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Good luck with the cleaning. - WASH - WASH

what about a bag of charcoal either fish tank or grill??

I vote for steaming bowls of vinegar! Worked great in a combine my DH bought used from a smoker.

Call ServePro or a similar company that does disaster clean-up: House Fires, Flooding and the like. They can give you some excellent advice about removing the smell from your fabrics. My house partially burnt many years ago. All of my upholstered pieces of furniture smelled of smoke. My husband was also a smoker. When the cleaning company finished you would never have known there was a fire. They did not wet my furniture, they used some kind of osmosis thing on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellaBoo (Post 6111426)

Washing in hot soapy water will be only fast solution. One the tar settles on the fabric it is the only way to get it out, the smell will linger for months. Any scent you use to mask it will go away and leave the smoke scent. . . .

I agree. Wash like colors together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolphyngyrl (Post 6110969)

maybe put it in a bag with one of those baking soda discs and wash in oxyclean and arm and hammer detergent with baking soda in it. I hear airing it outside helps as well

Maybe it's just me, but the Arm and Hammer detergent with baking soda has a very loud, offensive smell. I was so disappointed when I bought it. I ended up throwing it out because I couldn't stand the perfume in it..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Candlenana (Post 6110888)

I was fortunate to buy a quilter's stash. Completewith tools, books, patterns, fabric and more! All for $500. There was over 1400 fat quarters and lots of yardage. Small containers with blocks cut and some put together. Quilt tops and some to bind also.
The problem is all this came from a smoker's house. How do I get the smoke smell out without washing???
I am laying it out now in single layers in the garage and airing out and spraying febreze. What can I do that might be faster??
Can I use bowls of vinegar setting around???

Thanks for all your help
Candlenana

My first choice would be to sort by color all the yardage and fat quarters. Sort batiks very carefully. You've got a big handy wash tub also known as a bath tub. Fill the tub with enough water to cover the fabric a couple inches. and add a bunch of oxy-clean, far more that the instructions say (Sun makes a much cheaper oxygen cleaner). Just lay the fabric pieces in the tub. Let this soak all day if you can. Every couple hours take a big pan lid or big plate and use it to squish the fabric up and down. Once I used the bottom of a trash can. If you see lots of yellow residue in the water, drain it and do it again. Depending on how nasty the smoke is, you may have to use the same routine minus the oxy-clean for several rinses. If you can, hang outdoors to dry.

Plain White vinegar in a spray bottle is the best thing to remove odors of any kind. It's all we use in our house. It doesn't cover the smell it eliminates it totally.

Plain old cheap clay kitty litter is my favorite odor remover - even takes out skunk smell!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellaBoo (Post 6111426)

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I agree, I use to be a smoker, can't stand the smell now, would have thought twice before I bought material from a smoker....sometimes you just can't get it out, even with washing!