Coat from vinted smells SO bad I don't know what to do!

[PracticallyPerfectedIt]

I bought a coat from Vinted, a beautiful wool Hobbs coat. The buying process was a nightmare as the seller was absolutely rubbish and it arrived (eventually) half tied up in a plastic bag. All of that I can get over but the problem is it absolutely STINKS. It's a very strong chemical smell, not like an air freshener, but like a chemical. Almost like the base of an aftershave but the strongest smell you have ever smelled in your life.

I've tried airing it, washing it in cold water, washing it on a delicate cycle with white vinegar. It's slightly fading the smell but nowhere near enough for me to actually wear it.

Any other suggestions? If I was to use bicarb would I put that in the machine? Or sprinkle it on and hoover it off maybe? It's not meant to be washed in the machine but I felt like I have nothing to lose as it's unwearable at present. 😞

Sprinkle it on and leave it for a couple of days and then hoover it?
Dry cleaning?

Dry clean it.

Put it in a blag bin bag with a load of bicarb, tie the bag up and then shake. Repeat this every day for a week. Then cool wash. Then hang out to dry for a few days.

Hang it outside on a windy day repeatedly

Put in the freezer for a couple of days. Then wash again

This has happened to me before. What I did was soak in a bucket of vinegar/water over night. Then wash in the machine.

Worked perfectly.

I'll try these. Thank you.

I thought about dry cleaning it but is that just more chemicals? Also might cost as much as I paid for it 😬

Dry clean it of course

I always dry clean coats Ive bought on ebay

Yes I normally pay more for the dry cleaning than the coat!!!

Hah! Fair enough. I never send anything to the dry cleaners but I might have to relent on this one.

Refund, surely?

This.

I still do it between wears with coats that need a freshening up.

Return it?

I once bought some incredibly smelly fabric, the smell was mothballs and it was so strong. But it was a one off, vintage rare find and I really wanted to use it. I researched online and found a tip to soak in vodka. Found cheapest vodka I could, soaked it, hand washed and aired and it got rid of the smell.

however dry cleaning probably works in a similar way and wouldn’t be that much more expensive! I’d try a really good, long airing in windy conditions and if that doesn’t work try dry cleaning.

Just ask for a refund. Condition not as described due to strong odour.

Definitely keep hanging it out in the fresh air

It's very (very!) windy here today so I've put it outside for the day and I'll see how it is tonight.

I raised it with the seller who is incredulous... I do love the coat so want to keep it, just be able to wear it.

I feel your pain - I currently have two vintage jackets hanging outside for the third day- but I would be worried that the smell would never leave. Even if it smells better, once it’s on and warming up on your body, the odour may resurface.

but did you tick the Vinted box saying everything is fine?

I bought a new leather jacket which stank and got rid of the smell doing the following:
pad the inside with scrunched up newspapers, put some inside the sleeves too. Put it in a black bin liner and fill with scrunched up newspapers all around the coat, then seal it. Leave for as long as you can, at least a week or two, more if possible. The newspaper should absorb the smell. This completely got rid of the smell for me.

I’ve just had exactly the same - a Hobbs trenchcoat, arrived excellent condition, new with labels, bagged and on time, but OMG. The smell. Exactly as you describe, a strong chemical smell that even two washes and hanging out for 2 days hasn’t got rid of. I wonder if it’s the same seller? I asked and had same response. Incredulous. Something dodgy here!

In case it helps, I did eventually bite the bullet and have it dry cleaned and it fixed it. No idea what it was. So weird.