I bought some recently charms online and when I opened them up the smell of smoke recently filled the air :(
Learned my lesson to ask before I buy :)

I REALLY REALLY don't want to wash these. Being only 5 inches I don't want to loose a bunch of fabric by having them unravel.

So any suggestions. Anything that I can stick in with them to remove the smell? I was thinking about sticking them into a big ziplock with the baking soda pack you can buy for the fridge? I LOVE the charms! Just not the smell :) Thanks!

oh glad you asked..i had the same problem with some FQ i got on Ebay..
hoping for advice too

I think I have heard to place Irish Springs bath soap in the bag for awhile.
You could also try the charcoal that is used in aquariums.

Try this....lay them on a cookie sheet , they can overlap. Put them in the freezer for 3 days, check for smell, they should be good. I have heard this used for books as well.

Lay them all and spray with febreeze or hand wash them and lay them out to dry. Yuck!

You can also try putting them in a ziplock bag with borax sprinkled in it. Borax is a natural deodorizer.

Ugh, that is the worst smell to have on fiber products, I can't understand why people sell things that stink without mentioning it online.

Alright I have them in the freezer! Hopefully this works!

i did a swap and all my blocks smelled of smoke and febreeze worked great

I may have to resort to hand washing them :( I was hoping for an easy way out lol

I hadn't thought about fabreeze though! I will have to make a trip to the store this evening :)

I make my own "fabreeze". Just add a cap full of fabric softner to a 24 oz (or any size really) spray bottle and fill with water. So much cheaper and it works as well.

What about those enzyme sprays that are used for pet/kid smells? It's worth a shot...and may neutralize it enough until you can wash your entire quilt...

Ooh, I'm interested in hearing if the freezer thing works out!! If not, I agree that maybe separating them/spreading them out and "Febrezing" might work--at least until you've made them into a finished product you can wash!

How sad -- I am in a paperback book exchange and one of the requirements is NO SMOKERS.

A lady in our snowbirds quilting group went to a new fabric shop that has just opened and while chatting with the owner, she could smell the tobacco smoke on her. She decided not to buy anything there and warned us all of what she found.

Maybe we should all put a note about wanting only smoke free items when we buy or exchange

Mim

Put squares outside for a few hours. Fresh air works for me.

I think baking soda or activated carbon would work and both are cheaper than Febreeze. I don't think the freezer is going to work because smoked meats still smell & taste like smoked meats when they thaw out. Maybe not quite as strong, though.

Just pinning them up outside if you live where the temperatures are above freezing may work just as well and is chemical free.

Doesn't fabreeze just add its own odor? I tried it when it first came on the market I had a terrible time with it because of my chemical sensitivities.

I had the same experience, but I opened them up and the odor has lessened quite a bit.

Dial or Safeguard deodorant soap both work on non washable items or things you just don't want to wash. I bought two bolts of a fusible stuff at an auction and put them in a trash bag with a bar of unwrapped soap and the smell was totally gone.

I bought online some fabric from CL and I forgot to ask if it was from a non smoking home and it wasn't. I laid tarps out in the sub zero garage and laid all the fabric out. Left it there for 4 days. No change in odor. Now have several loads of washing ahead of me with the strongest soap I have along with oxyclean. I'll let you know how it turns out. Washer's running now.

Also tried putting mine on the line on a sunny, but freezing, day. No change.

When washing, I use white vinegar in the wash.

If this load still smells when it is done I'll try this. Thanks

Found online - "TO get smoke smell out of clothes add a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam. " not sure how it would work with charms.
Also
http://www.ehow.com/how_6368145_remo...ll-fabric.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6454556_remo...or-fabric.html

I lay a sheet on the grass in the morning with dew on it, and then lay it outside on the ground, and watch it like a hawk.
I had a quilt from the Amish that smelled of kerosine so badly I couldn't hardly bring it into my house.
The man wanted me to quilt it, but I couldn't even touch it.
So out of the sun, on a sheet.
Bummer there is so much snow on the ground, there is here anyways.

What a great idea!! Thanks for sharing!

Most smokers don't think smoking smells.......

Try the freezer. If that doesn't work, maybe some fresh air and sunshine? You could spritz with a little Fabreze to be able to work with them. Once you're done with the project a good wash with detergent and vinegar should kill the cigarette stench.

I find it hilarious everyone is so "allergic" to smoke odors now. Am I the only one who walked among smokers in my lifetime? Or went to restaurants and bars that allowed smokers inside the stinkin' building? There were smoking areas at my high school! Thankfully, all that has changed.

I'm happy we're all anti-smoking, but there are worse odors. Think about it. Personally, I'd rather smell cigarette smoke than fried grease or rank trash odors. It's a smelly world. Maybe one day we'll quit frying foods, smoking cigarettes, use deodorant and soap and take the trash out in a timely manner.

We've used fabric softeners sheets in a ziplock bag when we've gotten stuck with books that smell like smoke. You might try that.

A bar of DIAL soap (unwrapped of course) in a plastic bag with fabrics left for a few days really works.

I used ordinary baking soda to remove smoke odor from a leather jacket my d mil gave me. I put the jacket in a large plastic bag and dumped an entire small box of baking soda in and sealed it up. Every few days I shook it all around. After 2 weeks I took the jacket out and there was zero odor! So I fully believe in good ol' fashioned baking soda.
Just my 2 cents worth.

HM, I wonder if you could smoke the salmon while you're at it? hahahahaha

Seriously - I'll have to try that one.

Hmmm I was thinking if the smell is not too bad to work with... make the quilt top and then launder it??

I put them in a little laundry bag that zippers closed and is for delicates - then throw them in the washing machine on low and wash with regular detergent and then throw in the dryer to dry. And I usually add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle too.

I bought some thread on ebay, and the box it came in smelled so bad it permeated the thread. I had some stain and odor solution I had gotten from the pet store that was amazing in eliminating cat urine smell (which is THE worst) so I gave it a try. Sprayed the inside of a clean cardboard box, put the thread in it, tucked in a paper towell sprayed with the solution and closed the lid overnight. ALL gone! I was afraid I had made a major mistake, but all is well. I have bought pre-cut blocks with a tiny piece of low-scent dryer sheet tucked into the zip lock bags, supposedly to absorb moisture, but the material smelled nice. That might help too.

I agree with you to a point, Chele.:) My fabric was bought specifically for quilts that go to hospitals where many of these kids already has asthma problems. Cigarette and pipe smoke leaves not only odors but tars in and on anything it touches. That has to be removed before these kids who are sensitive to inhalants can use them.

I enjoyed the smell of my dad's and grandpa's pipes but I would break out, my eyes would water, and I would have coughing fits if I was in the same room. I learned early on to avoid artificial odors as they were a problem for me. However, I live near a feed lot and that does not bother me, only artificial odors which are chemicals.

Ok, I'll quit yaking at you all and go fold all this fabric. Lots of quilting ahead! :-D :-D

maybe put them into a ziplock baggie and put some fabric softner sheets into the bag and maybe that will help.

If the smell wasn't so bad I would :)

And Yes there are a lot of worse smells than smoke but cigarette smoke seems to give me an instant headache. Not that I am a big whiner and complainer or anything :) but eww! I almost think I would take the garbage smell over the smoke smell LOL

I have the charms in the freezer now. I will check them out tomorrow. If I don't smell much of a difference I think I will try the baking soda. Maybe add the baking soda to them while in the freezer!

I've had good luck with those little packets of stuff that come in the box with a new pair of shoes. Put them in a Ziploc bag with a couple of those.

glad to hear of the suggestions

I have an idea, don't know how many you got, but put in a pillowcase,close it ,tie it, and wash in the gentle cycle, or if you a mind to swish in tub full of soapy water and rinse, which that can be a job in itself.