How can I get cigarette odors out of wooden furniture?

Question

I found a beautiful solid wood dresser at the curb and brought it home. It smelled of cigarettes, but I let it air out for a few days on the porch and the smell dissipated, but inside the drawers will knock you over when you open them. I used febreeze, then dryer sheets and piles of baking soda in each drawer, but it isn't helping. There is no way I can put clean clothes in there and expect to wear them when they come out. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Use lavender, Its brilliant for anything like that and will make your clothes smell fantastic, if u cant get the real thing, use a few drops of lavender essential oil inside the drawers

Answer 2

Go to a hardware store and buy a product in the paint dept called a wipe-on poly.  Wipe down all the raw wood with this product and just use one coat.  Don't worry about the sheen, most of this product will penetrate into the raw wood on seal down the odors.  If you want to put on a second coat, that is okay, but you may start to see a film build from the product(which what it is designed to do).  This should seal in the odors, I would also use some sort "saches" to help in the long haul.  good luck.

Answer 3

If the furniture was in the home of a heavy smoker for a couple of decades, the buildup of settled tars can be substantial.  This is one of the few cases were water may have to be used on good wood.

A dilute solution of Castile or wood soap in warn water should remove most of the residue.  If you are very sensitive to the odor, Bonner's soap (with peppermint) might be your first choice, followed by Murphy's oil soap as a second choice.

Clean all surfaces, inside and out for the best effect.  Then treat the outside finish with a good polish or finishing cream.

If the odor is very bad, when you are done place some wooden Cedar chips in each drawer.

There are also commercially available products on the market.

Answer 4

Clean them with Dawn & water and let dry.  They spray or brush a light coat of shellac on all interior surfaces.  It is the ultimate odor blocker and will not leave a smell of its own.  Applying a oil-based product like polyurethane or Danish oil is going to smell inside for a LONG time.  Shellac will also stick to about any clean surface, finished or unfinished.

http://www.zinsser.com/pdf/TDB/sealcoatt...

Answer 5

A cheap easy Bachelor trick...is to use...

Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets...works great in a clinch...

(See?  Us "Perrenial Bachelors" actually "learn" things...yeah...)

Answer 6

Start smoking and you won't notice it