How to get rid of that leather smell?

May 29, 2006 11:39 AM

How to make leather smell, well, less leathery?

I have recently acquired a new bedframe, which is bookended by padded leather at the head and foot of the mattress (in a tasteful style, I promise).

I love it to bits, but even after a month there is a distinct leather smell, not unpleasant, but just there. I was just wondering if anyone knew of a product that one could apply or rub into leather to neutralise its natural odor?

posted by LondonYank to home & garden (5 comments total)

As far as I know, the only cure (sorry for that pun) is age. You could probably mask it with something else, but putting something on the leather will probably make it take longer for the smell to go away.

For what it's worth, you have something made of animal hide. You should probably expect it to smell like animal hide (this is in no way saying that using leather is a bad thing).
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:00 PM on May 29, 2006

Are you sure you want to? Some of us find the smell of leather rather sexy...

You might want to go into a tack shop (horse supplies), if there's one nearby, and ask them for help. There are all sorts of leather conditioners and cleaners, and I'm guessing some of them can help mask the odor. Murphy's oil soap, which is always what I used for cleaning saddles and boots, might also work (as well as making the leather shiny) -- but again, I was usually trying to *keep* the leather smell!
posted by occhiblu at 12:25 PM on May 29, 2006

Good quality leather will smell quite strong for several years really. Murphys oil might help but make sure anything you use doesn't darken the leather and if you use soap also use condiitoner!
posted by fshgrl at 3:36 PM on May 29, 2006

This Q+A home-living page suggests using an enzyme odor digestive product (question #7). Also, the Leather Forums site probably addresses this issue; it seems to be down at present.
posted by rob511 at 4:40 PM on May 29, 2006

Are you crazy?
posted by crabintheocean at 12:19 PM on May 30, 2006