New Uke/Case Bad Cigarette Smell

kdmccullum

kdmccullum

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Hello all,

First time post so I hope this is the right section for this question. I purchased my second Uke used on eBay just a couple days ago and it arrived last night. My joy at seeing the Ohana SK-25z was a bit soured before I even opened the case. As soon as I opened the box the stench of cigarettes filled my nose. Long story short, the Uke is spotless and a few dryer sheets stuffed in the sound hole and under the strings have removed the smell from it. But the case is another story. Right now I have it in the garage opened up with a liberal amount of baking soda on it but it smells BAD! It's one of those hard shell tweed cases and I really like it so I am hoping I can do something to get the smell out. Any ideas?

Kurt
 
I would try some Fabreze as well as a spray cleaner, which might loosen up some of the embedded smoke. Perhaps a light vacuuming after that.
 
Do a search. Someone else was dealing with that this week, too.

For the uke, I'd wipe the entire instrument down with guitar polish. I normally am weary of too much stuff on fretboards - it causes frets to lift -
but in this case I'd give the fretboard a light wipe down with some fretboard oil, too. That, plus what you already did should definitely keep
you from whiffing anything else.

For the case, I think AnalogJs suggestion is good - lots of Fabreeze and then suck it out with a vacuum cleaner. Probably want to repeat that
multiple times. I'd also put it outside. The cool air will do much good.

It's really not nice when people ship smoked out instruments and don't mention it before hand. It really is as important a detail as
dings and other things people are supposed to share up front.
 
Had a friend who had a simular problem with a case (not ukulele). She cut a few onions in half and put them in the case and then closed it. The onions absorbed most of the bad smell, funnily it did not then smell of onions. Maybe worth a try first then using the fabreze?

ETF :cool:
 
Here's what I did in a similar situation:
I took off the strings and wiped down the uke several times with a soft cotton cloth dampened with a dilute Simple Green, which is a good deodorizer and washed some of the smoke and nicotine off the uke. I put about a quarter cup of coffee in the body and shook very well. These I left in for several days, shaking a couple times a day. The case I put out in the sun and turned it often. The uke turned out great but the case might need some more work as it has a deep pile fabric with lots of surface area.
Good luck!
 
I have also heard of using uncooked rice to absorb odors and clean out grime from things. Good luck!
 
I bought a used Suburu Outback a few years ago that reeked of cigarette smoke odor. Found this solution to the problem at one of the auto forums.
Buy a 4# bag of MINI-LITTER and fill a sock with the cat litter and put it in your case. It'll magically absorb and remove the odor. I filled four socks and kept them under the car seats and could notice the difference after a couple of days and the odor was completely gone after two weeks. I bought my bag at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. It'll be in the pet deptartment with the cat litter. Funny thing, the litter filled socks are still in the car but the odor's gone.

Jude
 
coitmusic said:
...I put about a quarter cup of coffee in the body and shook very well
Click to expand...
Please tell me you meant dry coffee beans (ground or whole)! :)

John
 
heyjude said:
I bought a used Suburu Outback a few years ago that reeked of cigarette smoke odor. Found this solution to the problem at one of the auto forums.
Buy a 4# bag of MINI-LITTER and fill a sock with the cat litter and put it in your case. It'll magically absorb and remove the odor. I filled four socks and kept them under the car seats and could notice the difference after a couple of days and the odor was completely gone after two weeks. I bought my bag at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. It'll be in the pet deptartment with the cat litter. Funny thing, the litter filled socks are still in the car but the odor's gone.

Jude
Click to expand...

I bet that does work good. Thanks for posting the tip
 
If the baking soda, onions, rice and coffee don't work, you can always have a ukulele dinner party.

I'll bring the blunts.
 
Thanks everone. I left it hanging outside today and that has reduced the smell quite a bit. I'll post the results after a few days.
 
If you want to forget about the cigarette smell problem once and for all, order Smoke Smell Be Gone! spray online today. Just a few sprays will be quite enough to make the smoke odor disappear almost instantly.
 
An old thread but here is my wife's remedy for ukulele halitosis or ukitosis. I bought a cheap Craig's List uke as a present for someone. It was from a smoker's house. I tried shaking rice around inside the case which didn't seem to do anything. She suggested a cotton ball with eucalyptus and lavender essential oils dripped on to them. The cigarette smell is gone and the eucalyptus oil beat out the lavender odor. The uke will probably help clear the sinuses if you have a mild cold or allergies.
 
Doesn't charcoal work, too?
 
I have heard about using charcoal, but never tried it. But conversely, I believe that if you want to get rid of the eucalyptus smell from a ukulele you can blow cigarette smoke into the sound hole.
 
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