AudreyB

I recently purchased a used machine. It works great but apparently the previous owner was a smoker. I'm not, and the smoke smell is rather strong. I have wiped it down with a Clorox wipe, but it still smells like stale cigarettes. Is there anything else I can do to remove the smoke smell?

misspriss

Maybe you could sit it outside for a few hours. A smoker donated a quilt for a fund raiser and it smelled so bad not very many people wanted it. Too bad it was very pretty. No one wanted to buy it. It's like smoking around little children, they come to school smelling of smoke.

Gramie bj

Do you have someplace out of the weather you can just open it up and let it air? smells don't usually stick to metal or plastic like they do to fabric. Maybe a garage or storage shed, You could try wiping it down with Frebreze for pets. I have used denatured alcohol on a couple of old machines that were covered with built up grime. it worked well for that. Maybe call your local repairman, LQS, or try a guild near you they may be able to help you if you don't find the answer here. Good luck, and keep us posted.

gale

I wonder if it would help to put it in a box with some activated charcoal or maybe baking soda and/or vinegar. Newspaper is supposed to absorb odor too. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke so I feel your pain.

Tartan

Did it come with a case? I assume you have already wiped out the case and machine. I know in vehicles when they are smoky, they put a container of coffee grounds under the seats. I wonder if you shut the machine in the case with coffee grounds, if it would help.

Narda

Try wiping it with a cloth dampened with vinegar ( vinegar is a natural deodorizer)

QuiltE

It was mentioned that plastic does not retain odours, but it has been my experience that they do. Just think of when you leave onions in a tupperware container! Many of today's machines have a lot of plastic, so yes, it could be holding the smell there.

I too was thinking of the case as the problem. I'd remove it from the case and work on the two separately, and in different locations. Give the whole machine a good wipe down and not put it back in the case, til I see how it is.

If the smell is that bad, it could be that the odour is now hanging in the room where you have been keeping it. So better get that air cleared out, or else you might have the machine issue solved, but be thinking it is still a problem, when it is really the residual.

A product I might try for odour removal would be Murphy's Cleaner with Orange Oil. Read the label first, to make sure it is OK for how you will be using it.

mom-6

If it is the plastic I don't know how well the baking soda, coffee grounds, vinegar, orange oil or other natural deodorizers will work. I'm still trying to get an odor out of a cell phone case that had a mishap back in the summer.

mom-6

Also be careful with orange oil cleaners and plastic, as they can etch the surface.

QuiltE

............which was why I said to read the label to ensure the intended use was OK.