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That distinct leather smell
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:52 pm
by IndyBlues
You all know what I'm talking about,...that awesome smell of a leather jacket.
Well, my hand-distressed Wested lamb has lost that loving feeling,...er..
smell, that is.
I think the distressing process has shortened the life span of the unique leather scent, and I was wondering if anyone knows of a product that could restore this fine smell to my favorite jacket.
'Blues
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 12:08 am
by Bufflehead Jones
English Leather?
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:00 am
by Indiana Jerry
Sniffing harder? Get over your cold?
Okay, seriously...smells are due to airborne particulate matter. Things 'lose their smell' when they no longer 'shed' particles as freely, or dry out such that they are more dropping/cracking them than allowing air to breath across and pick up minor particles. (But I'm winging this a bit.)
I'm not sure, but conditioning the jacket ought to increase it's lifespan, and maybe bring back - a bit, anyway - some of that leather smell.
But if much of it was due to the dyes and top finishes, then yeah, distressing would probably strip away that property somewhat.
Pecards should at least alleviate your concerns about shortening the lifespan of that jacket.
And then you have time to come to grips w/ the more 'mature' smell of your jacket.
P.S. Compared to you I'm still a newbie, so feel free to tell me to take a flying leap.
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:37 am
by Doh
Distressing it may have caused that swell leather aroma to dissapate faster than usual, but time was a factor anyway. Years ago, I bought a brand new A2 and enjoyed the aroma for about a year. Now? Nothing.
Luckily, my Wested is only a couple of months old so still retains that marvelous smell. In fact, I was in an office with coworker the other day, and he commented that my jacket smelled like his new baseball glove.
(Mmm... new leather...)
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:54 am
by Harrison_Davies
Funny you should say that. I can no longer smell mine, but my mother the other day commented it smelled lovely.
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 3:10 am
by Indiana George
Actually I always heard that like a car, 'that smell' is really the glue. And when the glue compleatly dries the small goes away. Not sure how to replace it but I've heard of spray's for 'that new car smell'..might work on leather.
George
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 8:29 am
by Ken
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 8:47 am
by Kt Templar
You could try this stuff, looks suspect to me though!
Usual warnings apply!
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 11:22 am
by zeus36
Kt Templar wrote:You could try this stuff, looks suspect to me though!
Usual warnings apply!
Hmmm, Looks like cow urine in a bottle to me......
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 11:43 am
by Kt Templar
zeus36 wrote:
Hmmm, Looks like cow urine in a bottle to me......
Well you know how they used to cure leather!
BTW
this is what cow urine in a bottle looks like
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:23 pm
by rick5150
IndyBlues,
I have a formula to re-create an authentic leather scent. It is not the same scent as a jacket, but an unmistakable leather scent for sure. PM me for details.
Here is a another terrific product that I found in my travels to have the best -smelling jacket around. This is a white cream formula.
Zaino Z-10 Leather in a bottle
You have to use is sparingly because the leather scent is actually a result of the tanning process and each company has leather that smells a bit different. The smell of a new car or a leather jacket are often from VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds).
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:10 am
by Indiana Jerry
Cool. The smell is generally from the oils used in the tanning process. Happy to be wrong! (And to have learned something, Dorothy, that's what you were supposed to remember!)
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:28 am
by rick5150
FYI
Leather smell (typical)
Caused by bark tannage, formerly the main tanning method, i.e. tannage by vegetable tanning agents such as extracts of oak, chestnut, pine, quebracho, mimosa, myrobalans or gambir. As they were mostly used in combinations, the leather smell was a more or less strong mixture of one or other of the tanning agents used.
A further odour was introduced by the additional use of natural fatliquoring agents such as train oil, degras, moellon, neatsfoot oil or tallow. Chrome tannage as well as synthetic fatliquoring agents and retanning agents have been used to a greater extent over the past decades, especially for furniture and uphostery leathers.
As a result many fastness properties of the leathers were improved, but the typical smell of leather was lost. Many attempts have been made to bring this smell back into the leather without using vegetable tanning agents. A great number of odorous substances of the cosmetic and perfume industry was used, e.g birch tar oil, pine oil, spruce turpentine, pine-needle oil, wood turpentines, camphor oil, bitter almond oil, cedarwood oil, benzaldehyde and special leather covering perfumes of unknown composition.
The most favourable method of treatment is spraying odorous substances onto the grain and flesh side of the leather prepared for finishing. Addition to top coats is also possible. Application in wet processes (fatliquoring, retanning, dyeing) has not proven useful as the volatility of the odorous substances is increased by subsequent hot air drying.
The amount to be used depends on the desired intensity of smell. All odorous substances have in common that they possess a more or less pronounced vapour tension, meaning that they are always volatile. It may take some days or at best some weeks until the smell has disappeared completely, depending on the adsorbing properties. Since a lasting effect has not yet been observed, there are natural limits to the use of odorous substances.
and another:
Leather has undergone a huge transformation since Babe Ruth grabbed a ball glove or Buffalo Bill threw a leg over a saddle. The tanning processes of the old days were found to be quite environmentally unsound, so new leather preparation techniques had to be developed. As it turns out, what most of us think of as that "leather smell" is not really the leather itself, but was the residue of the old tanning processes; when the processes changed for environmental reasons the smell went away, so the scientists had to find a way to artificially re-introduce that familiar, friendly smell of leather.
This makes it difficult to re-create using a topical application.
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:26 pm
by TCARTPILOT
I remember years ago someone told me that when your car loses that new car smell, go to the upholstery shop and get some trimmings and put them under the seat. It works. Especially if it's really hot weather.
Tcart
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:32 pm
by Indiana George
Someone do a funny picture of a cow wearing a Wested with a caption that reads "Some people will do anything to get back that new leather smell".
George
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:33 pm
by Indiana Jerry
Glurrk?
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:42 am
by Colby
