HELP! Getting the cigarette smoke residue of Xmas ornaments.

[WindyCityMom]

This past summer I came across my mother's old ornaments (she passed away a few years ago when I was 16) in the garage. Words cannot express how happy that made me!!

My mother was a heavy smoker, and everything reeks. I have read about people getting nicotine poisoning from handling too many things with cigarette smoke residue on them. I'm pretty sure I should wear gloves & a mask when cleaning them. What would you do? Some are glass, some are plastic, some are porcelain, some are wooden... some are crochetted/knit... I really don't know where to start.

I remember my mom used to soak and scrub our blinds in Woolite in the bathtub (blegh!) to get the yellow off of them (They were white).

Any recommendations?

[LVale]

The only known ways to get nicotine poisoning, is usually by young children who get hold of nicotine gum or patches, or eating cigs., or chewing tobacco, where said items are ingested! You can not be poisoned because ornaments or whatever were in the house of a smoker! I would like to know where you read this was so. So don't panic.

[WindyCityMom]

I believe it was here on MDC Let me find the thread.

[WindyCityMom]

Ok- here and also mentioned here . If you search nicotine poisoning on here, alot of the threads are from the same poster... so you're probably right. I still will wear gloves though. That stuff icks me out

[philomom]

The wooden and porcelain ones are probably okay to sprinkle with baking soda and layer between newspaper for a time to remove the smoke smell.

Glass should not hold a smell. I wouldn't do anything but dust those.

The plastic ones might hold up to a vinegar rinse. Test a couple of your un-favorite ones first.

The cloth/crochet ones are the hardest of all. Being old, they may not hold up to hand washing. Is it still sunny where you are? I might lay them in the sunshine for an afternoon or two.

[Contrariety]

http://www.ozonator.com/

[WindyCityMom]

Originally Posted by Contrariety

http://www.ozonator.com/

explain, please? I have Xmas ornaments, not strawberries

Philomom- thanks for the awesome suggestions! I didn't think of baking soda.

[LaughingHyena]

I've heard vinegar is a good cleaner for getting rid of nicotine. Since the nicotine leaves a greasy film on things I think you have to get that off to really get them clean, plain old washing up liquid is also pretty good at removing grease so that might also work.

I would probably wipe over the glass and plastic ones with a damp cloth with some vinegar on it. If there are lots of fiddly bits maybe a cotton bud dipped in vinegar would work.

I'm not sure about the knitted ones, how delicate are they. Will they stand up to a hand wash?

[Shahbazin]

Besides wiping down or washing what you can to get rid of the greasy nicotine film, airing stuff outside for a while is best; if you can't do that, some odor absorbing tricks that people I know have used include sticking the smokey item(s) in a plastic bag with either a box of baking soda or a dryer sheet (for about 6 months).

Congrats on finding the ornaments!

[WindyCityMom]

6 months? I'd better get started

[Princess ConsuelaB]

I was going to mention an ozone unit as well(ozonator etc), ozone will wipe out any smells and do a pretty good job at sanitizing them as well. I ran ozone in my house today to deodorize(we've got a mystery smell happening for some reason). Anyhow, my husband used to build and sell them many years ago, and they really do work.

[WindyCityMom]

Originally Posted by Princess ConsuelaB

I was going to mention an ozone unit as well(ozonator etc), ozone will wipe out any smells and do a pretty good job at sanitizing them as well. I ran ozone in my house today to deodorize(we've got a mystery smell happening for some reason). Anyhow, my husband used to build and sell them many years ago, and they really do work.

Ohh, ok I get it now

(was confused about a PP)

[damona]

you can try just putting the cloth ones into a paper bag with crumpled newspaper for a week or 2. you might need to change the paper if they are really bad. this might work for the wooden and plastic ones, too.