Getting Rid Of Cigarette Smells

I need help. My hubby inherited an old wooden dresser from his mother's family. It's lovely to look at, but it smells. I can't store clothes in the drawers because they smell like cigarettes if I do. But I need to use it for my son's clothes. Any hints or suggestions?

Maybe put some Bounce sheets in the drawers until the smell goes away. (and it will with time.) Or maybe polish it with Pledge. that might take the smell away.

This is something I'm still working on. I inherited a living room set (sofa, love seat and chair) from a chain smoking aunt. Its been 2 months and I still get whiffs of smoke.

If you can, leave it out in the sun for a while. That is the best way to clear the wood. Spray papertowels with Fabreeze and put them inside. Fabreeze makes a spray specifically for cigarette smoke. Put newspapers inside also.

Good luck.

Sandy

Exactly. Air fresheners in the furniture should help, especially if you are dealing with drawers. I do upholstery as a hobby in my spare time and many times I will browse super-junky sales to refinish something and sell it at a nice profit. I have to deal with this a lot. What works well for me is the tiny bottles of liquid air freshener. The liquidity absorbs into the wood, if kept in a warm room so the wood expands versus in a garage or shed, where it's cold and then the wood contracts, making absorption much more difficult and the scent will "preserve" with the cold. And now you have to post a photo of the piece for me!

I remember when we had a old commode my husband wanted to refinish. Its smelled terribly of urine. Fortunately this was in the summer and we kept it outside on sunny days which helped remove the odors. Did you try bleach?? I would probably also use drawer liners too.

try frebreeze or lysol wipes....i had a dresser that emmet peed in when he was a kitten...and the combination of those two things worked wonderfully..plus the lysol will kill any remaining bacteria...then when your done pledge the whole thing

If it's wood, try dousing it with lemon or orange oil.

If you're OK with painting it, there is a primer and paint you can buy that is designed to completely cover cigarette smells. It works on walls including wood, so it may work on your dresser.

www.kilz.com

"To cover smoke damage:

KILZ Original or KILZ Odorless primers

In dealing with smoke damage, surface preparation is essential. Always wash, rinse and dry surfaces before priming. When using KILZ Original primer or KILZ Odorless primer, use single stroke roller or spray application. For maximum stain blocking, apply two coats."

This is a little off-topic.
I was wondering if anyone knows of an air freshner type of product that will remove cigarette smoke and any particles in the smoke from the air? I'm not interested in air freshners that only cover up smells.

Originally Posted by Lorie D.

This is a little off-topic.
I was wondering if anyone knows of an air freshner type of product that will remove cigarette smoke and any particles in the smoke from the air? I'm not interested in air freshners that only cover up smells.

Click to expand...

Neutra-Air makes a smoke eating one, and Lysol Air spray does as well.
Air-Wick has one too plus it has different scents, I find that even though it does have a scent, even after you can't smell the scent anymore, you also can't smell the smoke Not sure if those are what you mean though

On-topic hehe, it seems like everything I can think of has already been said. Let us know how it turns out!

The new Febreze air scents work well, but you need to use them like they do in the commercials. You need to spray it heavily. We use it here in the bathroom because it's the only place DH can smoke and if he doesn't use it the bathroom stinks to high heaven.

Lorie,

http://www.baczymes.com/
http://www.odormedic.com/
http://www.adsorbex.co.uk/index.htm (this one is a UK site but may deliver?)

Thanks for the quick response and the information, Ashley. I think Neutra-Air is the type of product I'm looking for.

I have that problem also.
all of my clothes are drenched with ciggarette smell and its so horrible but when i move out i hope to get it away. although my bf is a smoker i dont how how it will work :\\

Did you try baking soda? I think that would help.

Put 1-2 of the Yankee candle tarts (vanilla scent) in each drawer. It will kill the smell in a few days.

Thanks to all who responded. I've tried the Bounce sheets in the past. They only ended up smelling like the drawers, not the other way around.

I've had this dresser for over a year, hoping the smell would eventually drift away. I wiped the outside down with Murphys Wood Soap, and it helped a lot. I also wiped the insides out with Murphys, but it didn't help. Maybe they need to air out?

I'll definitely try the sunlight, as well as the other suggestions. I'll do one at a time until something works, then I'll let you guys know what helped. My son is getting older, and his clothes are growing longer...I need the space!

As an example of how well the lemon or orange oil works. I moved into an apartment with wood floors that smelled heavily of curry. The wood floors hadn't been oiled in years so I oiled them. I ended up using two bottle of lemon oil, but the place no longer smelled of curry after that.

strange your talking about cigarette smoke cause i went to collect rent on the first and i thought i was going to pass out when i walked in the door Bill my renter smokes a cigar and he has lived there one year when he moved in he said he didn't smoke
yea right sound like a big stinker to me! Sorry to get off the subject but i hope i can get rid of that smell to so i will keep up on this thread to see what will help me to mrsd (you asked a very good quesition here )

I was going to say use orange oil. That stuff smells good for days!!