Belstaff whiff.

good evening ladies and Gents.
i very recently bought on ebay a wax jacket and trousers. For a VERY good price.
Upon receiving them I found they smell foisty. There was no mention of this in the description. Also all tags have been removed on both garments. I posted a few pics on social media with description and photos. Ive been told they are late 60s early 70s Sammy Miller Trailmaster.
YKK Zips.
ive also been informed by an ex British Army despatch rider theyre identical to his issue. Patches were removed for security purposes should the wearer fall into enemy hands.
Can A, anyone enlighten me on that?
and
B. How do i shift the foisty smell.
theyre in extremely giid condition having been stored in a trunk for over 20 years.
Thanks in advance.
Can I add photos direct from smart phone?

paul.

If they’re wax cotton you should not use any detergent. I clean mine by hanging them outside and hosing them down with clean fresh water. You can use a soft brush too.
Let them dry naturally outside in the sun and wind. if they’re that old they could probably do with a rewax. You’ll find videos on YouTube of how to do this Search for ‘how to rewax a Barbour (or Belstaff) jacket and use Barbour thornproof dressing (It’s a specially formulated wax)- it comes in tins. Briefly though you melt the wax in a pan of hot water and brush it onto the jacket in a warm room to coat it. When it’s coated blow a hot hairdryer all over produce a professional finish and help the cotton to absorb the wax.
To add photos I usually email them to myself from my phone and choose ‘medium’ when it asks for the file size. Then save them to your phone and at that size you should be able to upload them here.

Smells can be difficult to remove form waxed cotton. Hanging in sunshine can make a huge difference.

They need re-waxing every year or two.

I have owned both waxed cotton pants and jackets.

I have never tried to "wash" any of them - other than maybe a hose-down outside.

Aside from a good re-waxing, which is no small task as mentioned above, I am not certain there is much you can do about the smell. Perhaps you could arrange a return?

I have done so with a leather jacket years ago that arrived smelling like an ashtray. It was so bad it could be clearly smelled Outside of the box it was shipped in. I did not even open it. I simply contacted the seller and requested a return. He did not mind since it was not disclosed.

AeroFan_07 said:

I have owned both waxed cotton pants and jackets.

I have never tried to "wash" any of them - other than maybe a hose-down outside.

Aside from a good re-waxing, which is no small task as mentioned above, I am not certain there is much you can do about the smell. Perhaps you could arrange a return?

I have done so with a leather jacket years ago that arrived smelling like an ashtray. It was so bad it could be clearly smelled Outside of the box it was shipped in. I did not even open it. I simply contacted the seller and requested a return. He did not mind since it was not disclosed.

Click to expand...

Hi Aerofan
worst case I send them to WaxJacketsCleaned.
at £22 for a late 60s Sammy Miller in good condition (bar the smell) Its worth it.
they wont be going back.