apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Get the Renuzit Oder Eaters and try leaving one (or more) in there for a few days. I've done that to get the smoke scent out of my clothes when I quit smoking this spring. Might take a week or two but it *did* work.

Kyrdissa: congrats on quitting!

Leslie: Do you have a secure and dry place where you could leave it outside? Fresh air (rare these days, I know) is a great cure for the stinkies.

I was going to say the same thing. Fresh air and sunlight are the only two cures I know of.

I third the above posters - try to leave it outside on a sunny day with the drawers and doors open. I frequently buy spent cigar boxes for various projects and a week outside gets the stink out completely. It astonishes me every time.

Very nice find, by the way!

First of all this happened to me with one Craigslist buy(though it was smaller than your item). Since then I ask if items are from a smokefree home.

You can get the smell out it just takes awhile. Heres what I would do. I would get tons and tons of newspaper and stuff it in the drawers to suck up the smoke smell. Then I would get several boxes of Arm & Hammer baking soda from the dollar store and put several around the dresser. Leave this in for awhile- like several days to a week. Replace the newspaper. After a few times the smell should get better. Then I would get an essential oil like tea tree oil or lavender. I would make a solution of alcohol, water and several drops of the essential oil and spray all over the dresser. Be careful to test spot in an inconspicous place to make sure the mixture doesnt mess with the finish. It might still smell after all this. But after awhile in your house it should let off most of its smoke smell.

If any part of the armoire interior is cedar, you could try lightly sanding it, that will bring out the cedar scent which will likely overwhelm the smoke smell. If the interior does not contain cedar, you could try doing the same, that would bring out the scent of the wood, if any, while literally polishing out the embedded smoke particles.

Yes, I would just sprinkle arm and hammer baking soda. If it works for wet smelly sneakers..it should work for your armoire.

I don't know if this would work for cigarette smoke, but it's a trick I use for icky fridge smells: cotton balls soaked in vanilla extract. They suck up the smell and give off something more pleasant without being overwhelming.

If you don't have an outdoor space, open all the drawers and doors and put it in front of the largest window in your apartment for a few days to air it out. Also, you may try dumping some ground cinnamon in with your baking soda. Lastly, clean the exterior with Murphy's oil soap. One other thing I read once was to mix mouthwash with water and spray the interior. I never tried this though, so its not a guarantee.

I also found this about fire damage.....Wood furniture — Most furniture can be cleaned using cotton swabs wetted with mineral spirits. Afterwards the wood should be buffed with diapers or other soft, lint-free cloth. You should be careful to avoid damaging loose veneer (which will require reattachment) or gilt bronze mounts (which may be cleaned with ethyl alcohol).

Good luck.

A small container of white vinegar, left open in each compartment, will neutralize the smell.

All of our closets reeked of smoke - including the cedar lined ones! - and the vinegar trick worked really well. Once you smell vinegar when you open the drawer, instead of smoke, you're done.

You might have to repeat this a few times over the months to be entirely free of the smell.

Generally, use lemon oil on furniture not Murphy's.

Opal's right-- a cup or bowl of white vinegar left inside each drawer or cabinet will do wonders. I've done this and was very happy with the results. It took about a week for the stink to disappear.

Any of the following 3 items left in open containers inside the piece for a few days should work:

1) charcoal (the kind that does NOT have lighter fluid in it),

2) vinegar,

3) coffee grounds.

All of the above have worked for me. Good luck!

I've heard that coffee beans are great for removing odor in smelly furniture.

wow thanks for all the suggestions! Unfortunately, I don't have outdoor space or a window that would be accessible to place the dresser in front of. However, I will try some of the other methods- especially the vanilla or coffee grounds. I've used a cup of vinegar in the bathroom to eliminate odors so maybe that will help as well. Thanks!!

A good scented kitty litter or any of the products suggested to control the odor of kitty litter in the home may help you. There are some 'odor gels' that will absorb the odor, Natural Magic Cat Litter Box Odor Absorbing Gel is one that comes to mind.

I use Zeolite Crystals in all my closets to absorb odors. They come in a pouch and are renewed by placing them in the sun.

I've read of people using an air purifier inside the piece of furniture. They pop it in, close the doors, and let it do it's thing for a good 24 hours.

I've never tried it, myself. But if you happen to have an air purifier it may be worth a shot?

If you cant put it outside - can you leave it open and put a fan in front of it blasting at it for a while? That would have some of the same effect of turning over the air....

The air purifier idea might be a good start. I read somewhere about odor removing companies that use ozone generators to remove heavy duty smells from buildings. I am sure one of these services would be able to tackle a smaller item like an armoire. Ozone, as I understand, is a highly caustic and unstable oxygen molecule that binds to the "smell" molecule and eliminates it. Air purifiers like Ionic Breeze emit ozone, but not in quantities sufficient to tackle a huge problem (or, according to the manufacturer, cause health problems...). You might want to try contacting one of those industrial ozone odor removing companies and see what they suggest.

Wiki How suggests putting the baking soda ON the object - in this instance, rugs

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Cigarette-Smoke-Smell-from-a-Carpet-or-Rug

Ionic Breeze air purifiers get horrible reviews in Consumer Reports. I wouldn't buy one for this purpose.

Hi, would the above recommendations work for new Ikea storage boxes? I already have them for 3 weeks, the smell still lingers. The pinewood odor is slowly suffocating me in my room =/

My kitchen was once flooded from the apartment above and the wood cabinets reeked. I placed small cupcake liners filled with flavoured coffee beans (whole) on each shelf and within a week or so, the smell was gone and the cabinet was infused with a nice Kaluha coffee scent. Perhaps vanilla flavoured beans, or any other favourite flavour. Good luck!

I'm told 1st-hand this absolutely worked like a gem when my friend purchased a car w/same problem (expounds on Harley's suggestion):

Brew a whole pot of coffee
Combine the grinds into the brewed coffee
Place mixture inside lrg glass bowl
Let sit for x3 days/nights.
As you have drawers, etc. I'd go for a bowl in ea portal

Post result - am in process of purchasing Jeep from other friend and will need to achieve same result. :)
(whoo-hoo for recycling furniture *and* cars!)