Need advice for smelly fabric
 

Hi - I was recently given two large boxes of assorted quilting fabric, lots of fat qtrs and some yardage. My problem is that the person who gave me the fabric is a former smoker and all the fabric reeks of cigarette smoke. I washed some of it and it still smells (I'm in the process of washing it a second time). Is there anything I can do to get rid of the smell? Thanks!

I just googled to find a solution and found easy one for you. It says to fill the washer as normal with the detergent then add a cup of white vinegar, then wash your fabric as usual. There might be a vinegar smell after the wash cicle but it says it will dissipate quickly.
Good luck

I had that smokey smell with some boxes of fabric I bought, I also washed twice with vinegar and I also dried with a odorless softener sheet. That seemed to get my problem solved. :)

A healthy dose of white vinegar will work. The vinegar can also be used as a natural fabric softener. I put into a Downy ball, then into the wash. The smell will go away as clothes are in the dryer. :)

thanks for sharing this tip.

I have also had good luck with 20 Muleteam Borax--a powder found in the laundry aisle.

I had good luck this week with doggie odor using Surf detergent. It should work for cigarette odor, too. I used Surf in the 80s to wash smelly football clothes and had forgotten about it until recently. I stopped the cycle and soaked the items a few minutes, then washed as usual.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to try the white vinegar.

There's also a liquid detergent called Sport Wash that's the best thing I've found for washing dog blankets and DH's sweaty smelling clothes, so it should be good for fabric that retains an odor. I think it was developed especially for hunting clothes (not sure about that), and I find it in the sporting goods section at WalMart.

I use 20 Muleteam Borax all the time to freshen towels, and use less detergent too. It will remove the smoke smell usually. If it still smells smoky while wet, my advice would be not to dry it, just wash it again. Sometimes the heat from the dryer sets the smell, and makes it harder to remove.