Need Some Idea's For Getting Cigarette Smell Out Of Hutch

[Joseph Miller]

I just acquired an old solid wood hutch and it has a very strong smell of cigarette smoke and I wonder if there are any good ways of getting that smell out of the wood. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Joe

[Don Baer]

Fabreeze (sp?)

[John Hart]

Odor-B-Gone....I eliminated the smell that wouldn't go away from an old phenolic ashtray. I bet fabreeze woulda worked too.

[Todd Burch]

Have you cleaned it? It might be a build-up of nicotine/tar. Depending on the finish, mineral spirits or naptha might work wonders, and get rid of the rest of the grime too. TSP is a good cleaning agent. Baking soda absorbs smells.

[Charlie Plesums]

When we moved to Philadelphia, our 60 year old house had very dark brown woodwork. It needed finishing, so I started to wash it before re-varnishing. As I washed (with ordinary soap and water), the woodwork became very light brown, and the water smelled like 60 years of pipe tobacco. No guess how many times I had to change the water. Fortunately nobody had "refinished" the woodwork in those 60 years.

In my case, the smoke was on top of the original finish, not into the wood. So an ordinary cleaning (if 60 years of dirt is ever an ordinary cleaning) did the job.

[Scott Loven]

Have you tried a skunk?

[Joseph Miller]

Have you tried a skunk?

Do you think that would work??:confused: As much as the smell of skunk just makes my nose tingle with excitement, I wonder if it might be to strong for our apartment. Do you have a sample you could send me??

[Andrew Ault]

My experience is like Charlie's.

I recommend Murphly's Oil Soap...out on the driveway.

That brown shmutz can be pretty stinky.
- Andy

[chris toomey]

you can seal it in with shellac

[Bill White]

Had that prob on an old Empire-style chest of drawers. Shellaced inside and outside of drawer bodies. Now we keep linens in it.

[Dan Gill]

A friend told me that auto dealers use what he called an Ozium machine to remove tobacco smell from cars. I suspect they're cleaned very well first. The spelling of that is strictly from my imagination - and English isn't my friend's best talent, so it might be ozone, or something similar. Worth looking into if you know a car dealer.

[Jim Callaghan]

After you clean it if the smell is still there, sprinkle about a cup or two of fresh coffee grounds inside the cabinet. (This also works in a car if you hit a skunk, or someone gets sick.)
It is very strong, and overpowers just about anything, and I don't know many people that mind the fresh smell of coffee.
Jim

[Hal Flynt]

In addition to cleaning as mentioned, I have found that pouring some household amonia into a shallow saucer and putting it inside and closing it up for a few days will eliminate a lot of odors.

[Steve Aiken]

If the smell remains after cleaning, you might try the volcanic deodorizer sold by Lee Valley: http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=10175&cat=2,42194,40727

Steve

[Joseph Miller]

Thanks guys for all your advise. Somebody suggested stuffing it with newspapers which should absorb the smell and can then be trashed. It seems to be working quite well, I am sure it still needs a thorough cleaning though. Anyway, thanks again for all the advice.

Joe