Since my son and his wife have moved in with us to help me take care of D, their heavy cigarrette smoking has taken a toll on my winter clothing (mostly sweaters, sport coats, etc). I’ve since rescued them from where they were hanging (in the laundry room on a rack for lack of closet space) and moved them back here to my computer room.
I checked on the net and this lady says to put them in a clothes dryer on air only setting with 2 dryer sheets, and repeat if necessary. I’ll also hang them outside. Anything else y’all can recommend?
You’re probably going to have to wash/dry clean them.
As someone who used to smoke indoors, I can tell you that as long as you keep the clothes in a closet, the shouldn’t pick up the smokey smell too much. If you’re low on closet space, I would suggest that you try and keep a section of the house smoke free. Either some bedroom where you can keep them behind closed doors or the basement if it’s not overly musty and it’s just going to make your clothes smell like that instead. A closet is still the best since it won’t have any vents in it though.
They do smoke outside. Problem with that is, they smoke under the carport near the laundry room and it seeps underneath the door. (Kinda like water - seeks its own level! :)) That’s a lot of vacuum packing and a hassle everytime I want to wear a sweater or a coat, but I appreciate it, Concensus.
They’re both a big help to D, admittedly, but I just can’t deal with the tobacco smoke, and they can’t quit.
I’m gonna go ahead with the dryer thing and see if that works. If not, I guess I can look forward to a huge dry cleaning bill!
Oh, yeah, forgot! They live in the basment (which we converted into an apartment for them). So, if they happen to NOT smoke outside, guess where the smoke goes?
yep. Tried Febreze, but I think the best thing so far is the dryer sheets in the dryer. I’m doing that right now. While they’re all gone to the doctor, I have opened up all the doors and windows and turned on the attic fan. (It’s cold as hell in here!;)). Tried to get them both on the e-cigs, but hell, they’re smoking on top of those, just like they’d smoke on top of a patch.
What I don’t understand is they both know D is suceptible and highly allergic to cigarette smoke and now with the pulmonary hypertension it will make it even worse. I can’t say anything, though, to either because they “are such a big help!”
If there are any windows down there get a window fan. That is, a fan made specifically to fit in a window. It’ll make a world of difference pulling all the smoke out. I had friends that used it in college (non-smoking) dorms and no one in the hallway was the wiser, but walk into their room and it was like a crowded bar.
In my college apartment, I kept a hepa/charcoal air cleaner in my bedroom and I could always tell if someone turned it off, so it might help to keep one of those running down there as well.
Also, if there’s any furnace returns in their living area you might want to block them so it doesn’t bring the smoke into the rest of the house. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly if it makes the basement too cold and you have to reopen it.
As for them smoking outside, I assume that the door is closed and there’s just a draft? Can they just toss a towel under the door when they go out (even from the outside)?
Great suggestions, JoeyP and everyone. We have two air filters: one I got from a catalog place that looks like a tower and has one of those metal inserts? That one stays near the litterbox. The other, smaller one, we keep in the den. They’re both on 24-7 and sometimes, in the middle of the night, you can hear them throw up!
I’m trying hard to be diplomatic, but is sure is tough.
