Things You'll Need
Water
Mild, scented laundry detergent (liquid)
5-gallon bucket (or sink)
Sponge
Towels
Pleather is used as a leather alternative for clothing and upholstery. It looks like leather, but is much easier to clean--as the material is synthetic, you can clean it with water and cleaners that leather often would not tolerate. Some pleather clothing can even be machine laundered--although you should always check the label first to make sure, and hand-washing is easier on the material. As with leather, smoke odors will cling to this material. Fortunately, it's usually easier to remove these odors from pleather than from leather.
Step 1
Pour warm water in a 5-gallon bucket (or sink). Add 1/2 capful of mild, scented laundry detergent and stir (you can use a serving spoon or any other suitable item) to mix it well with the water. Note that If the smoke smell on your pleather item is due to a fire, before you wet-clean the item, wipe it down with a dry chemical sponge to remove surface soot (look for these special sponges at home improvement stores).
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Step 2
Wet a soft sponge in the bucket and scrub the smoky pleather item. If this is a garment, place it on a table, with a towel beneath it to protect the table surface, to make the job easier.
Step 3
Wet a cloth or towel in clean water. Wipe over the pleather to rinse off the detergent.
Step 4
Use soft towels to dry the pleather. If the item is clothing, drape it over a towel rack to complete drying. If the smoky item is pleather furniture, turn on a fan in the room to finish drying the pleather.
Tip
If the smoky item is a garment, after cleaning place it in a plastic storage bin with either an open box of baking soda or an activated charcoal disk. Leave it for a day or so to allow the baking soda or charcoal to absorb the rest of the odor.
You may need to repeat the cleaning more than once if the pleather item is furniture (such as a sofa). Alternatively, lightly mist the upholstery with a commercial odor neutralizer. Some neutralize smoke smell, along with many other odors.
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