I recently got a lot of 200-plus postcards from someone’s European travels from the 1950s to 1980s. It probably came from someone’s estate, and said probably-deceased European traveller apparently smoked like a chimney, because these things reek.
I have already sent a polite email to the seller, suggesting that in the future he should say on the ebay listing that the cards from a smoking home, since I wouldn’t have paid what I did for them if I knew I would have to exorcise smoke demons.
But, given that I did pay for them, what’s the best way to de-stink them? I have them in a shoebox, in quarantine from the rest of my collection. Is there some sort of air freshener I can throw in there that won’t be way too strong and just make them stink like something else? Or any sort of homebrew thing that would work without harming the cards?
Baking soda–the one in the yellow Box like Arm & Hammer makes
Charcoal Briquets–like you’d use on a grill to cook with
kitty litter–obviously not yet used by kitties
The first thing I would try is putting them in a box with a generous helping of baking soda sprinkled around them. I’ve had a lot of luck de-stinkifying things with baking soda. Let it sit for a few days at least, but keep checking on the cards just to make sure they’re ok.
Maybe someone will be by soon with a better solution.
Yes, that would be my plan. Actually, I’d put them in a shallow dish–aluminum pie plate or something rather than a ziploc bag, with as much surface area as possible, with the cards near but not touching, inside a closed area.
And, just in case you can’t tell–I’d only use one at a time, not all 3.
I’d put them on a rack, like a cake cooling rack, which is placed over the deodorizing agent. Then I’d put some sort of covering over the cards and rack. You want activated charcoal for absorbing the odor, by the way.
Sunshine and fresh air are good for helping to unsmoke stuff, but sunshine might fade your cards unacceptably. If you have some in the lot that are duplicates, in bad shape, or are otherwise unworthy, you can TRY pinning them up on a clothesline on a sunny day. But I wouldn’t try this on anything I wanted to be perfect.
My grandfather smoked like a chimney, and I moved into his home when he died. Sometimes things just can’t be salvaged.
I’d put them in a drawer with a tumble dryer sheet (or a product like this, perhaps scented soap or tissue with a small amount of scented oil) and leave them in there for a while. Just remember not to let the sheets touch the postcards as they can sometimes leave a stain/mark - you dont want to ruin them.
hope you get it sorted - i know i hate things that smell of smoke.
The smell will likely fade on its own in time. My SO used to smoke in his apartment, and consequently some photos and a letter he sent me were distinctly smoky when I received them. It took some time, maybe a year, but the smell gradually faded to the point where I had to stick my nose right against it to detect the scent. Now you can’t smell it at all.
I didn’t air them out or do anything special to get rid of the scent. I stored both in an envelope on my bookshelf.
