Cigarette Smoke on Leather

I bought 2 beautiful all weather leather vintage handbags by Dooney & Bourke and wallets from ebay. I did not know, but the owner was a smoker. I get a migraine from the smell. I love these items, there are in excellent condition. Could someone help me out by telling how I may remove the cigarette smell permanently.

Thanks!
Jamie from Garden Grove, CA

Answers:

Cigarette Smoke on Leather

Clean the outside with leather balm and put crumpled up newspaper inside pockets and purse for a week or so. (06/01/2006)

By Marie

Cigarette Smoke on Leather

I received a newer Coach bag from a Seller today, and, like some others on this post, I could smell the smoke as soon as I signed for the box. Honestly, I cannot even have this in my home, so it is out on my deck. I paid over $140 for this used bag and I could just cry. I have found that, if the bag has a lining, there is not much hope of removing the odor. On the vintage Coach, lined in suede, I have been able to remove smells by thoughly washing them with vinegar, ivory soap and water, air drying them in the shade, "sunning" the item in direct light and using air neutralizers and lysol.

Most of the glove-tanned will tolerate a washing, but be careful to totally saturate to avoid water marks, especially on colors other than black. Because the lining covers the "raw" leather in newer bags, I don't have hope for this bag. This Seller advertised the item as MINT. The odor is so offensive that it is nearly a throw-away for a non-smoker. Plus the leather has bad abrasions on the bottom edge. I have contacted the Seller and am awaiting a response. If I do not get a response, I am going to return the bag tomorrow with tracking. If she does not credit my paypal account within 12 hours of receiving the return, I am bypassing paypal and going straight to my credit card company to file a chargeback.

It is bad enough that, as a Buyer, you have to worry about a bag being fake. To receive this smoke-infested piece a crap is totally unacceptable. This is one of the few auctions where I did not ask about smoke odor before bidding. I figured that the bag was "mint" and "hardly used" so I would not have to worry. Boy was I wrong on this one. I will be sure to ask before bidding from now on. Don't trust "MINT CONDITION" as a description. And go one step further and ask if the bag has any odors, especially smoke.

I used to worry about offending sellers, but now I worry that this could happen again. All of us ran across this post while desperately googling to see if the odor could be removed. Oh, and I tried Meltonian leather conditioner, it has a pretty distinct scent. It had no chance on overpowering the smoke, though. Good luck to everyone. (09/07/2006)

By Dawn