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09-23-2015 01:21 PM
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.
09-23-2015 02:30 PM - edited 09-23-2015 02:32 PM
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???
09-23-2015 03:34 PM
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.
09-23-2015 04:08 PM
@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.
09-25-2015 11:59 AM
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!
09-27-2015 12:01 PM
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.
09-29-2015 09:26 AM
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.
09-30-2015 09:12 AM
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.
02-16-2021 09:48 PM
02-17-2021 03:38 AM
@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.
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.
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