Getting Smoke Smell out of all-wood furniture

Shark_MegaByte

I just started at a new job, which I relocated to take. It comes with a free apartment, and the other people in my office have been very nice about loaning me extra furniture they don't need. One lady brought over a dresser, but when I went to put my clothes in it today, I hesitated because I noticed it's been permeated with smoke. Should've thought of that sooner, because she's said her husband is a heavy smoker.

It isn't terrible, but just bad enough to notice when I get close to it. Is there something I can use to clean it so that it gets rid of the smell? I don't want to just cover over the smoke smell, it has to be removed because I'd rather not have my clothes smelling like some fruity air freshener or deodorizer.. that's almost as bad as smoke.

I have one suggestion from a friend which is to use a "wood moisturizer" with "natural lemon oil." Anyone have any predictions of success or failure with that? Other solutions?

The alternative is to talk to her and ask her to take it back, which I could do and she'd understand, but it'd still be a little awkward..

Pheezer

Well, you'll need a bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap anyhow, so I'd try that first. Probably won't work 100% on the first pass though, cigarette smoke is a bitch.

Shark_MegaByte

*investigates*

Murphy's Oil Soap wrote:

Warnings

• Not for use on unfinished wood

The interior of the thing - where i'm most concerned about - is unfinished.

EggyToast

For unfinished wood, especially dresser drawers, I'd recommend cleaning them with mineral spirits (can be gotten most anywhere). This is how you keep cutting boards, leather, and so on, clean and nice without drying out and getting wrecked from regular use. It'll give you a good way to clean the dressers without wrecking the wood.

Then, leave the drawers open completely for a weekend. Spray some Febreeze in the room so you don't gag. Then, when you go to put clothes in there, take some baking soda and put it in a small tupperware container (so you don't have to buy 1 for each drawer) and put it in there near your clothes. Don't stuff the drawers; leave space around the edges. You could even put down some wax paper or shelf liner for the bottom.

You can test for the first day, by putting something in there that you won't wear much, and seeing if it still smells. It probably won't, at least not very noticeably unless you stick your nose in it. You'll probably notice the smell dissipating, which it will do naturally (the above just helps your clothes not get the smell all over them).

Finally, if none of that seems to work, paint the sucker.