Stinky Cords

[Adam]

I won an eBay auction of three older style trimline handset cords.  They're very nice but they smell strongly of cigarette smoke.

The cords were NOS in bags, but you know those bags are not air-tight.  The bags were very dirty, one blackened with dirt.  It's possible the cords were in an environment that had smoke damage due to a fire.

The cords cleaned up very nicely, and look mint, but like I said, they're smoke stinky.

What can I do to get the cigarette smoke smell off these nice cords?

[cihensley@aol.com]

Household ammonia.

Chuck

[Adam]

Ammonia won't hurt the finish or color of the plastic coiled cords?

[cihensley@aol.com]

I don't think so, but put a couple drops on your fingertip and rub on a small section of the cord for a confirmation test.

Chuck

[HowardPgh]

Fabrexe might work on them.

[Bill]

Three years ago, my wife and I bought a used Jeep Wrangler to bop around the Arizona desert. The previous owner was a young guy, a mechanic, so it was in great shape. But he was also a fiendish cigarette smoker, and the thing stank like a (insert your own descriptive noun here). We scrubbed down the hard surfaces, but of course the smoke was embedded in the carpets and upholstery, too. We used various kinds of cleaners/scrubbers/de-stinkerizers, but the ultimate solution was time. We left it in the driveway with the windows open, and after a year, the smell was almost gone. After two years, there is no smoke smell left.

The lesson? Try anything and everything, but don't damage anything. Left to itself, the smell will go away. You just have to be real patient.

Bill

[LarryInMichigan]

We left it in the driveway with the windows open, and after a year, the smell was almost gone. After two years, there is no smoke smell left.

In my neighborhood, not only would the smell be gone after a few days, but so would the vehicle.

Larry