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Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,938
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

I don't think I would check out a book at the library anymore. It's so easy to use a Kindle or other device. You control how clean it is. One place I worked at had problems with the computer. The repair guy said the CPU was coated in nicotine. Gross.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,833
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

[ Edited ]

I appreciate your kind words, NAES.  Mom died at 62 - her blood vessels were very weak from 45 or so years of constant cigarettes. She literally bled to death - bleeding out into here arm until there wa nothing left for the heart or brain.  Unfortunately I was subjected to this filthy habit from birth till she died.  I used to hang my clothes outside at night so they would smell fresher in the morning when I went to school. It was embarrassing.  

 

I could further add that my Mother in Law died at 49 from lung cancer - the result of a huge serving of daily cigarettes.  

 

WHAT ARE THESE HEAVY SMOKERS DOING TO THEIR CHILDREN?   WHY CAN'T PEOPLE LEARN???

Valued Contributor
Posts: 807
Registered: ‎04-16-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

Other than placing the book in a sunny, well-ventilated spot, I have no clue how to eliminate the cigarette odor. My friend once suggested zapping a used book in the microwave, but I don't believe that would affect the smell.

 

As a retired teacher, I try  not to dwell on all the homework assignments, test papers, and essays that my hands touched over a 35-year period!!!!!!!

Mystery stains were the most off-putting to me. At first, I would try to guess; later, I was wise enough to check the paper and move on.

 

Likewise, my students used textbooks that former students had stained.  I don't know whether any of them considered this, though.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,415
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....


@ncascade wrote:

Sometimes the books we check out from our local library REEK of cigarette smoke. I return them unread. Any suggestions as to what I can do to eliminate the smell? I have tried sunshine, fab softener sheets  and nothing seems to work.


I don't know how it would work with cigarette smoke, but I've had luck with using baking soda liberally sprinkled between the pages of books, then left alone for a few days or so, then shaken out.  It may even take a couple of tries.  Or it might not help at all.  It's not foolproof, but it might do something.

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,213
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

I buy lots of books through ebay. Sometimes they reek (of smoke or a smelly basement). Here's what does work: place the book in the midst of some newspapers for a few days. When you take it out, the bad odor is gone. I swear this works!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,620
Registered: ‎09-22-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

I am an avid reader and I go the library once a week to return and check out books.  I have never checked out a book that smelled of smoke.  I have had a few books with mystery stains (probably someone eating while reading) but never one that smelled. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,181
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

I don't  get books that smell of smoke that much any more but they can reek.    I picture those people as compulsive readers who drink black coffee and chain smoke cigarettes.   To me it seems like people smoked more in the past.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,064
Registered: ‎12-28-2012

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

This just happened to me last week! I had been waiting a long time for a book. I finally get it and when I open it - it smelled sooooooooo strong of smoke. It was revolting. The prior reader must have been just sitting there blowing smoke directly in the book as they read it. Sadly, I returned the book without reading it. I put myself back on the waitlist, hoping the next one is a "clean" one.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,536
Registered: ‎11-26-2019

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....

Well as I've said,I work at a library and I've come across this as well.i once found a roach and bedbug in a book.really freaked me out.i really doubt there is anything that will take that awful oder away
So glad I don't have that very bad habit
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,117
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Don't read this if you are a smoker.....


@DiAnne wrote:

I am an avid reader and I go the library once a week to return and check out books.  I have never checked out a book that smelled of smoke.  I have had a few books with mystery stains (probably someone eating while reading) but never one that smelled. 


@DiAnne 

 

I went to the library for years when I was working during my lunch hour at least for 40  years at least 3-4 times a week at once and like you never have read/checked out a book that smelled like smoke.  I've seen a few stains but nothing gross and maybe one book that was marked up with "their" grammatical corrections that I made sure that I put a sticky in stating that it wasn't me who marked up the book.