My wife and I buy a lot of used books. The problem is, often the books have been in storage, or in a smoker's home (no offense to any smokers), or in other conditions that have left behind odors. I used to apply Febreze to rid books of these smells, but I've found a much cheaper way.
Simply take a sample perfume strip such as are found in many magazines and slip it into the book. Place the book in a sealable storage bag for a day or so. I've found that this will replace odors with the scent of the strip.
Of course, use a scent you don't mind smelling!
Source: My personal experience
By Mad Rabbit from Lovington, IL
Try putting the book in a zipper-lock bag with either a new, unused fabric softener sheet or with about a teaspoon of fresh, dry, unused coffee grounds. Leave the book in there for at least 8 hours. Good luck!
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I wanted to share a tip about how to get rid of cigarette odor from books within an hour. No baking soda, no use of charcoal which only mask the cigarette smoke, no waiting for days or weeks to get rid of the smoke.
My daughter had accidentally unplugged a chest freezer and I didn't find it until about 2 weeks later. The whole thing was filled with nasty rotten meat.
Set the opened books out to air in the sun. A further solution is to place unused dryer sheets among the pages of closed books.
I bought a book at Amazon that evidently was in a fire. It took a year for smell to go away. You could try putting the book in plastic bag with baking soda or flowers to absorb the smell or spray your book with orange oil
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I would like help for getting cigarette smell out of hardback books and paperback books?
By patricia d from Ramona, CA
Hi Patricia,
I had the same problem with a large collection of postcards that I had purchased from an estate. What I tried was putting them in a cardboard box that was big enough to allow air space, put in 2 bounce dryer sheets and closed the box up for about a week.
I use to smoke and since I've moved 3 years ago my entire bookshelf has been packed away in boxes. I went to take them out and omg. I can't believe what my house must have smelled like. There are 6 large Rubbermaid containers full plus a few boxes. How will I ever get the smell out of my treasured books? Quickest and most effective. Help please!
Please tell me how I can get tobacco odors out of hard back books.
Carrie Shuter from Meridian, Idaho
I too had the task of taking that awful smell off of books and video cases, what I did was to get a pan of warm water with Tide in it , use a cloth that is wrung out fairly dry, wipe the jacket of the books,also stand the book on end so that you can wipe the ends and sides off, You will be amazed at the color of the water After I finished doing that i wiped them dry,"as best I could" and I tore up sheets of Fabric softener putting the part sheets 4-6 in each book. Then putting the books in an airtight bag for a few weeks. after that I aired them out and they were not too bad for smell. I had a real collection of about 50 books that were given me and They were just too valuable to throw out. I do hope this helps.
When I buy used books or from the Library I wipe the outside with baby wipes and spray a shot of lysol. Then I spray Lysol as I fan the pages. Lysol dries quickly. Try and keep a 10 inch distance. If you happen to spray closer no big deal. Lysol dries fast. Smells gone! And germs too!
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Does anyone know how to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of books? A friend just gave me a wonderful cookbook that she bought at a yard sale and it smells so strong that my allergies go wild.
How do you get cigarette smoke smell off of books?
How can you get cigarette smoke smell out of books?
