reducing smoke smell in brain tanned leather.

[Pat B]

A while back I got 2 brain tanned hides. The hides were smoked and the smoky smell is pretty intense. After I got the hides I hung them out on the cloths line for a few days, still smokey. I then hung them in the attic for the last few months, still pretty smokey. Any thoughts of how I can reduce the smoke smell. Can I wash the hides and with what? Hand or machine wash? Or is there another way to reduce the smoke smell?   

[Hawkdancer]

Pat,
You might try to rinse in clear water, if that doesn't do the trick, try a very mild solution of Ivory soap.  You will have to work them after they dry, though.  I understand the smoke sets the oils to allow the hide to stay soft.  The smoke also keeps critters from setting up a home in the hide, and apparently repels mosquitos and gnats, etc.
Hawkdancer

[mullet]

Pat, I had to hang three pair of moccasins in my shop for about a month. I bought them when I was working in Canada. They were so strong I could smell them when I got off the elevator down the hall from my hotel room.

[Pappy]

It will wear off after a while, I like the smell but Miss Joanie hates it. Also if you wash them you will need to stretch them a bit as they dry.
 Pappy

[Pat B]

I don't mind a smoky smell but this is pretty intense. Like Miss Joanie, Marcia doesn't care for it.
 If I wash it how do I go about stretching it to soften it again?

[Hawkdancer]

Pat,
 just use your tanning stake or a rope, like you are finishing a hide.
Hawkdancer

[Pat B]

Never done one Jerry.   

[Hawkdancer]

You can round off a stump or post top, smooth it up and start stretching, or round off about 14-18" of then of a 2x4 and clamp it to your work bench and go for it.  I have both, but bolted a vise onto the workbench, now I got to find another place to clamp the stretching stake!
Jerry

[mullet]

pat, unless you are going to use it soon I'd just hang it outside for awhile.

[Pat B]

I've been keeping them on a cloths line in the unheated portion of the attic where it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter but good air flow.

[Eric Krewson]

I hang stinky clothes from a ceiling fan blade under my covered deck, shirts just back from a big indoor fish fry and such. It surprises me how everything smells like fresh washed sheets that have been dried on a clothesline in a few days.  I think the night air with about 100% humidity absorbs the stink and releases it when the item dries during the day.

[Ed Brooks]

Pat have you tried something like febreze?  Ed

[Pat B]

Ed, I haven't but I have thought about it. Will it work without affecting the leather?

[Ed Brooks]

Ed, I haven't but I have thought about it. Will it work without affecting the leather?

Pat I have never tried it, sorry I don’t know if it will affect leather. I like the smoke smell in my quiver, for cover up. Wife likes it in the house too, lol. Ed

[Eric Krewson]

I got a bow one time from a guy who was a heavy smoker, no amount of washing could remove that putrid stale smoke smell, it was imbedded in the finish. I had to strip the finish off and refinish it to stand to be around the bow.