vinegar will get rid of many many smells. i use it when i was the guinea pig bedding. i make them "quilts" of fleese with absorbant batting between instead of using the aspen shavings. so much neater and easier to clean. but..... if it wasn't for the vinegar, the bedding would not be reusable. kwim? it's also great for baby stuff and the elderly who have problems.

do not forget good old fashioned 10-mule team Borax for removing odor. Add it to the wash water before filling the machine so that it will dissolve.

do not forget good old fashioned 10-mule team Borax for removing odor. Add it to the wash water before filling the machine so that it will dissolve. Oh, I forgot, if you are doing a quilt for someone else, ANY commercial smell you add to the fabric may trigger an allergy attach, asthma, there are many more people out there with respiratory problems that we realize.

I have older pets and the old-dog smell is almost as bad as cigarettes. I use Borax power (laundry-detergent booster and deoderizer) and white vinegar for ALL my laundry. A quick sniff test before I remove anything from the machine tells me if I need to run the load through a second time. Works like a champ.

I don't know how chilly it gets there, but here I like to hang things out when it freezes & that usually does it. I don't even have to wash it.
Greeter Eva

oxyclean diluted in water in the wash will get the smell out, then drier sheets in the low tumble dry will work.

For tough oders...I use a product called odorban. You can buy it at any Sma's club. It comes in a gallon size bottle and it is concentrated. I use a very small amount in the wash along with my regular detergant and it get rid of all types of odors.

I have used that. I just love the smell.

Years ago I had some towels mildew. My sister gave me a hint that I've used to get all kinds of odors out of things (even cigarette smoke.)

Mix baking soda & hydrogen peroxide in a cup to the thickness of peanut butter. Add this to your laundry before you start the water.( Put spoon fulls of the mixture all around & on top of the clothes.) As the water is filling up the mixture is still having a chemical reaction. The amount of time to fill the machine with water is just right.
Hope this helps.

I use Febreze for Laundry. It is not the same as the spray. I have only been able to locate it at K-Mart but it takes the worst smells out of fabric. I don't use the spray on a quilt as I found out some people are allergic to the scent.

I find that Fabreze leaves a tacky or sticky feel to whatever it is sprayed on. I don't think it would hurt the fabric itself, though, but I'm no expert.

One time my sister went through her clothes and got rid of a lot of items that just reeked with cigarette smoke. I took them home to wash them and donate to our church. I washed them 5 times and used everything I could think of. Baking soda, vinegar, different fabric softeners etc. They were ok after the 5th time but you could still smell it in there. I think now I would use Simple Green. It does work well to remove such smells but you have to test a small area to make sure you don't get color loss. I would rinse them a couple of times then. I learned this from the owner of a fishing camp. She said Simple Green was the only thing they found that would take odors out of their fish cleaning gloves and sacks. I would use a strong solution of it in the washer.

I love vinegar to deal with problems such as this. If you are not comfortable putting the quilt in the washing machine, consider soaking in the tub with water and vinegar. Tumble on low, or no heat, as you see fit. If you do not feel comfortable with the dryer than lay flat outside on a clean surface.

Did you try vingar and baking soda? Usually a mix of this gets out all smells. Wash on gentle cycle, if you can wash the quilt.

i had a problem with smoke last year - not cig smoke tho - had hung a couple of quilts out to dry - nice warm non humid day and didn't realize until later that the neighbors burned trash that day and all the smoke was blowing right into the direction of my quilts. took lots of washing to get odor out. didn't have any of the helpful hints I read here at the time. which I had.

a quilt has soaked up months or maybe even years of smoke smell, instead of just one day. Still think an Oxy-clean soak and a gentle wash would be the best.

That would be my advice also. I've never had smoke smells to contend with, but sometimes after cooking a big Cajun meal, fabrics in the house tend to smell last night's awesome meal. A good airing (especially on a morning like this one with brisk autumn breezes coming into the windows) and a spray of Febreeze will do the trick. I recommend hanging or laying the quilt outside for a while. If the smoke odor is persistent, then continue to air out.

My hubby works at a feed mill and his clothes stink so bad. I use borax and laundry soap in my wash water and add some liquid softner to it as well. For some reason when I use the softner in the wash water the odors and stains come out a lot better.

I would wash it in warm water with detergent and borax. Borax is a natural deodorizer that works great and will also boost laundry detergent. Hang the quilt outside even if it's cold. I find that hanging clothes out in cold weather whitens whites and the freezing does something for them, also. Bring it in and hang on a rack to finish drying. You could also add some vinegar to the rinse water.

So far the smells are coming out and there is no staining from the tar when I washed 2 quilts!!!! The one airing outside seems to be good too but I'm going to wait and see if just the airing takes care of everything. This has been great info and I REALLY appreciate all the advice/info! The water was so nasty in the machine- you would not believe. I threw a color fast sheet in there too (just in case).

I see. I'm glad I don't have that problem anymore. I quit almost 20 years ago. I can't stand the smell, now.

Me too Kaz . I quit some 30 years ago. The smell alone was worth it.

The Home Depot in my area sells stuff called "Odoban", it works really well to get odors out, but read the label about use. You would probably not have to use but a capful in a full washing machine load. Hope this helps.

You cant go past Febreeze.
I used it on my curtains when I was a smoker,
worked well for me.

I received some fabric stash from a smoker and thought all was lost after I washed it and still smelled smoke...BUT then I remembered some advice from my mom and washed it again with vinegar (I used about 2 cups) in the wash cycle and rinsed twice....smoke smell gone!!!

I bought a French co louis vuitton speedy only made in US upto the 80's and it stank of smoke, not being able to wash I stuffed it with glycerine nice smelling soap--------it did the trick ,have tried this on quilts too,wrap the soap in them and leave in airy room and it worked.

My grandmother always kept a new bar of lavender soap in her armoire and the drawers of her dresser.