I ordered team sweatshirts for my girls' cheerleading team from a woman who does rhinestone clothes out of her house. We got a great deal, but she took forever. I finally picked up everything today and it reeks of smoke!
I can't take them back, she did custom work and we've already paid her. Plus, the girls' have their first meet this weekend and I wanted everyone to have everything to pass out on Thursday, our last practice.
I feel embarrassed to give the parents these sweatshirts smelling like smoke!
I can't put them in the dryer with dryer sheets because the directions say NOT to dry the sweatshirts or it heats the rhinestones and they fall off.
I could wash them all, but then the sweatshirts won't look brand new.
Any suggestions? Should I just hang them out in my garage and give them to the parents as-is and tell them they have to wash them before wearing?
Try airing them out and spraying with febreeze (I use the anti-allergy one occassionally). That will help with the "new" look if not exactly the "new" smell.
Turn them inside out and wash them on gentle with liquid fabric softener and a colorsafe liquid detergent (I like Wisk). Hang dry. That will prevent color fade, get the smell out, and keep the rhinestones on the shirts.
I know... GASP... But I am a smoker. I still HATE when my daughter comes back to my house (which is smoke free btw) from my mother's house... My mom chain smokes in her house and so does my stepdad. The only way you're going to get that smell out is by washing them the way I stated.
ETA- I completely agree that it's unprofessional of her to smoke anywhere near the work she's doing for others. I do cakes for friends and family (like the ones you see on the cake shows) and there isn't a time that I smoke during that process without changing my shirt, washing my hands, and then I would proceed... And there's NO SMOKING in my home!
Im about to move into a place that just reeks of cig smoke. I googled it and the best answer I could find was to boil vinegar in water. maybe use a humidifier with vinegar inside & hang the shirts in the bathroom for a few hours with that, then lots of febreeze & hang them outside. We have a product here called orange TKO which Ive bought at London Drugs & home depot. It does neutralize smells like smoke you would dilute it with water & spray. * I would tell the woman, thats very unprofessional.
Spray them with Febreeze and air them out. Air them and spray them once inside out and them outside in. Hope this helps.
If it is too cold to air them outside you may want to hang them up so they can get air through and put a fan on one side for about 1hour on each side (inside/outside, front & back).
I would let the lady know and ask for a discount!
Airing them out alone will not get the smell out completely. You need to wash them so either wash them now and allow them to air dry or give them out asap and notify the team to wash first and specify air drying.
I would second the washing inside out, using cold water and color safe detergent-maybe Woolite to do a gentle cleaning. Then hang up to dry. If you wash them today, they should be dry without a problem by Thursday. Unless they are really cheap material they should not get too bad with one wash. Hanging outside might not be a great help, though it has warmed up to a pleasant 30 degrees.
Try a pre-wash with Oxy Clean. I don't get to laundry right away, but I realized detergent alone didn't always get the pee smell out of my son's pajamas when they get wet or soaked overnight. I started adding Oxy Clean, and that has gotten rid of the smell. I can't guarantee it will work for smoke, but it's worth trying. Be sure to let the woman know - hopefully she'll give you a discount. I'd also tell the other parents even if you do manage to get the smell out before distributing the sweatshirts. That way, they also know that you went the extra mile in addition to ordering and picking up the sweatshirts. Good luck!
I would definitely complain to her about this. She may not realize it (you know people with BO don't know they smell, either). She'll most likely apologize at the very least and let her know that if she continues this practice you won't be coming back nor recommending her to others even though she does good work.
Ugh. This is why I stopped getting alterations done by a certain woman. Hang them outside if you can. They will probably need to be washed...can they be washed?
I would also let her know.
take them to the dry cleaner, tell them you need the smoke smell out but you cant wash them.
I HATE that smell. My husband owns a bar and b4 the smoking ban his coats would stink. I was taught a trick that I thought would never work but it did. If you put the items in the freezer for some reason the smoke smell comes out. we had to leave it in there overnight. So if you can make room in ur freezer do that. If not I'd try febreeze?
I know there is a spray called Smoke Out that works well. It might be a little hard to find, but if there is a tobacco shop around you might check with them. I don't know that it would work any better than febreeze though. Just a thought.
If you don't want to wash them you could just febreeze them like crazy and then hang them out in the fresh air for a while-
Could you try febreeze? Or spraying them with baking soda water and putting them in the sun to dry.
I did this with books that my sister in law gave us, and they smelled so bad. I took two of the baking soda boxes that are for the fridge/freezer and put the books and boxes in a ziploc bag and let them sit in there and it worked. Thinking if you bought several boxes and put them in a garbage bag it might work.
Good luck!
