If you have recently purchased a new leather sofa, and this is your first leather furniture purchase, you may be wondering what that smell is and when will it go away. Well, it is not quite that simple. There could be two distinct smells that you smell; one would be the natural inherent smell of leather, and the other could be the smell of chemicals used to treat the leather during its processing. Hopefully what you smell is the natural smell of leather.
If you are unfamiliar with the natural smell of leather, have someone who is familiar with the smell of genuine leather come over and get a whiff. If it is not leather and a chemical, you may want to have your new leather furniture examined by professionals to insure that the chemicals that you smell are not at unhealthy levels.
If what you smell is, in fact, the smell of genuine leather and it is a scent that you can tolerate or even come to admire; then your work is done. If for some strange reason, you are one those people who don’t like the smell of leather, but love its feel and durability, there are some steps that you can take to, at least, minimize the smell.
Manufacturer’s Instructions
The first thing you will want to do is read the manufacturer’s instructions. This is important because the instructions for the basic care of your leather couch will be listed. I will give you some basic pointers on cleaning and maintaining your new piece of furniture. Another reason why this is important is because you don’t want to use any methods to remove the leather smell that the instructions specific tell you not to use. Why? The answer is simple; you don’t want to damage your leather sofa, and you don’t want void the warranty on it either.
Certain cleaning oils have the capacity to affect the color of your leather furniture. Be careful when using them.
Air It Out
Believe it or not, one of the most common methods of minimizing the new leather smell on your sofa is to simply air it out. Find a place where your furniture can sit out in the open air for a while. Now it might be easier to move around a leather chair or leather recliner than attempting to maneuver a complete leather sectional, but if you want to get rid of that smell bad enough, it may be worth a try.
Clean or Wash
If you have removable casings and pillow covers, remove them and wash them. Be sure to give consideration to the manufacturer’s instructions on cleaning your new leather sofa. If your furniture does not have any removable casings or covers, you will have to take the time to hand wash it with soap that meets the specifications of the manufacturer. Again, if at all possible, you will want to place the furniture in the open air to dry and air out more of that leather scent. If your furniture is too bulky to move, try opening a number of windows to let in some fresh air.
Saddle Soap
Try using a high quality saddle soap to treat the leather. Saddle soap is relatively inexpensive and it’s a good leather conditioner, so even if it does not help with the smell, it will still have served some productive purpose. Once you have cleaned the leather sofa with the saddle soap, you will want to insure that you replenish the natural oils that were removed during the cleaning process. One of the best ways to do this is by using linseed or lanolin oil
Zeolite
Zeolite is an order neutralizer, actually it absorbs orders. Zeolite is formulated from volcanic ash. It is a natural mineral that will not harm your sofa. You can simply place it under the cushions or somewhere inside the sofa. This natural mineral can be recharged by simply setting it outside in the sun. This insures that you will be able to get years of use from it.
One of or a combination of the methods listed above should significantly minimize that smell that is emitting from your new leather sofa. If for some reason your leather furniture is still emitting a strong scent, you may have to bring in the professionals, but the chances are one of the actions above will remedy the situation.
