desertrose

I have received donated fabrics that reek of smoke fumes and I just wash it on the gentle cycle with regular laundry detergent and it comes out completely. Good luck and enjoy your generous windfall.

Contact me if you would like to donate any of the fabric to Kids in Crisis. I make quilts for kids ages baby to teen.

themachinelady

I would buy a box of OxiClean powder and a couple of scoops in your washing machine and then put vinegar in your rinse cycle. That should pretty well take care of it. You might let it soak in the OxiClean for an hour or so if you can turn your machine off and restart it to go ahead and wash then. Are there any laundrymats near you that have the big machines, if so I would put a load in there and put about 4 scoops of OxiClean in with it to wash since you can't soak them at the laundrymat.

I wish I lived close to you and could pick up what you don't want for our little quilt club. We make quilts for people who lose their homes to fires in our county and since most all of our members are elderly and on limited incomes, we have to get very creative at times. We don't have any funds to buy material with so that limits us too. Fundraising with all elderly members is almost non-existant.

Enjoy your stash, and hope you can get the smoke smell out.

Lee Ripp aka themachine lady

themachinelady

I would buy a box of OxiClean powder and a couple of scoops in your washing machine and then put vinegar in your rinse cycle. That should pretty well take care of it. You might let it soak in the OxiClean for an hour or so if you can turn your machine off and restart it to go ahead and wash then. Are there any laundrymats near you that have the big machines, if so I would put a load in there and put about 4 scoops of OxiClean in with it to wash since you can't soak them at the laundrymat.

I wish I lived close to you and could pick up what you don't want for our little quilt club. We make quilts for people who lose their homes to fires in our county and since most all of our members are elderly and on limited incomes, we have to get very creative at times. We don't have any funds to buy material with so that limits us too. Fundraising with all elderly members is almost non-existant.

Enjoy your stash, and hope you can get the smoke smell out.

Lee Ripp aka themachine lady

incoming2me

I'm with others that say that any fabric bought from home "used" needs to be washed prior to storing.
You don't know how it was stored, what lived with it, or what it was exposed to while stored.
Bedbugs/lice anyone?

If washing at home is not a possibility now and you can not take it to a laundromat, I'd likely sort the fabric by like colors to wash.
Then, in washing machine size load amounts, bag the fabric up in plastic garbage bags and tie off tight.
As time and water allow, wash a bag full.

I received some yardage this weekend that had been in a smoker's home. It reeked pretty strongly.
I washed it with detergent and a cup of OdoBan in my front loader machine.
Voila! No odor.

http://www.odoban.com/

I buy OdoBan at Sam's club.
It also works great at removing that musty icky odor from front loader washing machines.

Little RoO

In truth....and I expect someone before me has replied the same...it is not just the smell that you need to get rid of in the fabric but the chemicals from cigarette smoke and the only way you can really do this is by washing it.
Put it in a large bag and wait until you have enough water to be able to wash it...I'm sure you would be happier knowing it is clean and safe.

sewgarden

I would try putting bi carbonate of soda in it. It seems to absorb bad smells

auntmarie

There are several old comments on this board and they do recommend adding vinagar to the wash.

auntmarie

There are several old comments on this board and they do recommend adding vinagar to the wash.

Jagsd3

For "Gas" smell (my guys work with vehicles tractors and ect) I use the febreeze and do a soak cycle in the machine with it. It does amazing on that, so think maybe it will work for the cigarette smoke odors too...

Agatha

Yup, that's what I did. Bought some ebay fabric once and the woman was a smoker that tried to cover with perfume, so not only the smoke smell but the perfume too. Washed it with white vinegar and perfume free detergent a few times and it was fine after that.