SInce i have been a member i have gotten comments on how my books are in good condition and i want to keep it that way, but i recently got some boxes of books(not PBS members), and was disappointed that the books are in prettty good shape, just have a slight smoke smell...i dont  want people here to blacklist me and think all my books have that smell...we are a non smoking family .....

i still want to post some of these books that i dont want to read or have already read, so do i tag them with a slight smoke smell tag ?

any suggestions?

thank you

Paula

You cannot list conditions of individual books in any way. If your really worried you can pm people that order from you to let them know but personally I would accept them and mail as long as there were no conditions against smells. I live in a smoking house as do a lot of other members so a lot of books out there are gonna smell a little or sometimes a lot of smoke. Thats the beauty of requestor conditions. If someone doesnt want a book that smells they can have that as their condition.

I have also heard that you can eliminate the smoke smell by putting the affected books in a ziploc bag with a dryer sheet.  Haven't tried it myself, but that's the word on the street.

I live in a smoking household.  When someone requests a book from me, I take it to the laundry room and sit it on the washer (not running of course) and I put a box of dryer sheets on top.  I take it out the next day and wrap it.  I wouldn't send these books to someone requesting "smoke-free" conditions, but I think this procedure lessens the smell.

Unfortunatly, sometimes the "flowery" smell of dryer sheets IS JUST AS GROSS to some of us as the smoky smell. I would be very wary of sending books that have been "treated" to people who have no smoky books condition.

Or You could just sit the open box somewhere to air out for a while. A covered porch or the garage. Unscented clay cat litter will absorb some of the smell, or baking soda. Set a container of litter or an open box of baking soda inside the box and let it sit for a bit, after a few days rearrange the books so the ones on the bottom can get some air. If the smokey smell is overwhelming, but them in an airtight container, or a big plastic garbage bag, put the baking soda or litter in too, and seal it up. Let it be for a week or so. They will be postable in no time.

Please do not use fabric sheets. That is an oil that cannot be removed from the book, whereas the residue from cigarette smoke can be eliminated (unless it is EXTREMELY harsh, and I've had 2 of those :)

Consider borrowing a cup or two of unscented kitty litter from a friend with a cat. Combine a handful or so of baking soda with the litter in a brown paper bag. Place a couple of books at a time in the bag, store them for a couple weeks in an out of the way place (in a garage or enclosed porch would be best) Then set them on a window sill or someplace out of the way, if they still have any residue on them. Open the books and fan the pages apart a bit. This should finish airing out the odor.

Or, as Cheryl said, for the really harsh ones, try the airtight method with the litter & soda. I've had it work on all but the 2 harsh ones. I once got a very large box of romance, that I refused to combine with the rest of my books until they were odor free. They aired out with no problems at all!

I might have to start a condition if I keep hearing this dryer sheet thing. Please dont use dryer sheets. I cannot be the only person in the world with this allergy. I am allergic to most brands (I say most because at this point Im too afraid to try the rest) I break out badly when I come in contact with them.

I've gotten some smoky smelling books, and have aired them out by just propping them up so the pages are fanned out and leaving them for a couple of weeks.  The smell doesn't totally go away but it becomes mild enough for me to read the book.  I once bought a box of books from EBay and the entire box was VERY moldy smelling.  Needless to say, they had to be thrown away, there was no way to stop mold without maybe heat treating every page and they certainly weren't worth the trouble.  I also recently got a PBS book that smelled so strongly of Lysol that it just about knocked me over when I opened the plastic envelope.  There was a slight underlying smell of smoke, so I have a feeling it was an attempt to get rid of the smoke.  I PMd the person, who of course said, it smelled fine when it left her house, and said she'd been having trouble with her post office recently!  (Yes, I'm sure her post office is injecting lysol into her envelopes--the outside didn't smell, it only smelled when I opened the envelope.)  That one is airing out too but I don't know how it will turn out! 

Don't tag it smokey smell because if I understand the system correctly, All books with that title will have that tag.  I think if you just watch requestors conditions you'll be ok.  If they have no smoke in thier conditions just cancel the request. 

Paula, lots and lots of folks get books from all sorts of outside sources, friends, the FLO sales, thrift stores.  Most people know that they are not always going to get a book sent to them from the original owner.  I would simply watch for conditions and decline those requests that apply, and continue trading. 

I would leave the books out to air. If a request comes in requesting books from non-smoking home or non-smoke smell then decline the request based on conditions. If the person didn't have a non-smoking request they can't complain if the book has a slight smoke smell.  Chances are by the time they get requested and sent out the smell will be gone. Especially if you've let them air out.

I have only gotten one really smelly book.  It spend about 2 weeks on the back porch and was fine when i brought it in. It has now gone to its new home.