergent (not the kind you use in the dishwasher) to a quart of warm water. Whip this up until it’s foamy and with a clean sponge wipe the upholstery using only the foam. Do not soak the upholstery and use a soft clean towel to immediately wipe it up. Follow this up with clean water and another clean sponge wiping the upholstery of all of the detergent and again immediately wiping it dry.
Body odors from clothing, head grease, oil and sweat can really make for a smelly piece of leather. This can happen predominantly in leather clothing. To eliminate this odor a good leather odor remover is your dryer. Place the leather item in the dryer together with about three or four dryer sheets of your choice and about three tennis balls. Turn the dryer on to a very low setting without heat. Let this run for about twenty or twenty five minutes and the odor should be gone.
I would also recommend the use of OdorZout All Purpose Granule odor remover as a leather odor remover. . If used according to instructions, to just sprinkle the granules where needed and let them sit for a few minutes, they will work their magic. Be sure to read and follow the instructions.
As a little aside, I learned that there is a beetle living in Upshur County, West Virginia that has the odor of leather. Stephen Crosswell, a photographer that photographed the beetle said the books state this beetle is reddish or reddish brown although he says the one he photographed was definitely black. Interesting!
