my first car was really old and had a choking cigarette smell, when I got out of it after driving it my hair and clothes smelled too. we put tons of cheap fresh ground coffee all over and it took the smell out when I vacuumed it out. changed the coffee once i think but in a week the smell was gone. I don't think that would work for a sewing machine for obvious reasons.

the other story I have is that we went on a vacation and didn't realize that our car windows were the teeniest bit cracked. there was tons of rain that week and it was in the summertime and we got home and opened the car to go get dinner and it was full of mold. everywhere. professional detailers had to take the interior apart to get the water and mold out of everything and steam it and then they did an ozone generator and it got the smell. you can't even tell that it happened.
I have bad car luck lol

i would try the vinegar cause it's cheap and if it doesn't work then I'd go for the ozone.

Cheap clay kitty litter and a large plastic garbage bag have always been my go-tos for eliminating smells. It takes a couple of weeks, though, and it sounds like you want to deal with the problem sooner. Cleaning with white vinegar sounds like a good first step.

I agree with all suggestions here, especially wiping all available surfaces with vinegar water. I, too, was going to suggest putting it in a closed container and stuffing around it with wadded newspapers. They say that will help bad odors in a freezer/refrigerator that has been unplugged and then food rotted inside. Your local sewing machine place may know of a good solution. Seems my 4800 always comes back from the shop looking fresh whatever he does to it!

When I smoked I really had no idea how bad everything in my house smelled. I would clean my machines and always get the brown yuk off but still had no idea about the smell. My parents smoked so I didn't know what clean smelled like. My husband also smoked. We quit 15 years ago. I couldn't stand the smell in our clothes, furniture and especially my fabric. I did a lot of washing including the walls in every room. Today I absolutely cannot be around anybody that smokes. The smell is horrid. I can walk by someone in a store and smell it. Said all that to say this....pinesol or something like 409 should clean the machine and take away the smell. 409 cleaned my machines, cutting table, and cutting mats. Hope this helps. I honestly did't know how bad I smelled!

Why keep it? Put it on the free table in a clear plastic bag labeled has bad nicotine odor Do Not Open in room.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I have cleaned the outside of it, and it is now sitting in a large tub with a bowl of vinegar water. We'll see how things go. From everything I read, this is a very good machine. I don't plan on keeping it but thought if I could get it cleaned up and the smoke smell gone I could sell it to raise some money for our guild. It would be a shame to throw it away if it can be cleaned up with a little hard (or easy) work. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll probably give it at least a week.

After you clean it thoroughly, close it up with a bar of original Irish Spring soap. Works for vintage machines and cases, so it's worth a try. If you use water on the inside of the machine, be sure to coat it with a thin coat of sewing machine oil before you put it back together. The machine is worth saving.

Clean the machine with Go-jo or some other non pumice water-less hand cleaner. Wipe it on and wipe it off with old t-shirts. Use a toothbrush to get the hand cleaner into the crevices. Once you get the ugly yellow stain off, most of the odor will be gone.

I would not use water on a sewing machine.

See if you can get someone who is not so sensitive to the smell to handle this chore.

Or, if you just want to get rid of the problem, do what was already suggested. Put it out on the table at a meeting with a $??.00 price tag on it (if you want to make money for the guild) or a "free" sign on it. Just make sure the buyer knows it stinks.

bkay

It may sound counter-intuitive, but, put the machine in a big bag with a tray of charcoal and close it up. Charcoal absorbs so many odors. I would probably rub down the outside bits with alcohol first just to get off whatever smoke residue that you can (do it outside). I am sure someone would happily pay the $70 for a footpedal to get a great machine.

I would use water on a modern machine. I have done it with machines newer that the 50s with no issues. Don't flood it, of course and dry it well.