Suit smells like plastic from garment bag?

[neato]

So I just bought a suit from a Ralph Lauren store and they put it in one of their thick garment bags for me to take home. I left it in the garment bag overnight in my car because I planned to take it to my tailor the next day. I know leaving a suit in a garment bag is bad because a suit should be allowed to "breathe," but this was for less than 24 hours.

At the tailor, when I opened the garment bag, the suit strongly smelled like charcoal to me. I thought it might have come from the trunk of my car (which is where I stored the suit overnight). My tailor said it smelled like "new plastic" and probably came from the garment bag. Since the garment bag seems to smell more than my trunk does (which also has the scent), I'm thinking the garment bag theory makes more sense.

Have any of you had this problem? If so, what did you do about it? My tailor said I could try steaming the suit or "airing it out," but I might have to have it cleaned. I'm thinking that steaming makes the most sense. I live in an apartment with no balcony, so "airing it out" might be tough. I can't get my shower hot enough to produce a lot of steam, either. I do have one of those semi-portable garment steamers, though. I have read online (and on this forum) that people have used Febreeze on suits to get odors out, but couldn't that complicate the problem by just adding more odors to the suit?

I have a job interview on Thursday and am picking the suit up from the tailor on Tuesday, which gives me enough time to have it cleaned, if necessary. I don't want to smell like anything during my interview!

 

[cazzzidy]

It probably is plastic outgas. Plastics, especially soft plastics and vinyls, eject all sorts of toxic gasses and its likely that the fibers in your suit absorbed them.

Good news is these compounds are very volatile and will leave your suit if you air it out. Heat and airflow will do it - so hang it up in the sun for a day and you'll probably be done with it. I would only be concerned if your suit was synthetic as plastics (like polyester) can absorb plasticizers and other compounds from vinyl and release them slowly.

 

[neato]

It's a wool suit........do I have to hang it up outside or just by a window? My problem is I live in an apartment with no balcony......so it's difficult to hang it up outside.

 

[SpooPoker]

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[Harold falcon]

Not necessary to dry clean it. Hit it with your small steamer, let it hang out by an open window, maybe hit it with a little bit of febreeze, you'll be fine.

 

[stubloom]

You've got an interview Thursday. The last thing you need to worry about, at this time, is your attire. After picking your suit up from your tailor on Tuesday, take it to a decent dry cleaner who does all their work on site, tell them the problem, and ask them to STEAM (very lightly) and HAND PRESS (no machine pressing). Forget the Fabreeze. You don't want to enter the interview room smelling like an overnight shift worker at your local perfume factory.

 

[neato]

Is taking it to a dry cleaner to steam it really necessary? I have my own steamer.....I was thinking it would be quicker to just do it myself? Can the dry cleaner do something that I can't do?


I don't think it needs to be pressed......I just bought the suit so it's in pretty decent shape.

I definitely will not use Febreeze as I feel that could only make it worse.

 

[stubloom]

It's not an issue of "quicker". It's about "better". Your'e going to an interview. First impressions count. Why screw around with a steamer at this point in time and potentially end up with a puckered mess instead of a fresh, crisply pressed suit with a perfectly rolled lapel? A steamer may be appropriate for lightly steaming out certain parts of a suit you've already worn once or twice (such as the wrinkles in the crotch or back of the knees of a trouser or the wrinkles at the elbows of a jacket). But a steamer CANNOT press a suit. For more information on the subject of steaming vs. pressing, see this blog post: http://ravefabricare.com/true-qualit...ith-steam.aspx Website: www.ravefabricare.com Daily blog: www.truequalitycleaning.com