A while back inherited my momas photo albums and some of her clothes from the 50's Overjoyed i put them in a closet in the guest bedroom shut the door and forgot about them..Nowwe have company coming..I ran to the closet to pull out a nice formal dress i have in the closet!!!EVERything stinks an reeks like cigarette smoke in the closet...Is there something i can spray or put in closet to get rid of cigarette stink???I'm afffraid if i move the scrap books and clothes to another room closet i will have the same problem...Thanks for solutions...Yahoo Answers is wonderful!!!
2007-09-26 04:47:12 · 11 answers · asked by Dog Rescuer 6 in Home & Garden ➔ Cleaning & Laundry
Air Fresheners. Put several drops of peppermint or cinnamon on cotton balls and place in a margarine container or small jar. Poke holes into the lid and put in an out-of-the-way area behind furniture or in a guest room or bathroom and your guests won’t have a clue.
Scented Lightbulbs. Dab a bit of oil of clove, peppermint or eucalyptus on a cool lightbulb. When you turn on the light, the scent will drift throughout the room.
Just Vinegar and Water for Smells
I used to be a smoker and when I quit I would get sick when I came into my house from the smell. I put vinegar and water in bowls around the house and soon the smell was gone
Also use undiluted White Vinegar pour in a spray bottle and spray the clothes with the vinegar do not saturate just a light spray will do to deodorize those clothes
These Work Best!
I have gradually changed my cleaning products to products I make myself. I have really saved a lot of money, and my house has never been cleaner. We also never have to worry about toxins. Here are the air fresheners that I have found work best.
Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with water in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray. The baking soda absorbs the odor. You can also add a little scent if you want. (I use vanilla extract. It smells great and drives men wild for some reason)
Spray undiluted white vinegar in the air. The vinegar smell evaporates very quickly taking odors with it.
Place a bowl of vinegar on the counter and let it sit for a few hours.
Dampen a towel with vinegar and wave it through the air
Fill a parmesan cheese shaker with baking soda. (I like to spray it with a little of my favorite cologne.) Sprinkle over carpets and let it sit as long as possible (Overnight is best). Vacuum. I also add table salt to the baking soda, but it is not necessary. The salt absorbs moisture and acts as an abrasive. It really makes the carpet look better than vacuuming without it.
Works for Me!
If you use dryer sheets, you could put them in the vents. This will not work if you have baseboards. They will freshen the air as it comes into the room. You can put them in fresh or after they've been through the dryer.
Save any citrus peels and spices that are too old to use. Boil them in a pot with a little hot water. They make the house smell lovely for next to nothing. I ground up cinnamon sticks for cinnamon and saved the bits that were too big for my spice bottle for a simmer pot.
If you burn scented candles, save any wax bits left over and add them to a wax potpourri burner. If you mix scented and unscented, they will last longer.
You can put fancy soaps in your drawers to freshen your clothes. You can also do this with the scented perfume ads from magazines.
Open a window as air inside is usually more polluted than air outside.
When my dad has been smoking, my mom lights a candle to get rid of the smoke scent.
Potpourri in a small dish might work for a while to freshen your air. You could try making your own.
Bake. It makes the house smell good and you get something to eat as well.
Put essential oils in a light bulb ring. You could also add them to a vaporizer.
Dilute your essential oils (or old perfumes) in a spray bottle, put on the finest setting, and mist your rooms with it. This also works on sheets, pillowcases, and towels.
Make Scented Rocks
Scented rocks make a great air freshener. Mix 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon of a favorite essential oil and 2/3 cup boiling water and a few drops of a food coloring to create a desired shade. Blend all ingredients, form into balls, and allow to dry.
For the bathroom, dampen a cotton swab with your favorite perfume or cologne and swab the inside of a toilet paper roll. Each time the toilet paper is rolled, a fresh scent will fill the room.
Another way to purify the air is to dampen a cotton ball with pure vanilla extract, place in a dish and set in odorous area of the house. A dish with three cotton balls is great for the living room. A room in which heavy smoking occurs might require another dish.
Good Use for Vodka
I own a business which styles and sells wigs, falls, and other synthetic hairpieces, and the best trick I've learned for getting smells out of those fibers works just as well on other fibers and fabrics. Just mix water and vodka in a 1:1 ratio and spritz it right on. Works as well as commercial products like Febreeze. It evaporates quickly, leaving no alcohol-scent behind.
The Fake Febreeze Recipe
2 C. Fabric Softener
2 C. Baking Soda
4 C. warm water
Mix and place in a spritzing bottle. Use just like you would the expensive Febreeze from the store. If you want, you can use the unscented fabric softener and then add a few drops of essential oil to make it a scent that you prefer. I just use Snuggle.
Good Luck !
2007-09-26 07:32:57 · answer #1 · answered by mshonnie 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's not likely that your washer is the primary source of the odor -- smell doesn't linger on metal that long. It is more likely the dryer -- pull the dryer away from the wall, and disconnect the springy hose. Use a vacuum to pull out the accumulated lint from around the drum. Even though the lint filter is designed to collect it, you will be amazed at how much is loose around inside the dryer 'box'. Other things to rid the place of smoke: 1) have the carpets cleaned 2) paint all the walls and ceilings (sealing the smoke inside) If you can't paint, test the wall paint with a cloth to be sure the paint doesn't come off. Then, wash the walls using dishsoap or lysol and water. The greasy smoke residue will come off. Do small sections, so you don't leave streaks. Ceilings may or may not have the same paint, so test a closet to see if you can safely wash the surfaces. 3) wipe/wash the cabinets, windows, bathroom surfaces, appliances -- all the hard surfaces you can reach. 4) Vacuum out the heater vents (shove the hose of the vacuum down as far as you can into the vent). The more dusty, greasy residue you can get cleaned out, the less old smoke is trapped in the apartment, and the less that will be absorbed into your bedding, furniture and clothing.
2016-03-19 00:34:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ozone! Call your local tool rental place and see if they have an ozone generator you can rent for a few hours or overnight.
Then you have 2 options:
You can leave the clothes in the closet and use the ozone generator in the closet with them to try and remove the odor
OR (my suggestion)
Remove clothing and have washed or dry cleaned and then run the ozone generator in the closet.
Ozone generators are used by restoration companies after a fire to remove the fire smell from the structure, so a little cigarette smell will not be a problem!
Spending $20-30 renting the machine will be a lot better than spending money on something else to cover the odor.
One word of caution, do not be in the same room while the machine is working. Put it in the closet, turn it on and close the door to the closet, then close the door to the bedroom. When you are done using the machine, unplug it and let the room sit for an hour (Ozone has a life of about 1/2 hour before it converts to Oxygen) and you should be good to go!
2007-09-26 05:23:40 · answer #3 · answered by Bill 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Closet Air Freshener
2016-10-01 09:29:04 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bad news. There's not really a good way to remove cigarette smell except by airing out the offensive items thoroughly.
Clothes (yours and hers) can be laundered or dry cleaned, and they'll be fine. But the photo albums may need to sit out, opened to different pages frequently, for months before they're really aired out and no longer emit that smell.
It's hard to find a place each album can air out undisturbed without stinking up the area. A garage is good!
If they're the kind with a plastic cover over the pictures, you can wipe the plastic down with any spray cleaner. (However, the plastic damages the pix long-term, so removing them and putting them in another album is smart.)
2007-09-26 04:51:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Move all those items and clothes out of your house. Do you have a garage to store it in? If not rent a small storage place found in the telephone book's yellow pages.
Leave the closet door open and a window if possible. Let some fresh air get in there. If you have a fan, blow the air from the opened window toward the closet.
If nothing helps, call in a professional. Make sure they understand what you want them to do.
http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/odor-removal/how-to-get-rid-of-cigarette-smoke-smell/
2007-09-26 05:29:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well first i would wash all the clothes or get them dry cleaned... and I mean ALLL of them..... i would get a plastic tote to put all the scrap books and memorabilia in.... that will keep that smell in (after the guest leave...you will need to air out the scarp books etc... maybe get a new album)... and put some dryer sheets in the tote... and close it up tight. Then I would get soap and warm water and wipe down the walls and doors(at least in the closet) .... use some carpet freshener and vacuum...repeat. repeat repeat.... maybe even steam clean. I would get some Oust spray and spray like crazy... and i would light some good smelling candles in the room and whole house. Also if there is furniture in the room...clean that...whether its fabric or wood...it all traps smells. Good luck!
2007-09-26 04:59:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anna J 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the clothes are machine washable wash them with regular soap and put in 1 cup ov plain whilte vinegar. For the books slightly dampen a rag with ammoinia and gently wipe them down and then let them sit outside for a day or two.
2007-09-26 07:37:53 · answer #8 · answered by Ryan's mom 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Clothes from that era can take a good wash. If you do not have time to wash them, put a plastic trash bag over them and tie it on top and bottom. Put other things in plastic bags too. Use febreeze. When guests have gone, wash and pack properly.
2007-09-26 05:58:17 · answer #9 · answered by tysdad62271 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
keep all clothes out from room and put them in open place to give them some sunbath and open all window and gates for proper conversation with air , fresh air flow will make your room better .another better solution is to use air fragrances to smell out from your house. a range of air fresheners is in the market you can use Aroma Combo Pack to create a mind blowing air experience.
2014-09-05 00:27:43 · answer #10 · answered by ? 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋