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I found a nice leather purse at a thrift store, but when I got it home, I realized the previous owner must have used it to take a bath...in perfume... Where do I even start to tackle this problem? The outside is black leather & the inside is a mix of leather & ??some kind of fabric purse lining??

Anyone ever successfully cleaned the lining of a leather purse? Without wrecking the lining or the leather?

hmmm, i'm thinking stuffing it with newspapers awhile. ....

Can't hurt/might help! Forgot about that trick used for musty suitcases.

I'm thinking the newspaper and a dryer sheet or baking soda

Fabreze? Sitting it outside with the top open?

My brother (antique book appraiser in SF) says crumpled newspaper helps a great deal...somehow it absorbs smells)

OK - I'll start with the newspaper & move on to other measures later, if needed.

Sitting outside right now...not sure what this January weather does to leather... How about I book the purse AND myself a 2-week vacation somewhere warm & sunny?!

yep...I say a combination of all of the above...the newspaper to absorb the biggest amount of smell...then airing it out on the line...does the lining pullout/drop down when turned upside down?

quote:

does the lining pullout/drop down when turned upside down?

Not sure...it's already stuffed with newspaper! I'll check when I change the paper the first time.

I looked it up online & it was probably a $70-80-90-100 bag when new, so the $6 I paid was worth it, smell or not. It's in great shape otherwise.

I wish I would have had this advice a few years ago when I attended a local Lobsterfest. Just as I opened my purse to get my nutcracker so I could crack open the claws, an elderly lady tripped while carrying a bowl of clam chowder and it all spilled right into my purse! It was a new leather one and I tried airing it out, but that didn't work. I ended up just throwing it away. Maybe one of these ideas would have saved my purse. I still attend the Lobsterfest every year, but I am always very careful before I open my purse! I hope you have better luck with your purse!

Haha, Teddylady, reminds me of something that happened years ago. I went to lunch with 3 of my co-workers. Three of us ordered iced tea, and the 4th (raised in England) ordered hot tea. When the server reached across the first lady to set down the hot tea for the second lady, the tray tilted and the iced tea spilled into the first lady's open purse and down her white sweater. She was mopping up tea and pulling out ice cubes right and left. Since that happened I have always tried to keep my purse closed and away from anything that would spill into it, although it's not always possible.

I have had a beautiful 3/4 length leather coat my niece gifted me 4 years ago...It has hung outside,inside out and it still reeks of her expensive perfume...It has been professionally cleaned now it is just a smelly-perfumed thing that is clothed in old cotton pillow cases and live in the spare bedroom closet....maybe one of these days that smell will finally fade and I can still fit in it....She outgrew it which is why she brought it to me...if I had known it had marinated it would never have com into my home. I do hope the newspaper works for you

The newspaper ~might~ have helped? A little? Well, now I have perfumed paper, but I do know what to do with that (toss it!). The lining is marinating in Febreeze right now. Hope that helps further. Yes, I can pull up the lining, which gives me more possibilities to de-stink it separately from the leather bag itself. Patience, patience...

I don't know why I didn't notice this problem til I got home. But then I don't routinely sniff things in stores! My quilt guild has actually asked people not to wear perfume to meetings, because there have been complaints. I have to agree. Perfume that gives off visible scent waves makes me turn blue & feel queasy.

And speaking of restaurant spills, I was 17 & out to dinner on a first date with the school's BMOC/Class Hunk. I'd only had my eye on him since 3rd grade & vice versa. Was having the time of my life til the waitress brought us our soft drinks...on the same tray with filled beer glasses... She managed to spill a beer all down my arm. Fortunately, it was summer & I had on a sleeveless dress. Unfortunately, I had to try to later explain to my parents why I came home from my date smelling like a brewery!

The newspaper takes awhile to work. Several weeks? Give in another try.

Starry, I think we've lived parallel lives!...when I was 17 and at my senior prom dinner (before formal pictures) with a white scooped neck,sleeveless, heavily embroidered satin gown. I was very nervous eating in front of my date. I was kind of worried about the little tomato in my salad, so I avoided it. BUT, too much salad dressing dribbled right down the middle of my dress...not on my sleeveless arm to be wiped off. Well, my handsome date giggled, stabbed his tomato and it flew off the plate into the candle dish in front of us (not down the neck of my dress, thank goodness) We set off in gales of laughter and had a grand time at the prom. The salad dressing didn't show up too much in the pictures.

Later, in college, I went to dinner with my parents before an event I was going to. A waiter spilled a whole glass of wine down my back. I had to be on time, so didn't go home and change. I went to church smelling like a winery.

Aslso in high school I had a crush on one of my biology teachers. tornado Helen's mom invited a whole bunch of teachers and us over for Thankgiving dinner. There he was...sigh...at the opposite end of the table from me...sigh. I tried to eat delicately and securely. So securely in fact that when I bit into an olive, I discovered it had a pit. Oh What To Do???!!! Couldn't spit it out! Securely, firmly, I clutched that olive and removed hopefully without anyone seeing it. So firmly grasped indeed that it shot out of my fingers and landed clear across the table into my "secret love's" plate. Oh. my.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nancyc20,

Charcoal and lava rock are great odor absorbers. I keep a bag of crushed lava rock in my basement to ward off those musty smells that occur when rooms aren't open to air flow very easily, or used often. Keeps the rooms fine.

BiG IF. Sometimes particles need to be rehydrated to get rid of a smell. IF the lining is a fabric that can be wetted, as in doused, you might be able to soak it and then wrap and squeeze it in a towel to get most of the wetness out and perhaps the perfume. I kinda did this trick with a friend that had spilled a milk shake on the floor of the back seat of her car. She cleaned up the liquid part that was there when she got home but a couple of days drying in the car, and phewwwwww, sour milk. I poured water on the floor and then took my Rainbow vacuum to it. Sucked up all the stuff in and under the carpet. Did it a couple of times. Smell was gone.

You may have to use one of the other odor absorbers also because I'm sure by now the smell is in the leather itself.

quote:

Originally posted by nancyc20:
I think we've lived parallel lives!...when I was 17 and at my senior prom dinner...the little tomato in my salad...

OMG - you are so right! Parallel! At my sr. prom, I went to pick up the cherry tomato with my fork & it landed straight in my lap, on my lovely lavender gown!

DH, my prom date, reminds me to this day to look out for flying cherry tomatoes.

Meanwhile...

I'll re-stuff the bag tonight. Lather, rinse, repeat. Maybe just having it wide open last night with paper in it helped more than the paper itself?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: StarrySky,

If you were closer I'd let you have a few drops of my Odorific that I buy from the Kirby vacuum store...2 - 3 drops on a cotton ball....into the bag ...next day you'd be amazed

is this it?

http://www.kirbyvacuumbags.com/od210cortuso.html

Be glad it's only perfume. Years ago, we raised show rabbits and I saw a lady standing very close to the judging table with her purse hanging open. Before I could tell her that was dangerous, a rabbit in the coop in front of her decided to use her purse for a restroom! The person standing next to her got some of the splatter and told her to check her purse. I think she probably threw the purse away, but all of the things inside it would have been soaked.

Marilyn

I like a product called Odor-Ban. It can be purchased at a Sam's Club by the gallon. It is mixed with water into a spray bottle , good for all kinds of things.

hey, I think that's what I just got at Walmart the other day...OdoBan...air and fabric refresher. Got it in a 24oz spray bottle for the kittie's potty room....so far it works great. Not expensive, either (can't remember what it was, but I didn't gasp or shriek.)

Will look for the spray if nothing else works. I do go to W-M sometimes, but I think the Sam's closest to me closed? I didn't pay attention...was never a member there. A friend took me there one time to show me "what I was missing," and I saw a big fat roach skittle across the aisle!

Hey StarrySky Odoban is THE best odor remover!
You can also purchase at Home Depot!

Starry, check out TerryOh's thread on removing smoke smell from fabric. In the comments on the linked page someone talks about removing perfume smell.