How do you get rid of the smokey smell on your equipment???
- Thread starter Pete
- Start date
I'm a smoker but I still hate smelling like a ashtray. For my truck I use Scotch Guard auto foaming cleaner. I also use NATURES MIRACLE. It's for pet odors. For your table I would guess the only thing is clean and replace cloth or go to ask the mechanic?
I don't smoke in the house and we have non smoking laws in Wisconsin now.
In my experience, its mostly on the outside so I just wipe my cases and cue wraps down with some leather cleaner, then clean and wax the rest of the cue/s and it's usually good for a few weeks.
Don't take them to places that allow smoking inside.
I got this one... My brother-in-law kept one of my cues and a rare camel skin case (with a thick velour lining) for over 25 years. I finally got it back a year ago. When it was returned it stunk of tobacco smoke inside and out of the case. It was so bad that you could smell it from 20 feet away. The inside of the case was just as bad as the outside.
The cue aired out on it's own just by leaving it out of the case for a month or so.
As for the case... charcoal filter packs didn't do anything... I tried that 1st.
Baking soda was the answer. I took a small empty Arm and Hammer box and cut the top out of it. I then filled it about 1/2 of the way with baking soda and placed it in my case (leaving a small opening for air to enter and escape). I emptied it out once a week and kept refilling it (only 1/2 of the way so it wouldn't spill into my case). It did take about 6-8 weeks of doing this but the case now smells as fresh as the day that I bought it new and doesn't have any odd odors from using a fabric spray or cloth... it just smells fresh and clean.
The outside of the case (my case being leather) took lots of saddle soaping before the tar and nicotine was completely gone. I think that I cleaned it about 4 separate times before it was clean. After you get all of the gunk off of the outside of the case (if it's leather), be sure to use mink oil or some other leather conditioner as the saddle soap will tend to dry the leather. Just be aware that mink oil will sometimes darken the color of the leather just the slightest bit. Also if the case is still sticky after you saddle soap it then don't condition it yet. Keep cleaning it (every other day to allow it to fully dry) until it feels like it should.
My case was a "worst case" problem. Yours may not be as bad as what I had to deal with. If my case wasn't such a rare "one of a kind" satchel and so much a part of my history... I probably would not have gone through all of this.
I'm sure that tables can also be cleaned and polished easy enough on the outer body of the table. Leaving several open boxes of BS (uh... baking soda that is) around or on the table when not in use would probably help. If it's so bad that you have to recover, then I would go as far as lightly sprinkling BS on the cloth 1st letting it set as long as possible (days+) and gently vacuum (with very light suction). I'd try this several times before paying for a new cloth. I'm telling you that BS is the best odor eater out there... it just takes time.
Oh yea... and one last thing... NEVER EVER LET YOUR BROTHER-IN-LAW BORROW ANY OF YOUR CUES!!!
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Have you tried Febreeze or renting an ozone generator? When I was shopping around car detailers to get rid of smoke in my car, the better ones pointed out that they used an ozone generator.
Is it more of a barbeque or a Hickory scent
Nicotene comes off dramatically using any cheap window cleaner with ammonia on hard surfaces.
Actually I tried Febreze years ago on a guitar case that I picked up that was also stinking heavily of tobacco smoke. I personally found 2 things that I didn't like about using the product. Although giving off a better smell than what it mask, it still leaves it's own smell in order to mask the offensive smell. But mainly it does not mix well with nicotine and a few other odors. It was my experience that once sprayed onto existing nicotine that it somewhat bonded the final combination of smells (as if to seal them together forever) as a protective coating. So once you spray it, you can't get the new smell out if you don't like it, you're just stuck with it.
Also (as with the guitar case) within very little time my guitar started smelling like the Febreze/nicotine mix and it got permeated into the wood to where it took years to air it back out of the guitar. I'm sure that a cue stick would probably suffer from the same fate. I couldn't imagine having my head down over a crucial shot (or during a good run) and having to be distracted by the smell coming from my cue.
In short Febreze puts out a smell stronger than the smell that it's masking.
As for using an ozone generator... you should be aware that ozone is a toxic gas that can cause serious problems to the lungs, particularly with anyone who already has respiratory issues. I'm not sure what the acceptable limits are with ozone, but I'll take my chances with Arm and Hammer even if it takes several weeks to get a fresh smelling result.
Sorry to be so wordy about the Febreze but that stuff screwed up my guitar for quite some time. The case is long gone. After 10 years it still smelled like a tobacco/Febreze cocktail.