Deodorising a book

[Kepis]

Hoping to tap into the collective knowledge base here.

I bought a second hand book from a well known web based retailer which arrived today, however it stinks to high heaven of tobacco smoke.

The outside covers were smoke stained, but ive managed to carefully wipe them down and got them clean, however when you flick through the pages all you can smell is fag smoke and this is also transferring itself to my fingers when i flick through said pages.

Is there a way to deodorise the book to make it smell a bit sweeter, at the moment ive got the book stood up facing a sunny window drying after giving it a light dose of Febreze to lessen the smell.

Any and all thoughts/methods gratefully considered.

 

[nitrambur]

Cat litter, stick some in a plastic bag with the book

 

[Drain Bamaged]

Baking powder will absorb smells as in fact will fresh ground coffee....both old methods for deodorising fridges.

D.B.

 

[Macaroon]

I've done old books a few times, some of them unspeakably foul!

Stand the book upright and fanned open so the air can get between pages as much as possible; get it to stand that way inside a platic bag or container of some sort, and put with it an onion, peeled and cut in half, and leave it to stand for 24 hours, if it still stinks do the same again with a fresh onion......Never failed me!

 

[Kepis]

Magic, thanks chaps

 

[santaman2000]

Baking powder will absorb smells as in fact will fresh ground coffee....both old methods for deodorising fridges.

D.B.

Don't you mean baking "soda?" (sodium bicarbonate) Not really the same thing as baking "powder."

 

[santaman2000]

Kepis, what were your results? I was hoping you's tell us how it turned out as I like old books as well.

 

[Kepis]

Kepis, what were your results? I was hoping you's tell us how it turned out as I like old books as well.

Tried all of the above suggested methods with varying degrees of success, but i could still smell tobacco smoke, yup even over the smell of onion, so i bought some cheap ASDA (Walmart) clothes dryer sheets and put those between the pages and left it be on a sunny window sill for 10 days or so - job done, no longer smells of tobacco, but a rather pleasant Moonflower & Ylang

 

[santaman2000]

Tried all of the above suggested methods with varying degrees of success, but i could still smell tobacco smoke, yup even over the smell of onion, so i bought some cheap ASDA (Walmart) clothes dryer sheets and put those between the pages and left it be on a sunny window sill for 10 days or so - job done, no longer smells of tobacco, but a rather pleasant Moonflower & Ylang

Thanks! I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

[Tomteifi]

Well done, great tip. Bet you're glad its not a copy of War and Peace! (We're gonna need a bigger storage unit!!)

Tom.

 

[boatman]

When I worked in libraries we had books returned with all sorts of contamination. One method was to expose them to sunlight. Then we threw them away. A book per se is not precious unless it is one of the last copies in existence of course.

Some of what we had to deal with: blood, other bodily fluids, a pork pie squashed between pictures of horrendous WW! injuries, information cards from condom packets, obscene photographs, a sort of wine gum, cigarette burns and flat dog ends.