...or as the Baby says these days, "Hep, hep!"
I want to take the knitting to the pub tonight for trivia. Unfortunately, everyone there smokes. So... How hard is it to get cigarette smoke out of knitting? Can I give it a good wash as part of the blocking process, or should I avoid it altogether?
11 comments:
I don't really have an answer for you, but I probably wouldn't risk it on anything special. Maybe you could work on a dishcloth or something else that wouldn't be a problem if it got stinky!
Fortunately, we don't have that problem here. Where I live, smoking is not allowed in any indoor public place, including bars, restaurants, etc. It really is nice!
Febreze and laundry detergent both work pretty well against cigarette smoke, especially if it's a one- or two-time thing. I've used it on my wool sweaters before, after going out to bars. If those don't work, then hanging the knitting out in the sun and the fresh air to dry probably will.
I've only run into problems with wool clothing or yarn that lives in a perpetually smokey environment, like a smoker's home.
I've successfully gotten smoke out of a quilt by just laundering as I usually would. I would think with a wool wash it would work pretty well, especially the ones that come in nice scents.
It'd come out usually, but it's kind of icky. A dishcloth sounds like a good suggestion to me. Or socks - something away from the face!
I'd go with nothing special and definitely something that could be machine washed. Preferably something that could be finished quickly, like a dishcloth so that you wouldn't have to keep working on it for days before being able to wash it.
I love the NYC smoking ban, because I now have the option of going to a bar without everything I'm wearing stinking afterwards.
In the past, I've gotten the smell out of my backpack, purse, etc. with Febreeze.
I know a bowl of vinegar will take smoke smell out of the air. You can try adding some vinegar to the final rinse after washing as usual (I use it instead of fabric softner a lot in my regular laundry - it does not retain the vinegar smell)
I find that regular washing will take out most odors. I've also used a little vinegar in the rinse water if the smell is strong. That will pretty much take the odor out of anything!
Febreze--surprisingly good stuff... (I'm sure it's environmentally sucky, but it does work well on odors..)
The problem is that even if you can get it out of the finished project, you will be stuck holding something stinky until you are done knitting it. So I would go with something small, like a sock.
So glad I live in Canada where you can't smoke indoors. I hate cigarette smoke :(
In my (much) younger days, I worked - and knit - in a bar. Just leaving the knitting outside overnight did the trick for me. However, we're talking sub-zero temperatures in the arctic.... Maybe a while in the dryer on "cold" will do the trick in your climate?
This is going to sound horrible, especially after reading everyone else's comments, but whatev. My love and I both smoke, indoors (!), in our house and I knit and smoke AT THE SAME TIME!! I realize that other people do not like the smell of cigarette smoke (hell, there are times I don't like it either) so I wet block everything with a delicious smelling shampoo and leave it to block in our smoke-free guest room. I've never had any complaints. Sometimes I'll toss the item into the dryer on cool with a dryer sheet (dampened) after the item is dry. Then it comes out smelling all fresh like.
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