southernmema

[QUOTE=moonwork42029;5455449]My thoughts too! haha

honeybea

When I washed my son's clothes that had been in an apartment fire....I thought I would never rid them of the smell....so I tried pouring Fabreze in the wash and it took all the odor out. I didn't know about the other options out there until I read them on the board......

Noiseynana

Fabreeze. Gotta spray each and every box , then wash with Tide and baking soda or vinegar. White vinegar.

MamaO2011

Well, I started washing yesterday. Everything is out on my porch in boxes, which is appears many of the fabrics have been in for some time. I'm using some OxyClean I had on hand, along with my regular detergent and a cup of vinegar. Everything is coming out very neutral smelling right now. I did get some ammonia yesterday just in case the vinegar didn't work, but so far I haven't needed the ammonia.

Odoban is fabulous. When I was in the Marine Corps, it was sort of the unofficial cleaner for us. We used it for everything and it does smell great. I have used it for pet urine in the past as well, so I'm sure it probably would work for smoke as well.

I have an unused dog run outside that I could put stuff out on to line dry; hadn't thought of that, but I am sure it would do wonders as well!

For all the lace, etc., do you think I could put them into a lingerie bag and wash them with the vinegar on a gentle cycle, instead of doing the newspaper idea someone suggested? I'm not sure what I'll do with all that lace, but I saw an idea on pinterest of making shorts out of jeans that are too short in the leg, but still fit around the waist. My girls would love that, so I'm hoping to use some of it for that purpose. I'm thinking it might be good for pillows as well, but it definitely needs the smoke removed before coming into the house. I smelled just from bringing it from outside on my porch back to my washer!

Oh, and someone offered condolences. Grandma Verna hasn't passed away, but she has been in and out of the hospital the last year or so. I think her daughter (my sister-in-law's mother-in-law) has just talked her into starting to downsize things from the house that she no longer has the energy to use. It was very nice of them to think of me to pass everything to! There's so much fabric, I will be washing, drying and ironing for years! LOL

MartiMorga

Lot of good advice here. I also had "inherited" a stash from a friend 11 years ago. Some of the material still smells like cig smoke. I washed it all with vinegar, so that did not remove "all" of the odor. I will now try the Borox, Odoban and ammonia. Some of the trimmings that I was afraid to wash have already been disposed of or donated (sorry Salvation Army)

loriea

Recently I inherited a bag of scrap from my great grandmother. It as that musty basement smell. I just can not get past anything that stinks, but I wanted some of what was selvegable for sentimental reasons. I tried washing them with Borax, vinegar, baking soda and regular laundry soap. The stuff that went through 3 washings smelled no better than the stuff washed only once. I took the soggy wet pile out to my deck, spread them out in the sunshine and after nearly a week I can open the deck door and not gag on the smell. With this stuff I also inherited some dresdan plates cut and sewed by hand. I am afraid to wash them so they have been out sunning themselves all week. Have only had to chase a few when the breeze blew by. They will probably washed at some point by hand. I am thinking of possibly framing a couple of them along with grandma's hand cut template she used. I am very thankful the weather has cooperated.

Grammy-Gram

If I can just add my $.02, I would say that the Odo Ban does work great and so do all the other ideas, but I just would like to say that if you are planning on making any for children, be careful. I am a coordinator for Project Linus, a national organization that gives blankets in need and I have it on good authority that even though you can get the smell out, the smell still resides deep inside. I'm not trying to scare anyone, but just thought some of you might like to know that. Have fun with it though. You are very lucky.

Lucille

0tis

Vinegar in the washing machine along with your regular detergent - it has worked for me - I received some fabrics from a home where smoking was present - I didn't know if anything would work - but I tried Vinegar and it worked great. No vinegar smell either - good luck.

Jvan228

Oxy Clean. Gets anything out. Just follow the directions on the container. It works!

BettyB

This is the BEST thing ever to remove smoke odors. I know because I have used it to wash many many yards of smoke smelling fabric.