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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

i am being totally unreasonable but i need help QUICK..

25 replies

earplugsahoy · 09/02/2015 18:32

We have been gifted a table and chairs, which is fab and it is a lovely set..

However, it has come from the home of a very very heavy smoker and even though we have thoroughly cleaned and polished it the smell of cigarettes has filled my house giving us all a headache and DD is coughing heavily.

How do we get rid of the smell? The wood still smells awfully of it

OP posts:
Theselittlelightsofmine · 09/02/2015 18:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FarFromAnyRoad · 09/02/2015 18:33

Is it possible to stand it outside or in a garage for a period of time?

woowoo22 · 09/02/2015 18:33

I don't think you can?

Tyzer85 · 09/02/2015 18:33

Could vinegar help?

Jollyjollysixpence · 09/02/2015 18:34

Do the chairs have fabric on?

DevaDiva · 09/02/2015 18:34

I don't think you can either but YANBU no one wants their furniture to smell of fags.

Henbur1702 · 09/02/2015 18:35

I think you are going to struggle with wood simply because you don't want to get it too wet. You could try a steam cleaner, or else would sanding and re polishing it be an option?

OnceUponATimeAgain · 09/02/2015 18:36

you have to leave it outside for a long time to let the smell go.... got a shed?

AnnieOnAMapleLeaf · 09/02/2015 18:37

Wood is porous. You will never get the smell out, I'm sorry to say. You can mask it with polishes etc, but the smell will always remain.

Jollyjollysixpence · 09/02/2015 18:38

And yes to standing outside if possible?

Original poster
earplugsahoy · 09/02/2015 18:44

Oh blimey really? You can smell it on the chairs. And the table wood.

We are going to move it into the garage, we don't have the time to sand etc it wouldn't be worth it

OP posts:
Koalafications · 09/02/2015 18:46

Eurgh, I cannot stand the smell of smoke.

Doubt you will get it out though... Sorry.

Original poster
earplugsahoy · 09/02/2015 18:52

Me neither koala

My house feels filthy Hmm

OP posts:
Nomama · 09/02/2015 18:53

Wash it all with a mix of bicarbonate of soda, vinegar/lemon juice. Make a paste and scrub all of the wood, Then rinse of in vinegar/lemon juice mixed with water.

If there is any material on the chairs spray with a mix of water, vinegar, bicarb and an oil of your choice, I'd use something like rosemary, nice and strong but not offensive, but anything you like would do - woody rather than floral.

If you haven't got bicarb etc, just vinegar, 50:50 with water will be really good, preferably not malt vinegar, although that would do in a pinch. Wash down wood, spray onto fabric.

But sunlight is really good... so in summer leave it all out for a few hours. First give it all another clean, then leave it out until it is absolutely dry. That should get rid of any lingering niffs.

Nomama · 09/02/2015 18:54

I promise it works, I have a lovely dining room table that came straight out of a pub - you can imagine how much it stank!

Optimist1 · 09/02/2015 19:01

I'd fight smoke with smoke - put them in the garage and light loads of incense sticks on the ground around them each day for a few days.

AnitaManeater · 09/02/2015 19:09

Pledge soapy wood cleaner might work

DeliciousMonster · 09/02/2015 19:09

I used bicarb for a sofa we got off ebay with the same problem. It worked a treat.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 09/02/2015 19:12

Nomama is right - we had exactly the same with a dining set and it really did work

That said, there wasn't too much smell left by the time we used it; it genuinely does fade if you leave the furniture in fresh air (maybe in a garage?) for a week or so

mortil2 · 09/02/2015 19:12

nomama what a fabulous tip. I will remember that

MaccaPaccaismyNemesis · 09/02/2015 19:16

I inherited a table that had been previously owned by a very heavy smoker. Because it was untreated wood it smelt vile- I took it in the garden and cillit banged it- it turns out the table wasn't grey, but was actually pine! The chairs got the same treatment. I then used Method wood cleaner/polish which smelt divine- this seemed to do the trick and it stopped smelling pretty much straight away.

ShipwreckedAndComatose · 09/02/2015 19:21

I found this any help?

Original poster
earplugsahoy · 09/02/2015 21:21

Wow thank you nomama

You lot are bloody amazing xxx

It is all in the garage for now, will try these tips over the next few days and hopefully we will be able to use it x

OP posts:
Hovis2001 · 09/02/2015 21:34

My DH's piano came from a smoking home - it faded after about a month, and in the meantime I just sprayed it with some sort of scented surface cleaner. I don't think it was even wood polish. Confused

nomama - would that work on wood with varnish on it? Just wondering for future reference...! Smile

Nomama · 10/02/2015 09:23

Yes, The joy of bicarb and vinegar is that it is very, very mildly abrasive and both things are odour absorbent. They don't bleach anything and the combination fizzes into any cracks cleaning anything.

It doesn't harm polished surfaces at all - or not that I have found in 30+ years of using it for cleaning everything from slate floors and wooden work surfaces to porcelain vases that started out black and Nana's best jewellery.

The water/vinegar spray is a good replacement for Fabreeze - it doesn't smell it just deodorises. Adding essential oil makes it smell. Adding bicarb adds that little bit of cleaning power.

I have a cheap spray bottle that does all my cleaning: water, bicarb and vinegar - usually has an essential oil in it too, usually rosemary as it has antiseptic properties and seems nicer in the fridge than tea tree.

The only other cleaning things I have are lemon juice and a big box of soap flakes - and lots of micro fibre cloths.

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