removing smoke from a quilt
 

A friend at church this morning asked me how to remove cigarette smoke from a quilt she received. I know there was a discussion on here about this topic within the last couple of weeks, but don't know how to find that discussion. Can anyone here help me with this? There were many good ideas!!

I do believe one way is to wash it with vinegar. Not sure if one cup was the right amount or not.

You could put it in a garbage bag with baking soda or activated carbon for a couple days.

I had heard the vinegar thing as well

Here are some previous threads about removing the smell of smoke from fabrics

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...t-t198212.html

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...s-t193736.html

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...e-t187624.html

lot's of good advice!

my son had a lot of smoke damage fom a small fire in their basement & the insurance company told them to use acup of vinegar & a 1/2 cup of baking soda in the wash.

I had this exact same problem. The smoke smell was so bad we could not sleep under the quilt. Took it to the cleaners and they did not get the smell out. The quilt was too big for my washer so washing it was out.

What I did was put it in the dryer with two wet towels and about 5 dryer sheets. That did the trick. Smell was gone.

Hope this helps.

Lots of sunshine.

vodka and water

Get some Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator (I am sure there are other brands, but I've only ever used this one. Use it to wash the quilt. Believe me, it works. I have an 85 year old Aunt in a long-term care facility -- I do all her laundry, and believe me sometimes that laundry reeks worse than anything you can imagine. This is something you put into your wash water, not something you spray on the quilt. Vinegar will probably help, too, but I've never tried that. I know, like you, I cannot bear nicotine smells/stains -- it sets my asthma off in a major way! It's worth the price of a bottle of the Febreeze Laundry Odor Eliminator.

Jeanette Frantz

when my mom brought me her quilt to enter in the fair i had to wash & dry it 3 times...with detergent in the wash- with fabric softener in the rinse to finally get rid of the smoke smell we also hung it outside in the sunshine & breeze for about 12 hours - which faded the odors but did not get rid of them- which caused the washing/drying. smoke is (greasy) and clings/saturates the fibers- it is difficult to get rid of without (aggressive) laundering

its 1 cup per load and we used gain detergent we had to learn this the hard way after my dmil had a small house fire. it really works though. the fire wasnt huge but we thought everything was lost because we couldnt get the smoke smell and residue out of everything. we persevered and youd be surprised what you can clean up.
carla

You might try one of the products sold to eliminate pet odors. I have cats and have used Odo-Ban and other brands to eliminate odors. If you can't wash the item why own it?

I had a quilt given to me that reeked of smoke but didn't know it until I got it home- no wonder it was not just tied but twisted knot in the plastic bag. I got the drying rack and hung it outside for three days and nights-weather did cooperate. When the smell had almost left, I filled my laundry tub half way with very warm water, half a cap of Free & Clear laundry detergent, and a cup of Borax- swishing with the handle of my toilet brush. Put the quilt in and let it soak all night (for about 15 hours).Right away you could see the smoke discoloring the water. Next morning I drained the laundry tub and put quilt into the washer. Added a full cap of Free & Clear laundry detergent and a half cup of Borax washing on cold this time at the longest cycle. No dryer sheets or perfumed detergent- I wanted that smell out of the quilt. Used the same method for moth balls, too and it worked. Good luck.

The easiest way I know to remove odors is the Febreeze Laundry Odor Eliminator. I use it frequently on my aunt's clothing (she is 85, in a nursing home, and as you can imagine, her clothing is sometimes almost beyond recall). It works for that, so I imagine it would work on cigarette smoke!

Jeanette Frantz

Wash with lots of warm water ( High effieciency washer will not do the trick) , 1 cup clear vinegar, and a mild laundry soap.