How to get a strong smoke smell out of books?
 

I bought some cookbooks and did not notice how strong they smelled of smoke until I got them in the car. The sale was outside.

I want to keep the books, but I don't want to contaminate my other books with that smell.

Any suggestions on how to get them to be odor neutral - or at least odor subdued???

I might suggest putting them in a closed container with charcoal .... like the bricks used in an outdoor cooker. That's worked for me in the past. Good luck.

Get the kind that does not have lighter fluid in it.

Check with your library, they receive book donations and I am sure they have to clean them up.

These are all good ideas and I would get some baking soda and sprinkle through the pages. Sit outside where the fresh air can get to it. Of course you'll want to keep it out of the elements. I would check on it after about 4 days. Then maybe repeat the process.

You can also try baking soda. It works good too. Put it into an old nylon and into a sealed container. I have also used the charcoal for getting orders out. Both worked really good for me. You can also use both of them when you store a refrigerator or washer for a period.

Equal parts of Cornstarch and Baking Soda-I put some cake racks in the bottom of totes and stood the books -opened in a V forming a zig-zag -Put the lid on and 3 days later books were smoke free. And the mix in the bottom of tote was not wasted -I sprinkled it on the ant hills in the sidewalk cracks and I no longer have ants.

I've had good luck with using a fine grit sand paper on the top side and bottom of the pAges when the book is closed. Then I put them in a sealed box with a small cup of unground coffee for a week or two.

A friend loaned me a book I really wanted to read, but he was a heavy smoker and I'd have had to hold my breath while reading because the book reeked so strongly. A month or so in the sunshine (it was a very thick book), turning a few pages daily, made it usable. A sister-in-law did the same thing with her family bible after her heavy-smoker father passed away, putting it out on sunny days over about six months.

Home Depot sells containers of activated charcoal which is meant for taking out strong odors. Put the books (separated and open, if you can) in a big plastic box or closet with the open container of charcoal for a couple of weeks. If it takes out the smell of old cat urine, surely it can take out smoke!