Can You Get Cigar Smoke Smell Out Of Wood?
February 8, 2010 by MBC Staff
Filed under Afficianado
My father and law gave my wife and I a nice dinning table and chairs that where in his office. The only bad thing is they smell like cigar smoke. It’s over taking the house and since we don’t smoke it’s really annoying. We tried getting rid of it w pledge oil shine or what ever that stuff is that smells like oranges. But it just came back. Does anybody have any other suggestions.
Oh yeah…been there….
Getting rid of years and years of cigar smell is not going to be an easy or quick task, and much of it is going to depend upon the wood and finish of your pieces. Soft/medium-hard woods — pine though maple, will clean up easier and better than walnut or oak, with oak being about the toughest.
That your pieces are still exuding the aroma makes me think that the wood is porous and either had only a natural finish to begin with, or the finish has greatly diminished over the years. While all finishes allow wood to “breathe” to a degree, a solid, resilient poly or lacquer would have lost most of the smell with a couple of your “orange” polishings.
No matter how your wood is finished, wash everything thoroughly — every nook and cranny everywhere — in straight WHITE vinegar (even professional smoke cleaners use plain old vinegar) as vinegar is the best solution for cleaning out smoke smells.
——-if you can (this being winter for most of us), at this point take the pieces outdoors to air out in the breeze/sunshine for a few days (bring in at night, of course)——
If your furniture still has a reasonably open finish (wax, oil or diminished lacquer/shellac) follow the vinegar with a walnut oil coating, followed by a 20-1 walnut/eucalyptus oil mix. If your furniture has a harder finish (lacquer, shellac, or even poly). wash with vinegar and then follow with a few drops of eucalyptus oil wiped on with a soft cloth. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times. Followed with paste wax, or, a few drops of eucalyptus oil mixed with paste wax sealer (available at your hardware store, NOT the cleaning aisle of the supermarket). The walnut oil will penetrate deep into the wood and the eucalyptus oil will neutralize odors trapped inside as well as superficially (not to mention smell better in the process) and the paste wax is an excellent non-toxic, non-smelly, user-friendly sealer.
In the interim, keep a few saucers of white vinegar around the room and under the table as this will help neutralize the ambient smoke odor also.
To avoid other rooms and furnishings from absorbing the odor, keep doors closed, your air purifier(s) running, an odor absorbing charcoal filter for your heating/cooling system (if possible), and invest in a couple of air fresheners (oils, candles, sprays, etc.) that work somewhat continuously. If candles or fresheners aren’t your style, get some plants that clean the air and place them around the furniture and house.*
Another alternative is to have the pieces “French Polished.” This cleaning/refinishing process can be quite expensive, but leaves a durable and astonishingly beautiful mirror finish on furniture…but only you can decide if your pieces are worth it.
You can also go through the vinegar cleaning and take the pieces to an outfit that lacquers furniture and have the furniture spray lacquered. This will “seal” in any residual odor and greatly reduce-to-eliminate odor.
If the chairs on the pieces are upholstered, remove all fabric and padding immediately, and have the chairs redone after the wood has been cleaned.
Good luck.