Cigarette Smoke Smell In A Guitar

[Retired]

13 hours ago, NighthawkChris said:

I’m with you on this one - can’t stand the smell of rank cigarettes. The smoke gets all over everything and leaves layers of tar on whatever it lingers by. I used to wash cars for a living as a junior, and cleaning a smoker’s windshield was disgusting! It took several applications of window cleaner as you’d see the yellow streaks left on the glass - not to mention the rag! Such a disgusting habit. Just a shame it’s so addictive. You’d think that spending what is it… $10 a pack give or take… just how powerful the addiction is. 

When I was played off at the Railroad a few times, I painted commercial till called back.  Businesses, duplex, apartments, homes. You could tell a smokers home. Yellow ceilings. Took 2 coats or so to cover them white. 

[merciful-evans]

6 hours ago, Retired said:

When I was played off at the Railroad a few times, I painted commercial till called back.  Businesses, duplex, apartments, homes. You could tell a smokers home. Yellow ceilings. Took 2 coats or so to cover them white. 

I've had to do this a couple of times. My Grandfather's sitting room's ceiling was ginger in colour. The worst part was washing it with sugar soap. You cant help but get covered in the stuff.

[Whitefang]

22 hours ago, NighthawkChris said:

. My mom quit for many years, went back to have to go through quitting all over again… 

 

My Mom quit in '80.  But died 19 years later of a cancerous tumor attached to both of her lungs.   But to be honest....

The cancer treatment(Chemo and radiation) caused other problems that were more or less the cause of death. 

Back to the smoke smell in a guitar.....

I like that dryer sheet idea.   If it's an acoustic.  There's also a product(discovered in my weed smoking days) called OZIUM  that comes in a spray, gel and discs.  Does a good job

Whitefang

[Sgt. Pepper]

14 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

My Mom quit in '80.  But died 19 years later of a cancerous tumor attached to both of her lungs.   But to be honest....

The cancer treatment(Chemo and radiation) caused other problems that were more or less the cause of death. 

Back to the smoke smell in a guitar.....

I like that dryer sheet idea.   If it's an acoustic.  There's also a product(discovered in my weed smoking days) called OZIUM  that comes in a spray, gel and discs.  Does a good job

Whitefang

Your mom lived to 99? Wow and smoked. 
 

The guitar is 500% better than when I got it. It’s out right now. I have to stick my nose up to the sound hole to even get a faint whiff of cancer sticks. 

[NighthawkChris]

12 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

My Mom quit in '80.  But died 19 years later of a cancerous tumor attached to both of her lungs.   But to be honest....

The cancer treatment(Chemo and radiation) caused other problems that were more or less the cause of death. 

Sorry to hear about this. 

All we can do is what we believe will give ourselves the best chances of survival.  Eating good, not smoking...  No guarantees that's for sure.  I watched a few people I knew die from smoking - and it is because they smoked that they died at ages like 60 and 70 with POOR quality of life.  I don't want to spend years being carted around with O2 tanks or have to use some vibrator on my throat because my trachea gets removed - all because I wanted to smoke cigarettes.  I don't want my kids to have to ever see me like that - or deal with it if I can help it. 

[Retired]

10 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Your mom lived to 99? Wow and smoked. 
 

The guitar is 500% better than when I got it. It’s out right now. I have to stick my nose up to the sound hole to even get a faint whiff of cancer sticks. 

That is an incredible age isn't it?  Glad to hear you're getting the smell out Sgt. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Cancer took my mother a few years back, fuk cancer. 

[Retired]

18 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

I've had to do this a couple of times. My Grandfather's sitting room's ceiling was ginger in colour. The worst part was washing it with sugar soap. You cant help but get covered in the stuff.

I typed, Layed off but it changed to played off. Haha.  That would be a nasty job cleaning the ceiling. 

[fortyearspickn]

There is a program  which focuses on early diagnosis of lung cancer.  Even if you quit 10 years earlier.  Chest Xray every 5 years.   If they see anything at all, CT Scan.  Then, I think MRI if still questionable.  If found early enough - it can be 'cured'.  We have 5 lobes,  my wife had a spot the size of the tip of a pencil in the smallest lobe.  They removed the lobe.  She was out of the hospital the morning of the 3rd day. No Chemo - Radiation Therapy (which sucked, of course).   That was 8 years ago.  Doctors have given her a 100% cured/clean bill of health.   Her lung capacity was reduced by around 10%.

She would never have heard of the program, if my son didn't work in Radiology with cancer docs, and harangue her to get into it.  The  program got a 3 minutes shot on the local TV a few years later.  Otherwise - it is virtually another one of medicine's  'best kept secrets'.     I think, like Mammo screening - insurance companies don't like paying for tests and exams that come back negative. It's sort of like us paying for home insurance, and never filing a claim.  Which, of course, the insurance companies love. 

Anyway, Chief - I would steer clear of "Febreeze".    It will leave a buildup of sludge harder to remove than the nicotine, and might even affect the finish on your guitar.  If it's just 'the smell', airing it out - outside in the shade on a breezy day will work.    If it's smoke residue -  I'd get a cup of hot water and a drop or 2 of Dawn soap.  And wipe the fabric down with a damp cloth, just getting the surface and not letting it get too wet. Then rinse 2 or 3 times with another damp cloth.  Dry outside, brush or fluff it.   On the inside of your Martin, I'd put a partially opened can of sardines.  After an hour, the smoke smell will be gone. 😇

[RBSinTo]

14 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

There is a program  which focuses on early diagnosis of lung cancer.  Even if you quit 10 years earlier.  Chest Xray every 5 years.   If they see anything at all, CT Scan.  Then, I think MRI if still questionable.  If found early enough - it can be 'cured'.  We have 5 lobes,  my wife had a spot the size of the tip of a pencil in the smallest lobe.  They removed the lobe.  She was out of the hospital the morning of the 3rd day. No Chemo - Radiation Therapy (which sucked, of course).   That was 8 years ago.  Doctors have given her a 100% cured/clean bill of health.   Her lung capacity was reduced by around 10%.

She would never have heard of the program, if my son didn't work in Radiology with cancer docs, and harangue her to get into it.  The  program got a 3 minutes shot on the local TV a few years later.  Otherwise - it is virtually another one of medicine's  'best kept secrets'.     I think, like Mammo screening - insurance companies don't like paying for tests and exams that come back negative. It's sort of like us paying for home insurance, and never filing a claim.  Which, of course, the insurance companies love. 

Anyway, Chief - I would steer clear of "Febreeze".    It will leave a buildup of sludge harder to remove than the nicotine, and might even affect the finish on your guitar.  If it's just 'the smell', airing it out - outside in the shade on a breezy day will work.    If it's smoke residue -  I'd get a cup of hot water and a drop or 2 of Dawn soap.  And wipe the fabric down with a damp cloth, just getting the surface and not letting it get too wet. Then rinse 2 or 3 times with another damp cloth.  Dry outside, brush or fluff it.   On the inside of your Martin, I'd put a partially opened can of sardines.  After an hour, the smoke smell will be gone. 😇

Chief,

Careful with this " advice".

The half-opened can of sardines trick is something fyp. learned at a tour of the Gibson plant.

RBSinTo

[Sgt. Pepper]

35 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

Chief,

Careful with this " advice".

The half-opened can of sardines trick is something fyp. learned at a tour of the Gibson plant.

RBSinTo

Fabreeze is not going anywhere near my guitars or cases. 

[Whitefang]

23 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Your mom lived to 99? Wow and smoked. 
 

The guitar is 500% better than when I got it. It’s out right now. I have to stick my nose up to the sound hole to even get a faint whiff of cancer sticks. 

Yeah, cute.  I know you knew what I meant.

23 hours ago, NighthawkChris said:

Sorry to hear about this. 

All we can do is what we believe will give ourselves the best chances of survival.  Eating good, not smoking...  No guarantees that's for sure.  I watched a few people I knew die from smoking - and it is because they smoked that they died at ages like 60 and 70 with POOR quality of life.  I don't want to spend years being carted around with O2 tanks or have to use some vibrator on my throat because my trachea gets removed - all because I wanted to smoke cigarettes.  I don't want my kids to have to ever see me like that - or deal with it if I can help it. 

And I've know a few who died at those ages from drinking.  And smokers, like my Father in law who smoked up to a week or two before he died at age 86.  And he had two younger brothers who drank themselves to death by ages 45 and 50.  And I had a step sister who neither smoked or drank but died of some kind of cancer when she was not quite 50.

No guarantees is right.

Whitefang

[merciful-evans]

2 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

On the inside of your Martin, I'd put a partially opened can of sardines.  After an hour, the smoke smell will be gone. 😇

Will the sardines still be edible afterwards?

And will they be kippers now?

[Sgt. Pepper]

3 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

 On the inside of your Martin, I'd put a partially opened can of sardines.  After an hour, the smoke smell will be gone. 😇

I’ll let you be the Guinea Pig with your J-45, I think you have one, and let me know how it works out for ya.

[bugsox]

I bought a LP that smelled like an ash tray. I bought a Gator case, went to Lowes and bought 2 of those orange and white room deodorizers, put them in the case, closed it up. I opened the case 1 month later, the guitar smelled like a guitar not a Marlboro or the room deodorizer.

[Whitefang]

On 2/15/2022 at 9:05 AM, fortyearspickn said:

   On the inside of your Martin, I'd put a partially opened can of sardines.  After an hour, the smoke smell will be gone. 😇

So then how does he get rid of the cats?  And personally, comparing the odors, I'd rather smell the cigarette smoke than the sardines.

Whitefang

[fortyearspickn]

Apparently  tongue in cheek humor  goes over many people's heads here. 

I'll  re-phrase my earlier comment:  

"Do not attempt to cover up the smell inside your guitar or case with something like Febreeze,  Glad Plug-ins, etc.  It would be as foolish as using a can of opened sardines."

Hope that helps. . 

[merciful-evans]

22 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

Apparently  tongue in cheek humor  goes over many people's heads here. 

I'll  re-phrase my earlier comment:  

"Do not attempt to cover up the smell inside your guitar or case with something like Febreeze,  Glad Plug-ins, etc.  It would be as foolish as using a can of opened sardines."

Hope that helps. . 

So... they wont be kippered then?

[Lapsu]

I feel you. I grabbed an older guitar from the auction site. It must have spent years in a household of smokers. Both guitar and case had a strong old smoke smell. At first, I was disappointed as I took additional projects at work to earn extra money and buy it (fortunately, the guys from https://writinguniverse.com/free-essay-examples/cultural-anthropology/ agreed to help me). But having surfed the Internet and tried several ways, I finally got rid of that smell. I mixed white vinegar with equal parts water in a pump spray bottle, misted the fabric until it was moist to the touch, and let it dry. The acid in the vinegar should kill most spores, but I'd test a small area first, to see how it affects any dyes. After that, I put the coffee ground in a little tub and inserted it into my guitar’s soundhole and its case, waited a few days, and then vacuumed everything. More than two months passed and I don't feel that smell anymore.

Edited March 22, 2022 by Lapsu

[merciful-evans]

7 hours ago, Blogoz said:

But sometimes the smell is very good, tobacco can smell different.

I hope Murphy Labs don't get any ideas about this. Tobacco burst is close enough for me.

[Karloff]

2 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

I hope Murphy Labs don't get any ideas about this. Tobacco burst is close enough for me.

lol.  now thats funny ...

[Karloff]

I sure don't miss coming home from a gig smelling like cigarettes. well, from '94 on anyway ... I quick cigs June of '94. 

[duane v]

I started playing clubs in 1979 and just got used to cigarette smoke and all my gear smelling like an ash tray. Plus my dad smoked up until he was hit with his first heart attack at the age of 56. Though I don't smoke, the smoke from cigarettes don't bother me and neither do cigarette smokers.  

I've purchased a couple of used guitars that had that ash tray smell, but they play and sound good so it was no big deal. Eventually the smell dissipates..... I'm certainly not going to hold a grudge against a guitar that's stinky.... lol....

Hell if you played high school football and went into the locker room with 50 other teammates during hell week, you would whished you were in a club filled with cigarette smoke. lol.

[rct]

2 hours ago, duane v said:

I started playing clubs in 1979 and just got used to cigarette smoke and all my gear smelling like an ash tray. Plus my dad smoked up until he was hit with his first heart attack at the age of 56. Though I don't smoke, the smoke from cigarettes don't bother me and neither do cigarette smokers.  

I've purchased a couple of used guitars that had that ash tray smell, but they play and sound good so it was no big deal. Eventually the smell dissipates..... I'm certainly not going to hold a grudge against a guitar that's stinky.... lol....

Hell if you played high school football and went into the locker room with 50 other teammates during hell week, you would whished you were in a club filled with cigarette smoke. lol.

Yeah man.  Most guitar players today going back 20 years would not have lived through the 70's.  The stress of stinky guitars would have killed them the first year.  It wasn't an issue at all back then because if it was you probably wouldn't own any guitars.

rct

[Mr. Gibson]

7 hours ago, duane v said:

I started playing clubs in 1979 and just got used to cigarette smoke and all my gear smelling like an ash tray. Plus my dad smoked up until he was hit with his first heart attack at the age of 56. Though I don't smoke, the smoke from cigarettes don't bother me and neither do cigarette smokers.  

I've purchased a couple of used guitars that had that ash tray smell, but they play and sound good so it was no big deal. Eventually the smell dissipates..... I'm certainly not going to hold a grudge against a guitar that's stinky.... lol....

Hell if you played high school football and went into the locker room with 50 other teammates during hell week, you would whished you were in a club filled with cigarette smoke. lol.

You’re probably the only non smoker to ever say that it doesn’t bother them. Usually they act like you’re smoking mustard gas. All I know if I’m at an outdoor auction and people are crowding me, I like the Marlboro cowboy light one up and they  disburse with a quickness.