Hello there,
I did a search on Google and thought I would also ask around this
newsgroup to see if anyone had any other ideas. My great-aunt died on
the weekend :-( and I brought home her china cabinet. She was a heavy
smoker.
The china cabinet is a smaller version of the one my mom has - it's
from the 1960s and it has a...hmm...veneer of some sort. I'm not sure
what you would call it, it looks like a fake cherry finish - very dark
in colour, but not spotty like walnut.
I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off. So far I
have tried a little bit of Mr. Clean and warm water. Paper towel after
paper towel is black and brown :-(. It seems kind of endless :\
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Christine
Christine O writes:
>I did a search on Google and thought I would also ask around this
>newsgroup to see if anyone had any other ideas. My great-aunt died on
>the weekend :-( and I brought home her china cabinet. She was a heavy
>smoker.
>
>The china cabinet is a smaller version of the one my mom has - it's
>from the 1960s and it has a...hmm...veneer of some sort. I'm not sure
>what you would call it, it looks like a fake cherry finish - very dark
>in colour, but not spotty like walnut.
>
>I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
>particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off. So far I
>have tried a little bit of Mr. Clean and warm water. Paper towel after
>paper towel is black and brown :-(. It seems kind of endless :\
They've just finished cleaning walls, books, hard surface furniture in my house
after a basement fire. The contractor used, as a start, dry (actually
chemically saturated) sponges to remove the first layers. An ozone generator
will be brought in before we move back in, and left on for a day or so.
Suggest you use google to look up "fire restoration" and and "fire restoration
supplies" go from there. I know when I was doing a rough check of the efficacy
of the methods, I saw those chemical sponges available. They're using them by
the CASE so the price can't be too outrageous.
With cigaret smoke, removing the varnish it lays down should remove almost all
the stink.
Charlie Self
"The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating
plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."
George W. Bush
[email protected] (Charlie Self) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Christine O writes:
>
> >I did a search on Google and thought I would also ask around this
> >newsgroup to see if anyone had any other ideas. My great-aunt died on
> >the weekend :-( and I brought home her china cabinet. She was a heavy
> >smoker.
You already got some good direction for cleaning the finished portions
of the china cabinet. The tough part will be the nasty particle board
and possibly the cabinet innards (drawers, runners, etc). I recommend
you get some Zinsser shellac sealcoat from your hardware store (even
Home Depot carries it) and give the non-finished parts of the cabinet
a wash coat. Cut the stuff from the can 1:1 with fresh denatured
alcohol. You can brush or wipe it on. It'll seal off the nasty
cigarette smell, but good.
Whenever there's a woodworking question, chances are the answer is
shellac.
Hammuh
In news:[email protected],
Christine O <[email protected]> spewed forth and said:
> Hello there,
>
> I did a search on Google and thought I would also ask around this
> newsgroup to see if anyone had any other ideas. My great-aunt died on
> the weekend :-( and I brought home her china cabinet. She was a heavy
> smoker.
>
> The china cabinet is a smaller version of the one my mom has - it's
> from the 1960s and it has a...hmm...veneer of some sort. I'm not sure
> what you would call it, it looks like a fake cherry finish - very dark
> in colour, but not spotty like walnut.
>
> I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
> particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off. So far I
> have tried a little bit of Mr. Clean and warm water. Paper towel after
> paper towel is black and brown :-(. It seems kind of endless :\
>
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
> Christine
Get some Murphys Oil Soap and gently clean it with that. You can buy it
pre-mixed or as a paste and mix it yourself. If worst comes to worst, you
could try some denatured alcohol.
I'd try it in an inconspicious spot to see if it hurts the finish first
though. After cleaning it, give it a good rub down with a good lemon oil and
it should smell much better.
hth
"Christine O" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The china cabinet is a smaller version of the one my mom has - it's
> from the 1960s and it has a...hmm...veneer of some sort. I'm not sure
> what you would call it, it looks like a fake cherry finish - very dark
> in colour, but not spotty like walnut.
>
> I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
> particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off. So far I
> have tried a little bit of Mr. Clean and warm water. Paper towel after
> paper towel is black and brown :-(. It seems kind of endless :\
I inherited several pieces of furniture from my father who was a heavy
smoker (several packs of Camels a day). I used a lemon oil furniture
cleaner (Formby's) on the finished parts. On rough wood (back,
inside drawers, etc.) I sprayed, very lightly, with Fabreeze (a fabric
deoderizer). Let it air for several days and repeated. Seems to have
removed all the smell (unless you stick your nose right up to it).
Obviosly you want to test each surface material in an inconspicuous
spot first. (And particle board is especially sensitive to moisture.)
My neice took a different tack: She cleaned the finished parts like I
did, then put charcoal (wrapped in cloth or paper towels) inside the
furniture (activated charcoal would be even better). I think it took a
couple of weeks, but she said it absorbed the smell pretty well. -Wm
William responds:
>
>"Christine O" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>
>> The china cabinet is a smaller version of the one my mom has - it's
>> from the 1960s and it has a...hmm...veneer of some sort. I'm not sure
>> what you would call it, it looks like a fake cherry finish - very dark
>> in colour, but not spotty like walnut.
>>
>> I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
>> particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off. So far I
>> have tried a little bit of Mr. Clean and warm water. Paper towel after
>> paper towel is black and brown :-(. It seems kind of endless :\
>
>I inherited several pieces of furniture from my father who was a heavy
>smoker (several packs of Camels a day). I used a lemon oil furniture
>cleaner (Formby's) on the finished parts. On rough wood (back,
>inside drawers, etc.) I sprayed, very lightly, with Fabreeze (a fabric
>deoderizer). Let it air for several days and repeated. Seems to have
>removed all the smell (unless you stick your nose right up to it).
>Obviosly you want to test each surface material in an inconspicuous
>spot first. (And particle board is especially sensitive to moisture.)
>
>My neice took a different tack: She cleaned the finished parts like I
>did, then put charcoal (wrapped in cloth or paper towels) inside the
>furniture (activated charcoal would be even better). I think it took a
>couple of weeks, but she said it absorbed the smell pretty well.
There are numerous fire restoration supply houses that make the job easier,
quicker: here's one. http://www.unsmoke.com/fire-unsponge-632.htm
That shows the sponge I mentioned earlier, but down the right side there's a
list of chemicals that may also be used.
Charlie Self
"The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating
plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."
George W. Bush
"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 06 Aug 2003 08:22:40 GMT, [email protected] (Charlie Self)
> wrote:
>
> >There are numerous fire restoration supply houses that make the job
easier,
>
> I've found these near useless for tobacco smoke.
>
> They work for recent contamination, but really thick old tobacco seems
> to make its own varnish. I've usually gone with solvents to take it
> off, although this can be tricky if the undelying finish is a little
> sensitive (like shellac). Turpentine and ammonia worked well.
The tobacco smoke coating was pretty thick in the case of my father's
stuff. There were pieces of glass inside the china cabinet that I thought
were amber-colored - turned out to be crystal clear once it was washed.
If I wasn't a non-smoker already, that would have made me want to kick
the habit :-) -Wm
Christine - sorry for your loss. Try Murphy's Oil soap - and seal the
particle board. Be patient because both tasks will require patience and
time. This should do the trick.
Best to you,
Jim Mc Namara
"Christine O" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello there,
>
> I did a search on Google and thought I would also ask around this
> newsgroup to see if anyone had any other ideas. My great-aunt died on
> the weekend :-( and I brought home her china cabinet. She was a heavy
> smoker.
>
> The china cabinet is a smaller version of the one my mom has - it's
> from the 1960s and it has a...hmm...veneer of some sort. I'm not sure
> what you would call it, it looks like a fake cherry finish - very dark
> in colour, but not spotty like walnut.
>
> I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
> particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off. So far I
> have tried a little bit of Mr. Clean and warm water. Paper towel after
> paper towel is black and brown :-(. It seems kind of endless :\
>
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
> Christine
Consider shellacing the back to seal the odors.
On 4 Aug 2003 20:38:52 -0700, [email protected] (Christine O) wrote:
>I don't want to damage the finish on it. The back of it just plain
>particle board, and I'm not sure how I would wash that off.