Getting a smell out of leather
 

I recently had a mishap involving a leather wrist-strap and a bottle of shampoo. The shampoo leaked in my bag, covering everything. Now the wrist-strap reeks of shampoo. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the smell? Thanks.

The fragrance in shampoo is designed to penetrate the hair so that your hair smells nice. The leather has absorbed the shampoo so the chances of getting it out are pretty slim. Heating the thing would cause the shampoo to "leak out" but not sure if you could ever get it completely out. Does anyone know if boiling it would ruin the leather or not? Maybe get as much as you can out through heat then use saddle soap on it...

Thanks a lot for the help!

Yeah I agree -- saddle soap is the way to go... Then use some leather conditioner on it to keep the leather from cracking.

Try soaking it in milk, or a mixture of water and making soda in a paste form.

Depending on how bad it is, try using facial cleaning pads, like biore or oxy or something like that. I had my leather jacket in storage for a year and when I got it out it had a wierd smell to it and it felt kindof sticky. I used one of those biore pads on it and once it dried again the smell was gone and the stickyness was gone too. I don't know if it would work on shampoo, but it's worth a shot. If it dosn't you can always clean your face. :)

An old thread, but I'm resurrecting it because I'm in a similar situation. The only difference is that the leather wristband on my watch is rank due to sweat, lots of it from the years of use. I recognize your suggestions to use saddle soap, whatever that is (where may I find some?), but would Woolite do the trick? That's what I've been speculating on, and it's conviniently available in my house. If anyone can vouch for Woolite to do the trick, let me know. Thanks.

You can probably track down saddle soap by calling a local Vet. Depending on what kind area you live in, they may not carry it at all (particularly if you live in an urban or city area), but they would know who to get it from. The other way to find out is hang out at your nearest race course and ask someone around the stables where they get theirs from.