I want to say that someone had mentioned something you could do to a book that smelled of cigarette smoke? Got one from PBS today and would really like to get rid of that if possible. ideas?

:yuck:

Man, I remember... but I can't remember... you know what I mean?? :wacko:

Hopefully someone comes around with the specifics, though I remember one method involved baking soda and the freezer... others simply airing them outside... do any of those sound familiar?? :unsure:

I want to say I remember something about newspaper too, but I don't know :(

ETA: the funny thing is that as I posted this, the ad at the bottom was for Smoke Removal, though I don't think they meant books! LMAO!

I know there is many schools of thought on this common problem...

Found a discussion in the archives of one trade site that HoserLauren (due to allergies) started asking for people to list smokey smells in the condition notes.

Candieb added: I believe someone recommended putting it in the freezer with a dryer sheet in it or a little baking soda for a day or two... they said that would take the smoke odors out.

user2: You put your smelly book in a gallon size Ziplock bag that has kitty litter in it.

user 3: I believe Martha Stewart or Tips from Heloise says that there is a charcoal (not the grill kind) that you can buy at the hardware store that can take the smell away.

user 4: The lady at a local antique store told me that Damp Rid works very good because it absorbs odors,and the pellets are unscented. It's sold at Walgreen, Walmart -- for much less than Amazon.com.

user 5 : I have a family member who works for a restoration company and they have a machine called an "ozone" machine. Any books I've had problems with, I've had my Aunt take to her company and stick in ozone and it completely got rid of the smell!

user 6: - Put the book in a paper bag full of shredded newspaper, close up the top and leave until smell is gone.

Yet another user chimed in asking about books that smell like urine - :erm: tell you the truth, I think she has bigger problems than smoke smell. :rofl:

The freezer thing has seems to have worked for me in the past!

I'll second that!

Books coming from my mom's usually reek of smoke, but I've found if I just let them air out at my house for a few weeks and do nothing special, they're usually okay.

Huh. Maybe that's why I only get a really few super-smoky-seeming books in the mail. My mailbox usually is a freezer! :lol: :rolleyes:

You know, it's been getting above freezing during the day and I've just gotten 2 smoky ones very recently. One of the senders tried to cover the smell with a dryer sheet with one of them -- yikes did that not work! Double eye-watering stink!.

My PBS profile asks that people not send me dryer sheets with the book! Sheesh, dryer sheets are EVIL; the Tour Manager bought some at Costco that were a scent level 2. They are in INSTANT asthma attack if I use them more than once every other washing (meaning, if a shirt gets dried twice in a row with the stupid sheets).

I've heard freezer works well, but like Breeni, I just let them sit for ... yeah. Weeks. That's it. Uh-huh. Weeks. Not months or years or anything. Just a few weeks. :giggle:

Actually, I like the dryer sheet suggestion the least, adding a smell doesn't help it-it just takes the book from offensive to the nose (in the case of books that are so bad, you have to use the word reek) to I can't physically read this.

The freezer thing has not worked for us. A good airing outside usually does the trick

I don't recall every receiving a book that smelled so strongly of smoke, but I love reading the remedies.

The dryer sheet reminds me of the girls in high school that used to smoke before they came to school. They would cover themselves with the scented body splash. It didn't really cover up the smell of the smoke, but if they all sat together during the day they smelled like a fruit salad!

right now I quarantined it in a gift basket that had cinnamon candles in it (cause it was bothering me sitting next to me at the computer :lol:)

I think I'll try the freezer baking soda method maybe and see how that goes.

I never used to notice the smell when I was little, my dad has smoked my entire life, and until much later, when I wasn't around him all the time, it never bothered me. but now I'm really sensitive to it, not that anything happens, I can just notice it right away and don't like it.

Thanks so much for the help, we'll see if it works!

And yeah, if she has a book smelling of urine (bad pets, the books are sacred!) I'm pretty sure at that point it's time to throw them away! :yuck:

You know, a week ago I would have said the same thing, but this week I received a bookring that just reeks! I have got to do something with it or I can't read it. And wouldn't you know that the book has over 500 pages!

I'll second what my mom said and say that the freezer thing didn't work too well. Letting it air outside, or even right infront of an open door with all of its pages fanned out seemed to be the best.

Does that mean you'd have to put ME in the freezer if I visited? :erm: Maybe I don't wanna go to Canada after all .....

Canada is like one giant freezer anyway, Giz, so no worries! :rofl:

Ah yes good point. Maybe I will then.....but Lauren will be allergic to me.

But maybe not for much longer???? :erm: :shrug:

:rofl:

Giz,you will be so successful on your quit smoking thingie there will never be a problem :)

My MIL & FIL are smokers. I share a lot of my books with my MIL and the books sometimes come home with the smell of smoke. Airing them outside does help quite a bit. I got one from her a few weeks ago that I aired outside (didn't help), then moved it to the garage to air for longer (helped some). I am going to give the freezer thing a try now.

I had a book one time that smelled like one of those "funny cigs" and to get out the smell I put a dryer sheet inside, wrapped it in a dryer sheet, and left it outside for a few days... then moved it into the garage for about a week... by then.. it was gone.

Hopefully you mean the smell and not the book... :lol: gotta watch for :pirate: s :ph34r: s

one way that I get stinky smells out of books (as I'm extremly sensative to most perfumes and cigarette smoke) is to wrap the book(s) in several layers of newsprint (old newspapers work well for this), then toss them in a gallon sized ziplock bag with either a liberal amount of baking soda or activated charcoal (the stuff used in fishtank filters and water purifiers - you can get it at the hardware store) for a week or two, check after that if still stinky, change out the oder absorber and let sit another two week cycle.

I've really only had to do this for a couple of books gotten in trade that I would have passed on unread exept that I really wanted to read them.

*snort* yeah.. the smell was gone :lol:

okay, I knew someone had mentioned newsprint in the past! Thanks!

I've always used a combo of putting the book in front of the AC and using Febreeze.