How Can I Remove Cigarette Smell from a Wood Dresser?

I'm editing my response! I got the recipe wrong.
Add equal parts Lemon juice and olive oil. Then add an essential oil that you like. I use eucalyptus because it smells so clean. Lavender is nice too. Just rub it on with an cloth.

The woman who writes the Queen of Clean books says put it out in the sun if you can. Then use activated charcoal in the drawers to absorb the odor and treat with lemon oil.

It does take some time for the smell to work it's way out. Good luck!

You might try wadding up newspaper and stuffing it in the drawers. A friend told me about that for other smells. It got a weird smell out of a used fridge I bought. She even uses it in stinky shoes. Good luck!

M.. It is difficult to rid smells like that. But I have had a friend use the Air Source 3000 air purifier to get smoke/fire smell out of their clothes successfully. Go to www.yourhealthyalternatives. Can borrow one, or even purchase one, since its function is extremely beneficial for a family home, anyways.

Wipe down the sealed surfaces with white vinegar. Put dishes of white vinegar in the drawers. Ditto on the fresh air...but be careful with too much direct light since it can fade or dry the wood. Also try some horticultural or aquarium charcoal in the drawers. I suspect most of the odor is coming from unsealed surfaces. Don't use anymore oil based products until the odor is gone. When its gone, Old English makes an almond oil cleaner that is really nice.

Have you tried sitting it in the sun? Perhaps that would help?

Good luck.
blessings,
stacy

I would look into refinishing the surface, that should help. A good weekend project to get everyone involved :) Good luck!

You may try putting it out in the warm sun for a few days - don't leave it out overnight if it is humid or cold, the sun will "bake" some of the smell out. Also try stuffing it with newsprint or newspaper, it is very absorbent and will take in the smell. Change the paper every couple of days.

You can try the towelets of clorox. Good luck.

I know that it sounds strange but when smoke has gotten in my house etc. a small bowl of plan white vinager left over night has helped. Also char coal works both will absorb the smells. I do not think that it will hurt to wipe it down with vinager also.

My first thought was to put it outside in the sun and fresh air for a day. I do this with my sofa cushions etc. and it works.

I also, thought about calling the fire station and asking a firefighter. You know they are in smoke all the time. Have you ever visited a fire station? I take my boys to see the fire trucks and they check out the fire suits and we don't smell smoke anywhere. Surely, they would know of something. I hope this helps.
Deborah

Great product...Fresh Wave. Comes in a spray or in granuals. I would put it outside when the weather warms up and let the sun and air get to it for awhile and use the fresh wave. They have a website which will tell you where you can purchase. Not sure where you live but I get mine at the Container Store and Zinger hardware.

I've had gret luck removing smells from things with bags of activated charcoal or whatever it is used in fish tank filters. Go to the pet store- buy a jug of that stuff- put it in old socks and stick them in the drawers. Put a piece of paper down underneath the bag or it might leave a charcoal spot. And setting it outside on a pretty, dry day should help also- air it out!

Hi M.
Yes, for a non smoker that can really be annoying. Until I began using some of the home- eco friendly products I use currently I used to put sliced apples in areas that had unpleasant odors- like in the car when the kids spilled milk and it soured (ugh) or when we had fish (double ugh) and it seemed to work. Just cut up some apples - put them in a small dish and place them in each drawer for a few days- then replace them- as needed- see if that does not help a little. It will most likely take a long time to get that odor out of the wood.
Good luck and blessings

Maybe try one of those cedar moth repellents (a piece of wood to hang in your closet). That might help. Try wiping the inside down with a rag that has vinegar on it. You can also put small cups of vinegar in each compartment and leave it there for several days. Vinegar will soak up any odor and then throw out the vinegar down the drain. I've done this with several things. The cup of vinegar will just soak up all the odor, even odor in the air of a room.

it will come out over time. you need a good wood cleaner like Howards. I found it at Ace.

Try putting scented soaps or popurri (sp?)saches in the dresser. There is this really inexpensive soap from Spain called Maja. You can find it at HEB. It has a red paper wrapper with a flamenco dancer on it. We keep one in each drawer at my house to keep the woody smell off of our clothes. You might want to also try putting dryer sheet in the drawers and keeping them in there and change them out every week or so when the scent fades. They also sell scented drawer liners at stores like Linen and things. Good luck.

I work in the wood industry and none of the "cleaners" mentioned with do what you want. The smell is actually an oily residue that builds over time. You must use a mixture of Linseed oil and turpentine in the garage. To clean the surface of a bureau/nigth stand:

Mix 3 parts linseed oil with 1 part turpentine. Pour hot water into a jar and introduce the mixture of turpentine and linseed oil. Let the mixture sit; the turpentine and linseed oil (naturally warmed by the water) will rise to the top. This process activates the ingredients without the danger of heating oils on a flame.

Dip a fine steel wool into the mixture. Then, select a section of your bureau and gently rub with the steel wool, working section by section. Wipe off the residue with a dry, clean rag. Once you have cleaned an entire section, apply pure linseed oil and wipe off with a clean, dry rag. Let dry, and avoid touching the furniture for two days.
VERY IMPORTANT!!!!
~To dispose of the rag and steel wool, which are highly flammable, thoroughly soak in water and place in a container or plastic bag before discarding.~

I hope this help. I would use beeswax to polish it after you are all done. You can look that up on Martha Stewart's website. I know but she has great furniture tips. Good luck.

Sorry, I haven't read all the others to see if I am repeating, but I have heard that Charcoal will take the smoke smell out...worth a try.

I know there is paint at home depot or lowes that has "smell" to it... pleasant smells that are suppose to mask odors in a home. I don't know if they have one that will match the color of your dresser or if you would want to change colors, but it's a thought if its intolerable. Good Luck.

The best way, of course, is to have the furniture re-finished....short of doing that, the only other cure I know is Time. I had a similar problem with an Armoire. I ended up taking it apart, and airing it out in my garage for several months, then cleaning it with a "light" chlorine and water solution. Good luck.

i dont smoke either. just peeked to see what others wrote. one wrote about an air purifier. i rememberd a rent house i worked in. my boss would smoke when we werent there and you rarely could tell as she bought an air purifier. i bought a cabinet and other peices of fruniture there and they did not have that smokers smell!!! hers was an expensive one that needed to be wiped down to clean.

Oh, I feel for you! I haven't had to remove the smell from wood, but I have from clothing and shoes and bags. What works for me is air and sun and...TIME! It's hard, but it took years of consistent smoking to get that smell in there like that. There's no quick-fix to get it out.

If you've got a sunroom or porch, maybe you can leave it there for a while. One sunny day, set it out in the yard all day--that might actually be all you need, one full day! This likely will NOT take the problem away altogether, but it should make it bearable to live with it.

Hi M.,

There are air purifier products from ecoquest that would in all probability remove that smell. I am a nonsmoker so smoke smells bother me as well. In one of the testimonies that I have heard about the purifiers, there was a man that gave his mom a unit. She smoked for years and years and her whole house smelled of it. Within a few days of using the unit, the smell had been removed. If you are interested in learning more, please write me and I will be happy to talk with you more.

Wood is pourous and the cigarette odor is in the pores of the wood. You might try wiping it down, inside and outside, with Murphy's oil soap household cleaner. It is good for wood furniture. Other than that, you may have to refinish it such that you seal the odor in.

Not quite the same but we had a problem with dog odor in the garage of a rent house where the tenant kept his dog chained in the garage. We even tried steam cleaning but concrete is porous, and once an odor is in the pores of a material, sometimes it is difficult to get it out. We had to coat the cement with a sealant to mask the smell.

Although I have never tried this for cig smoke, I have used it for numberous odor eating solutions...kitty liter. Pour some kitty liter in a tube sock, tie the top of the sock and let it sit in one of the drawers for 24 hours. Good luck!

I am sorry that they smell like cigarette smoke... I know how it is my mom was a smoker and I am not... so I know...
have you tried to set them outside for a while and put newspaper in them... that might work and charcoal will work too from the pet store or regular charcoal and I had a car guy tell me to use apples slice them and put them in the drawers but set it out side so the fresh air can also help... but don't let it get rained on... hope this and all of these help... good luck S.

Here is a website that might help. I've always used vinegar (cleaner, antibacterial, no chemicals, etc.) and it has worked beautifully. You may have to leave the dresser out in a garage or something. Putting small bowls of vinegar in the drawers and changing it every day will help too. You can actually clean the dresser (wipe down) with the vinegar (straight - no water) a few times to help pull out the smell. I use vinegar to clean, freshen. Apple cider vinegar is good for rinsing hair (especially if you use hair spray or gel in your hair) and it is a good antibacterial product. Hope this or the website helps.
http://www.howtodothings.com/home-and-garden/a4685-how-to...