How to Remove Smoke Smell From a Leather Sofa

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Whether due to exposure to cigarette smoke or as the result of a fire, the smell of smoke is not something that you want attaching itself to your furniture. While eliminating the smell of smoke from any furniture can be a challenge, leather furniture tends to be particularly difficult to clean regardless of the situation. Fortunately, it is possible to remove the smell of smoke from your leather sofa if you are willing to apply yourself.

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Step 1

Wipe down your leather sofa with a damp (not wet) cloth. You will want to rinse the cloth numerous times throughout the process so that you are not simply spreading the smoke smell around. Before proceeding to step two, allow your leather sofa to dry.

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Step 2

Work a very small amount of saddle soap into a new, clean, damp cloth.

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Step 3

Add a small amount of water to the cloth containing the saddle soap and work vigorously to build up a rich lather.

Step 4

Rub the cloth into the sofa in a circular manner; you are going to have to do this over the entire surface of the leather sofa, so chances are you will have to add more saddle soap and water to the cloth (or to a new cloth) to complete this step. When you have completed the process of saddle soaping the entire sofa, allow it to air dry completely.

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Step 5

Remove the dry saddle soap residue from the leather sofa using a new, dry cloth.

Step 6

After all of the saddle soap residue has been removed, you will want to buff the entire leather sofa with an additional dry cloth – this will give the sofa a new looking shine and should complete the process of eliminating the residual smoke smell.

Step 7

Depending on the severity of the smoke smell, you may have to repeat this process a couple times to completely eradicate the smell.

Tip

Use high quality saddle soap and lint-free cloths to expedite the process of removing the smoke smell from your leather sofa. If you are a smoker, protect your expensive and valuable leather furniture with high quality furniture covers or by smoking outside or in other areas of the house. As an alternative to cleaning your leather furniture yourself, you can save your back by having it professionally cleaned. Of course, going this route is often expensive.

Warning

Do not use wet cloths at any time during this process. Excessive amount of water will damage your leather sofa (sometime irreparably) – when in doubt, err on the side of caution.

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