Getting rid of the vintage smell?

WaffleCloth

Member
Jun 5, 2011
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I have my eye on a super vintage Hermes Kelly bag on ebay. It is a great price, however the listing states that the handbag has a very strong "old" odour. I had a vintage LV bag and I couldn't stand the smell so I got rid of the bag. I was wondering if there is any way to get the inside completely relined and refurbished and if that would get rid of the odour?

I am not so concerned about reselling the bag- I want to keep it so I wouldn't mind just having the lining completely removed and replaced.

Has anyone done this with a vintage bag? Have you had any luck?

Thanks so much
 
I have my eye on a super vintage Hermes Kelly bag on ebay. It is a great price, however the listing states that the handbag has a very strong "old" odour. I had a vintage LV bag and I couldn't stand the smell so I got rid of the bag. I was wondering if there is any way to get the inside completely relined and refurbished and if that would get rid of the odour?

I am not so concerned about reselling the bag- I want to keep it so I wouldn't mind just having the lining completely removed and replaced.

Has anyone done this with a vintage bag? Have you had any luck?

Thanks so much

I had a serious smoke odor in a Veau Doblis (Suede) Hermes Mini Kelly I'd bought from a European reseller and first tried several home remedies to no avail. I then sent it to a high end dry cleaner with an OZONE ROOM. It took a couple of weeks of airing out in the ozone room and was returned to me with only the lovely Hermes leather odor. Hope this helps.
 
There's a company called Lovin My Bags that does a lot of handbag repair/restoration work - http://lovinmybags.com/ - and they have an ozone room. They treated a bag for me a couple of years ago, and it came out really well.

That said - I think replacing the lining might be really difficult - the linings are so integrated in most H bags that you'd have to completely disassemble and reassemble the whole bag. I'd also be concerned that the odour might be a sign of rot or mold that would affect the integrity of the leather.
 
I have my eye on a super vintage Hermes Kelly bag on ebay. It is a great price, however the listing states that the handbag has a very strong "old" odour. I had a vintage LV bag and I couldn't stand the smell so I got rid of the bag. I was wondering if there is any way to get the inside completely relined and refurbished and if that would get rid of the odour?

I am not so concerned about reselling the bag- I want to keep it so I wouldn't mind just having the lining completely removed and replaced.

Has anyone done this with a vintage bag? Have you had any luck?

Thanks so much

I don't think Hermes would replace the lining and even if they did, it would probably be very expensive, so much that the bag wouldn't end up being a bargain. As you say ' old' odours bother you and the advert does specifically mention the bag suffers from this, I would personally keep looking. Even a well priced Kelly is no bargain if the smell is offensive to you and you might not be able to remove the smell completely using the normal suggested methods. You might be better waiting for a newer preloved bag that doesn't have that distinctive smell.
 
I have my eye on a super vintage Hermes Kelly bag on ebay. It is a great price, however the listing states that the handbag has a very strong "old" odour. I had a vintage LV bag and I couldn't stand the smell so I got rid of the bag. I was wondering if there is any way to get the inside completely relined and refurbished and if that would get rid of the odour?

I am not so concerned about reselling the bag- I want to keep it so I wouldn't mind just having the lining completely removed and replaced.

Has anyone done this with a vintage bag? Have you had any luck?

Thanks so much

even though I am someone who loves vintage, would never touch anything with bad odour. (particularly something labelled 'old') Basically if an item has say cigarette smell, It MAY be possible to remove it as its from the outside, ie its been stored in a tobacco filled atmosphere. 'Old' smell on vintage, more often than not, is some sort of mould or internal rot and there is no successful way of removing it. If there was, the reseller would have done it by now as they deal with older things and know all the tricks.
 
Assuming there isn't mold on the inside, Doc recommends making baking soda sachets and putting them in the bag after wiping down the inside with leather cleaning wipes. I've also seen mint sachets that do the trick. It depends on how strong the smell is that you're trying to get rid of. Also, if it comes in a dustbag, be sure to launder the bag as well. HTH!
 
I would think old smell is probably a combo of cigarette, mold, moth balls and dirt.
I wouldn't want to carry around a smelly bag and potentially offend anyone. If you are willing to take the risk definately do the ozone. I think you can rent them online.
 
If the bag has a slight odour on the inside, is there a way to take the bag apart and have it cleaned?

I am on an auction and she says the bag has a bit of a musty odour on the inside.

I am planning to have the bag completely restored. Should I cancel the bid?
 
Baking soda is a miracle product where odor removal is concerned. I bet if you put a small bowl of baking soda in the bag, enclose it in a plastic bag, and let it sit for a week, you'll get rid of all the odor.
 
I'd steer clear of an auction/bag that is listed as having a "very strong "old" odour". Without being able to inspect it before purchase, you may be buying something that is beyond repair. I agree that baking soda works wonders (and have used it myself on a bag that was stored for a few years), but as others have said, if this has mold/rot, I doubt if baking soda will help if you're sensitive to odors.
My friend purchased a "vintage" LV bag and I made her take it out of my house because of the old smell!
Not worth it IMO.
 
Wow this is all very interesting. I bought a medor clutch last year from a very well known seller and was perplexed when it arrived reeking of cigarette odor. I left this person good feedback but will never buy from this seller again. (please don't ask)

That said, I will try the baking soda therapy. If all else fails, I may contact this person with the ozone room.

We always hear about ozone in the news in a negative context and here it is doing wonders for our old handbags. Who knew!
 
If the bag has a slight odour on the inside, is there a way to take the bag apart and have it cleaned?

I am on an auction and she says the bag has a bit of a musty odour on the inside.

I am planning to have the bag completely restored. Should I cancel the bid?

I don't think Hermes would be able to take it apart plus they won't work on the inside of bags. You could try baking soda/ ozone treatment but there really are no guarantees. What concerns me is that in a previous post, you already had a bag with a strong odour that bothered you so much, you had to sell it....Is there any way you could get a return policy with this bag so you could see for yourself how bad the odour is? Otherwise, I think it is very risky. Don't settle, plenty of bags out there!