What's the Best Way to Get Cigarette Smoke Out of Clothes?

Updated on May 14, 2009
K.C. asks from Las Vegas, NV
25 answers

My MIL is keeping my son in clothes by shopping yard sales and mailing me her finds when she has a boxful, which I appreciate beyond belief. The problem is, she and her husband are chain smokers, and by the time I get the stuff it REEKS. This last load had a ceramic cookie jar that I had to scrub three times to get it to stop smelling of smoke.

I have been using a full scoop of Oxyclean and a capful of Febreze for laundry in the wash, with a presoak cycle and an extra rinse, but even doing that I have to wash the load 3-4 times to get the smell out, and sometimes even more that. I'm hoping someone will have a solution that might be a little more effective.

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all the responses. I used vinegar on the latest load of clothes which still had a lingering smell of cigarettes after several washes, and it got the remaining smell out. Next batch, I'll know to start with vinegar.

I also used tea tree oil in the water in which I soaked the toys she sent. It's certainly decreased the smell a lot, and hopefully with more soaking they'll stop reeking, too.

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi K., This is funny because, I had this same problem when we klived over seas, my mom was consantly sending the kids care packges, not to mention birthday, Christmas, all celebrated holidays, I would open the boxes and like to choke to death, every box reeked with cigarette smell, when she sent the clothes it was the worse because the clothes and soaked up the smell, what i did was i sprayed the clothes with veinagar and a little bit of water, let them sit over night then washed them as regular, every now and then it still had a vaint smell, but tons better, she sent them electric blankets one year, and I don't half to tell you how bad they smeeled, after I did the veinagar I put them in a brown paper bag with a couple og the nice smelling dryer sheets, over night, this was like 18 years ago, so i don't remember what kind of dryer sheet it was. Hope this orks for you. J. L.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

let it soak in Oxyclean overnight...that should help. Use two scoops...I've never tried it but in the old days didn't people use amonia in their laundry...

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M.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

If the vinegar doesn't work try tea tree oil. Just buy a small bottle (trader joes has as well as health food stores) and just put one drop in to the wash cycle. I used this for getting the smell out of cloth diapers so I'm sure it would work for you. It also has lots of other great uses!
Best wishes,
M.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.T.

answers from San Diego on

Hi Katrina,

Have you heard of Shaklee? It's the #1 natural nutrition company in the U.S. and they have the most amazing line of natural laundry products that are non-toxic. Oxyclean and Fabreeze both contain toxins and that's on top of the cigarette smoke! They're laundry detergent is made from corn and coconut surfactants and they get your laundry really, really clean. There is also a laundry booster called Nature Bright that works like Oxyclean, but it's safe. Both are super concentrated so they'll last a long time. You will love how clean, stain-free, and odor-free you laundry will come out and you can have piece of mind that the products you are using are safe for your family's health. You can view them at www.shaklee.net/greennutrition and register to win $200 of free products at www.freegreenproducts.info. Good luck!

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K.K.

answers from San Diego on

Hello, Try a little vinegar. It won't hurt the clothes and should neutralize the odor. Wash the clothes with the vinegar and then rewash them with a regular detergent.
Good luck with this problem.
K. K.

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L.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Air out the clothes for a couple days. Then, put them in a clean box with an opened box of baking soda for a couple days. Then wash them. Add baking soda with the detergent.

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M.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi, I have to agree with Barbara that (white distilled) vinegar and sunlight is the best at getting most things out for good.

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V.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi,
I've heard vinegar is good for getting smells out of clothes. You might want to use a spray bottle for it and test it on a small part of the item in order to ensure it doesn't get ruined.

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B.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

After washing with detergent and Oxyclean, put the wet clothes on a clothes line in the sun. If they get stiff you can fluff them up in the dryer (wet them a little) later. Being outside and in the sun gets rid of odors, I would hold off on the Febreze, which is just perfume, until you get rid of the smoke smell. My in laws did the same thing, only with mothballs, which smell awful and are highly toxic. Unfortunately their finds mostly ended up in the trash (they live 3,000 miles away so they didn't see.) If you have access to an Alpine Air cleaner, you can put the clothes on hangers after they are washed, spaced out on a shower curtain rod, and shut them in the bathroom with the machine on full blast. For a half a day. Air the room out before you go in there. (It will sting your eyes).
Doing this will get skunk odor out of upholstered furniture (gotta leave it on 24 hours), so it should work for smoke in clothing.

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F.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

hang them outside to dry

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L.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

Have you tried adding baking soda or white vinegar to the load?

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K.F.

answers from Los Angeles on

Vinegar -1 cup. Seriously. It's a great natural way to cut the smell and it's also a natural fabric softener. If you can soak it for a while that works best. If that doesn't work try 1 cup of Ammonia (but don't mix it with bleach). Good luck!!!

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G.R.

answers from San Diego on

Pine Sol, its to mop and clean with but we have always used little growing up. Especially in my dads work clothes, he works outside and in the heat. You only need a cap full trust me on this one! I just used them to get the mold smell out of my husband work out clothes and it woked perfect. Pine Sol is sold everywhere, walmart and grocery stores by the cleaning stuff.

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V.C.

answers from San Diego on

white vinegar, baking soda & sunlight. skip the febreze, which just masks the odors, doesn't really get them out.

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K.M.

answers from San Luis Obispo on

Have you tried adding vinegar to the rinse cycle? it seems to clean just about anything!!

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J.M.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi K.!
I agree that vinegar can work to get odors out, but sometimes then you are left with the smell of vinegar. I agree with Eve and Michele, tea tree oil is a great natural deodorizer and antiseptic (and stain fighter). I work with a company that distributes tea tree oil as well as a whole line of natural, non toxic cleaning products which tea tree oil is the main ingredient. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about getting these amazing natural, effective, and low priced products!
Jenny
____@____.com
###-###-####

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M.T.

answers from San Diego on

Put some white vinegar in your washing machine as it fills (no detergent) and then let the clothes soak for a while (overnight if possible). This should get rid of any smell. Once they've soaked wash them as normal.

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S.T.

answers from Los Angeles on

Add a cup of vinegar to the tub of the washer. Wash everything in hot water on the longest wash setting you have. It's safe, inexpensive and totally works!

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T.F.

answers from San Diego on

Wash with a cup of vinager.

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G.M.

answers from Las Vegas on

Add some vinegar to your wash, it works wonders for removing smells.

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D.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

The vinegar solutions are great. I would add to that airing them out in the sun the minute you open the box. A day of strong sunshine is a good way to start. Then soak in vinegar and so forth.

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J.W.

answers from San Diego on

SA8 is the best detergent I have found for getting out smells. I even use it in my car to keep it smelling good (a small amount of powder rubbed into the carpets, vacuum and reapply every so often). It is a green product and you use only a small amount of it.

It comes in a liquid also. You can get it at
www.we-us.mychoices.biz

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V.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hello Katrina. I sympathize with you!!! The best way to get the smell out is to add ammonia to the wash cycle. I use it in 8 out of 10 washes because we always have some issue (cat pee, cigarette smoke, funky sweaty teenage boy smell, whatever!) and it works great. I don't have an exact amount to tell you to pour in, because I just dump it in, but it works great and believe it or not, you will NEVER smell the ammonia on the clothes. If you have an old style washer, just pour it in the water itself after you have added the detergent, and before the clothes are added, probably about a cup of it. I used to do that and it worked great, but then I bought a stupid front loading washer, and was dumbfounded as to how to add it. I finally just started adding it in the bleach compartment because I found that when I added it in the detergent compartment, with the detergent, it turned some of the clothes yellow. It doesn't do that in the bleach compartment, though. I just pour it in there until it is full. If you don't want to use ammonia, another safe additive is vinegar, and I would use the same amount. Again, with the vinegar, you won't smell it on the clothes. Good luck to you!!!

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E.N.

answers from San Diego on

I'm not sure if this will work, but I thought of tea tree oil. I used to use it to get the smell out of my cloth diapers. It is pretty expensive, but a couple of drops in the washer goes a long way and it worked great on the diapers.

I'm glad you have such a generous MIL! Hope you find a good solution for the smell (I can't bear that smell). :)

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