Cigarette Smoke Smell on my Cards

I just bought an old Manara deck and it reeks of cigarette smoke. We are non-smokers. I hate the smell - it comes off onto my fingers and makes my hands smell foul. I can't even look through the deck....

I'm going to shove it in a bag with some resin incense crystals but I'll have to make sure the crystals don't actually touch the cards. But last time I did that with a musty old smelling deck it took ages to work.

We don't have a cat so I don't have any cat litter. If that really does work I might consider buying some though. Any other suggestions? Not fresh air - it rains almost every day at the moment.

It's strong enough to make me want to gag

Incense? Joss sticks? A handtowel sprayed with Chanel No5? Any of these things tossed into a bag with the deck and tied up tight?

Ummm - do you think that's a good excuse for buying Chanel, or will i just have to slum it with Kenzo Flowers??

I was thinkingof the incense, but I think I'd rather the perfume.

What I hoped for was something that removed the offensive pong rather than smothered it, if you see what I mean...

I'd probably start by spreading them out outside, probably not direct sun or where they could blow away, but outside for awhile. Other things to consider putting in a bag with them, charcoal, unscented dryer sheets, maybe spritz that dryer sheet with Febreeze, of course, not actually touching the cards. Oh - & an open box of baking soda - try that! You might even be able to sprinkle the dry baking soda on the cards, seal up the bag & see how it goes. Good luck - I would love to find an antique deck sometime.

It was the playing cards that I found that were really very old, and they got better with the incense.

This deck is only 20 years old but ew it smells.

Can't do fresh air - we haven't had a rain free day for a long time now.

I'll go with the bicarb/baking soda followed up with perfume I think...

I'd advise against the perfume. It will sour with time and may interact with the varnish on the cards.

People have had good luck with the baking soda. I've had good luck with fresh air.

If the finish on the cards allows, a good cleaning is probably in order. There are some threads here on how to do that.

I've made a deck sandwich - card/bicarb/card (baking soda) - and I'll leave it a few days to see what happens. If that doesn't work I'l try gregory's bread.

It rains a lot here - fresh air might not be the best idea .. (visions of a little heap of papier mache)

Thanks for the ideas

Wendywu said:

Ummm - do you think that's a good excuse for buying Chanel, or will i just have to slum it with Kenzo Flowers??

I was thinkingof the incense, but I think I'd rather the perfume.

What I hoped for was something that removed the offensive pong rather than smothered it, if you see what I mean...

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What this will do is add one smell over the top of another. This is not always a Good Thing - I'm thinking of an ex of mine who used to smell permanently of metabolised alcohol, but for special occasions used to suck mints. Made it far, far worse.

Try and think of things that will *remove* the smell, not add to it, like dry sodium bicarb (if you put a decent layer on a tray and lay the cards out on it, it will also draw the humidity away from the cards) or a product that is available called "Nil-Odor" which I can get locally in my supermarket as a spray as well as a dropper: try laying out the cards individually on a table and placing a drop on the corner of the table not touching the cards, or a squirt of the spray version in the air (not above where the droplets will settle on the cardstock).

Wendywu said:

If that doesn't work I'l try gregory's bread.

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I have it on good authority she's eaten it.