Removing the funk from a sport coat

[Craig9802]

I have a 22 year-old Joseph Abboud sport coat that has spent most of the last 15 years just hanging in the closet. It's been dry-cleaned a couple of times in the past 3 years, as I've had reason to wear it to the occasional wedding.

A couple months ago, my wife and I spent a few days in Florida, and I needed a jacket for some evening activities. I wore this one on the plane and noticed a distinct funk emanating from the jacket. After leaving the airport, the humidity only seemed to make it worse. For the next couple evenings, I just had to try to keep downwind and swing my drink around a lot so nobody would want to stand too close to me.

I can tell that the funk doesn't match up with my own...aroma, such as it is. It smells a bit more like dry cleaning chemicals that have just settled in to the fabric and lining over the years. I'd be tempted to just donate this thing and wash my hands of it, but it's the only navy jacket I have, and it has always fit me perfectly. I can't say that about many other articles of clothing I've bought in the past several years.

I plan to let the jacket air out in the sun for a few days as soon as the weather forecast looks trustworthy again. Are there any other recommendations for de-funkifying an old coat?

 

[Grumpy_Bottom]

cedar hanger?

 

[Doc4]

Maybe you let the valet wear the jacket?



... I'd try airing it out for a while ... outside or inside (but somewhere it gets air circulation).

 

[professorchaos]

If the dry cleaner doesn't change out their chemicals often enough, they can imbue you clothing with a distinct BO funk. It is almost as if the solvents become saturated with the smell. I'd take the coat to a different dry cleaner.

No evidence to support this theory, only experience.

 

[jpakstis]

I also believe that a lot of dry cleaners have changed their chemicals in the last fifteen years, many going toward more environmentally-friendly products. Maybe those would help?

 

[john parker]

Keep dry cleaning to an absolute minimum to preserve the garment. Brush it and hang it out in the sun.

 

[Craig9802]

Thank you for the advice, gentlemen. I had the jacket cleaned after our trip in May, and it's slightly better, helped perhaps by the dry air here. I'll get it outside this week, maybe with a couple cloth bags full of baking soda inside, to try to complete the process.