Cigarette odor on clothes

Mrs_Bennett · September 2014

So a lady from my church randomly gifted me a huge garbage bag of hand-me-down baby clothes, but they have a terrible cigarette odor on them. I washed them, and it's still there....no way am I putting them on an infant like this! I don't want to cover it up with perfumed detergents/dryer sheets; I want to totally eliminate it.
Any tried and true methods to really get the stink out, or should I just donate them all and forget it??

becks2012 · September 2014

You could try soaking them in a vinegar / water solution for an hour or so and then washing them.

I suggest you pick through them for cute or high quality stuff and don't bother with the rest.

EmilyA724 · September 2014

I put a capful of vinegar in all loads of wash to get rid of just normal smells. Maybe try to put in 1/4th cup to really wash it out?

rodiesmum · September 2014

I second the vinegar

[Deleted User] · September 2014

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motherboy · September 2014

Vinegar worked for me when I had nasty mildewy towels. I put in a bunch of vinegar and set it to hot. Then after that I washed the towels as normal. They came out good as new.

moonfaerie · September 2014

Soak them in baking soda in the washing machine. Sun drying also supposedly helps, but I don't like the way clothes feel after that.

ETA: Baking soda and detergent. So run your wash cycle with detergent and the baking soda, then before it drains to rinse, shut off the machine for a couple of hours.

peckmiranda · September 2014

When I felt a strong sentimental attachment to the clothes for whatever reason, I had success soaking them in baking soda before the wash to get the smell out. But in general, I just donated smokey clothes.

Mrs_Bennett · September 2014

Thanks, Ladies! They're soaking in the tub with vinegar now, and I'll hang them up outside in the sun for a bit later. Will let you know if it works.

bigbobdole · September 2014

I always use baking soda in my wash for nasty smells

luckylady18 · September 2014

I never knew this about vinegar and am totally blown away. Thanks for the tip, ladies! I don't even have an issue right now but I'm going to remember this for the future!

southernyankeegirl · September 2014

Vinegar and ammonia (separately) can help eliminate smells. Vinegar kills ammonia smells, which is why it's used on cloth diapers. Ammonia kills bacterial smells, which is why I use it on DH's gym clothes.

If one doesn't work, try the other. Then try baking soda.

Sometimes just hanging outside for a day or so will really help, too!

Good luck'

rachel+family · September 2014

Definitely the vinegar! But also oxiclean baby helps us a lot, with urine stink. I just do an extra rinse after. We use Nellie's laundry soda and it does the trick with our clothes and cloth diapers.

Babytime1778 · September 2014

This just happened to me last weekend one of my moms friends had a huge bag of clothes (all new with tags) she gave them to me since her daughter had a girl and these were for a boy 35 pieces of clothing with a nasty nasty cigarette odor. I washed them with dreft and the odor was still there then I added baking soda with the dreft and the smell completely came out. My fiancé can smell cigarettes from a mile away so I made sure by having him smell the second time.

liladelphia215 · September 2014

I've gotten some stinky stuff from DH's family and a washing does the trick. Have you tried throwing baking soda in the wash? That's what I do for throw up smells.. maybe that would work. The worse the smell the more I dump in!

ETA: I see others suggested baking soda, so I am thirding that notion!

AggieMom0809 · September 2014

Hang them outside for a day or so to "air out" and wash again. Personally I would have accepted them graciously, but not use them or let her know the truth. They should understand.

Mrs_Bennett · September 2014

So I washed them twice (first with Ecos detergent, then with homemade detergent that had washing soda and oxy-clean). Still stinky. Soaked them in the tub with white vinegar for several hours, then hung them outside for a few hours. Rewashed with Ecos, and dried in the dryer. The smell is gone from most of them, but I'm not sure about a few of the fleece sleepers. Maybe a slight hint of an odor? I don't know, maybe it's in my head, but I'm usually pretty sensitive to that smell. Planning to buy a stronger detergent like Tide or something tomorrow, then I'll just wash again with the Ecos to get rid of the scent. I cannot even begin to imagine how bad her house must smell to have done that to clothes....and she's raising kids there. Ugh.

AggieMom0809 · September 2014

Mrs_Bennett said:

So I washed them twice (first with Ecos detergent, then with homemade detergent that had washing soda and oxy-clean). Still stinky. Soaked them in the tub with white vinegar for several hours, then hung them outside for a few hours. Rewashed with Ecos, and dried in the dryer. The smell is gone from most of them, but I'm not sure about a few of the fleece sleepers. Maybe a slight hint of an odor? I don't know, maybe it's in my head, but I'm usually pretty sensitive to that smell. Planning to buy a stronger detergent like Tide or something tomorrow, then I'll just wash again with the Ecos to get rid of the scent. I cannot even begin to imagine how bad her house must smell to have done that to clothes....and she's raising kids there. Ugh.

The fleece ones may be gonners. Fleece holds in the smell, which is why certain cloth diapers can continue to smell no matter how many washes.

mandikins27 · September 2014

I always use baking soda and a steamer and sometimes vinegar

rachel+family · September 2014

@Mrs_Bennett‌ vinegar???

Trek3 · September 2014

Another vote for baking soda in the wash with detergent, soak, and use vinegar in the rinse cycle.

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