Purchased some books and magazines at a garage sale this weekend. Great books and I really want to use them, but there is one major problem.

The previous owner apparently used cologne liberally and the scent has impregnated the books. I am VERY sensitive to colognes - reading the books makes my sinuses swell, gives me a headache and I get a funny taste in my mouth.

If the books had been displayed for sale in a closed space rather than an open garage, I would have noticed the scent and not bought them.

Right now I have the books in a plastic bag with baking soda to try to remove the smell. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

We had a freezer full of meat go bad one time and someone told us to put crumpled up newspapers and charcoal chunks in it to remove the smell of rotten meat. It worked.
Carol B

Newspapers. Put them in plastic with crumpled newspapers.
Spray with Fabreez, it might help a little, or it might add to your woes.
Let them set out on a table in the wind.

If all other methods fail, make a homemade reading box. My DH made me one out of two x fours and a piece of glass. He stood three short pieces of board on the table on their sides for a frame and covered them with a towel to block the wood smell. Then he put the glass on top of that. Since the front of the frame is open, I can slide the book into the frame and read through the glass. I have a towel in the front so the smells don't come out and I can slip my hand in to turn the pages. I wear a glove to keep the smells off of my hand. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but it works. Even new books are bad for me. Maybe you can create something for yourself. There are reading boxes that you can buy, but they are hard to find and expensive. I hope you find something that works for you. :)

Putting them outside on a sunny day also helps. Stand them upright with the pages fanned open a bit for several hours.

Update: Left the books in a sealed cardboard box with kitty litter (old kind - don't ask me, my husband picked it up!) and charcoal. Scent is significantly reduced. Sinuses take longer to react, though not much longer.

Have put the books in a cabinet with a charcoal deoderizer for now. Will try the sunshine cure next. Next step after that is to scan the patterns I want to keep into the computer just in case, someday, I actually make them!

Thanks for all the tips.

Take regular newspapers and insert it in between the pages of the offending books. Don't use the slick ads, just the newspaper. Then put the books in an airtight container like a plastic tub. Inside the tub put a liberal amount of cheap (clean!) kitty litter. Set the books on top of the litter. Crumble up more newspaper and put it inside the tub, too. Seal the lid and leave the books in the tub and forget about them. When you find them again, the smell should be pretty much gone. This works on mildew and smoke smell in paperback books.

Good luck.

I can do that! Thanks.

Can you imagine using 'unclean' kitty litter to get out the cologne scent? Talk about going from bad to worse... ;-)

I didn't want to say it. Thank you :twisted:

I agree with putting them outside on a sunny day.
I think the baking soda and newsprint are also great ideas.
good luck.