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Author
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Topic: Removing cigarette smoke odor from paper?
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stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 10-26-2014 08:05 PM
   
I have a few documents and photos in my collection that did NOT come from a "smoke-free home." They have a faint smell of cigarette smoke. Has anyone had success in removing such a smell? I've been reading online, and these seem to be the most common and reasonable recommendations: - If on thick paper of good quality, give it a quick wipe with a slightly damp rag.
- Just leave them lying outside, under cover, on a nice day.
- Go over them with a hair dryer, which allegedly heats up and blows off smoke particles.
(I am lucky enough to work at a school with an art teacher who will lend me a drying rack for 24 paintings, so I might combine several things): put the documents/photos each on a rack, put around it open boxes of baking soda, and put a plastic sheet over that so the odor gets trapped in the baking soda.Anything else? |
jonspace
Member Posts: 169
From:
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 10-26-2014 08:20 PM
I had a similar problem with a signed book by Carl Sagan. The smell of cigarettes was so bad that when you took the book out, you could smell it across the house. It was unbelievable. I tried a bunch of the suggestions that come up on Google and the ONLY thing that made a difference was volcanic ash. The smell is mostly gone and it doesn't "jump" out at you anymore. Now you have to stick your nose up to the pages to smell the cigarettes. This stuff is like magic. It was suggested to me by a book conservationist. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 10-26-2014 08:23 PM
I never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever would have expected "volcanic ash" as a possible solution. But I do know that "activated carbon" is a good odor eliminator, and maybe volcanic ash is a form of that. Thanks! |
Steve Zarelli
Member Posts: 731
From: Upstate New York, USA
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 10-27-2014 05:52 AM
You can remove odor with baking soda.Fill a shallow, wide Tupperware container with a box of baking soda. Place the item on some sort of tray and set it on top of the baking soda. Seal the Tupperware container and let it sit for a few weeks. Most if the odor should be gone. You can try a second treatment with a fresh batch if baking soda if necessary. If may not completely remove every trace of odor, but it should make a big difference. I have used this method with good results on musty or cigarette smelling comic books. Another good method is to seal the item in a bag with a sheet or two of microchamber paper. The microchamber paper will absorb and neutralize the odor. It may take weeks or months, but it will work. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 10-27-2014 12:41 PM
Yes, baking soda works. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 10-27-2014 04:36 PM
Does it really matter that much? I'm a never-smoker, but I'm really not concerned that my Apollo 11 press kit, originally owned by the designer of the crawler-transporter and all of the Saturn V launch equipment, is slightly yellow and smells slightly of tobacco. The smell isn't going to give me cancer and it shouts out: "This is a genuine part of the Apollo era." |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 10-27-2014 04:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
it shouts out: "This is a genuine part of the Apollo era."
That's an interesting point (and a nice-sounding "connection" item), but most of the time when something smells like old cigarette smoke, people are just going to think "dirty and pretty gross." Being a fine lad of Virginia, I am not horrified by the smell of fresh cigarette smoke, but a couple of decades' worth embedded in a photo by some random guy is not appealing. |
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