Estate sale find
 

I purchased 8 quilt tops from an estate sale for $3 each! Unfortunately they smell of cigarette smoke. I need help on how to get the smoke smell out of them. The material was not prewashed. Should I wash them now or wait til they have been quilted. How can I keep the colors from fading? Any advice?

Congratulations on your find. Not sure how to get the smell out. Maybe open them out and lay them on a sheet on the grass to see if that helps for now. I would not wash them until they are quilted. The Febreeze commercial sure sound like that can work miracles but I have never used it.

Put a top in a bag, and put in a smokeless candle (unlit) it is a candle that a smoker would use in their home. Hope it works well for you.

Lana
the Quilting Dreamer
Lansing, MI

Put the tops in a bag with an open bag of BBQ charcoal and seal, that stuff works wonders. I just bought two tops at a yard sale and I washed them with the color blockers and they came out great.

I had the same problem when I purchased a lot of material from an estate sale that had cedar, smoke and perfume (remember Avon's Eau de toilet). I used ARM AND HAMMER and BORAX and ammonia and vinegar. The first load I used Borax and ammonia. I put them in hot water and let them soak for an hour then put them through the wash cycle (the maximum time). That helped some what. Then without putting them in the dryer put them through another cycle (soaking first for about another hour) in ARM AND HAMMER and vinegar. I used equal parts for each load. The material I had was a heavy cotton and denim. People who wear a lot of perfume and smoke don't realize how it affects the smell of the clothes they wear. My husband smoked for a long time and everyone thought I smoked because I was around him so much. It's been 3+ years since he lit the last one. he eats pretzel rods instead.

I would spray them with Fabreze - a lot of it...and then sew them up before I wash.

If you decide to wash them, be sure to not agitate them. Soak in a tub or sink and press them with your hands to get the soap and water out. Rinse thoroughly and wrap in terry towels to dry and then line dry being careful to keep out of direct sun. I have ruined antique quilt tops by washing them. Are there not a lot of raw edges that might ravel? There is a product at Walmart called Super Odor Neutralizer that says Fine Mist Air Freshener proclaiming it eliminates odors in air, fabric, carpet. I have been pleased with it, but have not used on tobacco odors. It was, like $2. so worth a try.

I would not wash them until they are quilted. I think you will end up with a mess. Put the quilts in a plastic bag and stick a fabric softener sheet in with it. It may work and shouldn't damage anything. Don't use fabreeze if you have a pet bird.

If these are quilt tops, I strongly advise NOT washing them before they are quilted! There is a huge risk of distortion (different fabrics in the top shrinking at different rates) that cannot be ironed out, not to mention frayed seams.

Charcoal removes odors. Try putting each top in a plastic bag with a couple of Odoreaters shoe insoles (the ones with charcoal in them) for a week or two. This took the moldy odor out of a featherweight case for me after nothing else worked. I do not recommend using perfumed dryer sheets, that kind of thing, because to my nose the cheap perfumes simply make all the odors worse.