# Getting rid of the smell of cigarette smoke on a guitar!



## edkaye (Aug 20, 2011)

OK, so last weekend, I got a great deal on a used Gibson SG Robot. When I met the guy to look it over, I thought it was him that smelled like cigarettes, but when I got home, the smell was still hanging around, and then I realised... it's the damned guitar!

Has anyone encountered this before? Over the last week, I have left it out of the case to air out, I have tried wiping it all over the body and neck with Lysol disinfectant wipes, and have sprayed it several times with Febreeze, but that freaking smell won't go away.

I'm a non-smoker, and grew up in a house where my mum smoked 40 a day, and finally died of lung cancer. So I cannot stand the lingering smell of smoke. 

If I touch it, I smell like cheap fags! I need a priest to exorcise this thing!

If I can't get rid of the smell, I'm going to have to sell it on to someone less discriminating.

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!


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## Vinchester (Aug 20, 2011)

I think the problem is that the case is still smoked and that makes your guitar smelly. You have to wipe it a bit and put it out in the sun for a couple of hours.


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## edkaye (Aug 20, 2011)

Vinchester said:


> I think the problem is that the case is still smoked and that makes your guitar smelly. You have to wipe it a bit and put it out in the sun for a couple of hours.



Yeah, I've been keeping it out of the case on a stand. It's in the house though. Maybe I'll leave it out on the balcony for the day!


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## SavM (Aug 20, 2011)

+1 on the case. I bought my guitar and it smelt of cigs, but now the smell has gone. I guess it's just a matter of waiting it out.


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## Opion (Aug 20, 2011)

Yeah, just let it air out for a little while - my Avatar 2x12 I bought used smelled of cigarette smoke from probably being a smoked-out household, but it eventually went away away a month or two. So as long as you keep it out in the open for a bit like you said, it should be fine.


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## Kwirk (Aug 20, 2011)

Like everyone else said, you just have to wait it out. Might take a few months to get rid of it completely. I traded one of my guitars for one of my friend's and it reeked of cigarettes. Made the entire room smell, but eventually it went away.


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## Deadnightshade (Aug 20, 2011)

Chew 20 gums at once and then lick the whole guitar.

If you feel uncomfortable with the lingering danger of having genetic material stolen at a gig,wait it out as proposed above.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Aug 20, 2011)

Yeah got my amp head reeking of cigs, it took a lil over a month before it went away.

The biggest thing that helped me (and I wiped this thing down with everything) was getting all the dust out of every nook and cranny and then leaving dryer sheets all over and in it. Them shits are powerful. 

Highly recommend wrapping the thing in dryer sheets (not literally, maybe literally) and then waiting it out. 

Short of a refinish or sanding off every surface of the guitar (and I'm not even sure that'd work) I don't the smell ever entire goes away.


Just keep in mind next time that if the dude reeks of cigarettes everything he owns probably does too. People who smoke are completely ignorant to it.


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## djpharoah (Aug 20, 2011)

Febreze the inside of the guitar case and let it air out for like 24hrs. Also if you want take a bit of the Febreze and spray some on a soft cloth and then wipe your guitar down.


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## Kodee_Kaos (Aug 20, 2011)

Smoke Cuban cigars around it. The powerful cigar stench will easily mask the cigarette smoke.


Other option: Baking soda in case, sprinkled on guitar. Let sit a while. Remove powder with air duster/air compressor. I had a really stinky guitar once. In fact was a Gibson SG..Smelled like it had been in a flooded mold-infested basement for years.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Aug 20, 2011)

I tried febreezing / baking soda method for days at a time and neither helped much if at all. 


Not saying don't try it, just don't get your hopes up as these methods seem to do nothing for cigarette smell. The problem is the cigarette smell isn't just a smell but a film wrapped around the object thats letting smell out so no matter how much flowering up you try to do whatever you put on it has to be stronger / more persistent than the smell coming off the film.


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## edkaye (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks guys. Well, most of you!

Most of the offensiveness of the smell has gone away by using Lysol wipes on all the surfaces. They have a mild anionic surfactant on them, which lifted a lot of the tar. I think most of the rest is coming off the wood parts, which tend to absorb smells. I'm leaving it out of the balcony all day today (hope it doesn't get stolen), then tomorrow, I'm going to lather the fretboard in lemon oil, and leave it standing for 30 mins. Hopefully the lemon oil will do a lot for the smell on the board, as this stuff is great for lifting crap out of the wood.

I'll let you know how it goes.


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## gunch (Aug 21, 2011)

edkaye said:


> Thanks guys. Well, most of you!
> 
> Most of the offensiveness of the smell has gone away by using Lysol wipes on all the surfaces. They have a mild anionic surfactant on them, which lifted a lot of the tar. I think most of the rest is coming off the wood parts, which tend to absorb smells. I'm leaving it out of the balcony all day today (hope it doesn't get stolen), then tomorrow, I'm going to lather the fretboard in lemon oil, and leave it standing for 30 mins. Hopefully the lemon oil will do a lot for the smell on the board, as this stuff is great for lifting crap out of the wood.
> 
> I'll let you know how it goes.



Yeah dude lemon oil the shit out of your board.

Let it sit for a while and wipe it up with a soft cloth.


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## VILARIKA (Aug 21, 2011)

Axe.


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## Miek (Aug 21, 2011)

He wants to make it smell less bad, not more bad


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## atticmike (Aug 22, 2011)

Put it in your girlfriends dressing area and it'll smell like beauty shop after two or three days, word!


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## GuitaristOfHell (Aug 22, 2011)

I got rid of the smell on containers that REEKED of smoke with bleach. I don't think you want to use that on a guitar though.


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## Mindcrime1204 (Aug 22, 2011)

I think it was a mod that told me that after a few years of using lemon oil it started loosening a few frets on his guitar.

I'd switch to somethin like boar oil next year for cleanin the fretboard.


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## Mindcrime1204 (Aug 22, 2011)

VILARIKA said:


> Axe.


 

lol @ "shower in a can"


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## poisonelvis (Aug 22, 2011)

i use whiskey,but now my guitar smells like uncle joe,he cries alot,and likes to stare at trees.


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## Razzy (Aug 22, 2011)

Rub it with bacon. Nothing has a stronger smell than bacon, and it smells awesome.


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## poisonelvis (Aug 22, 2011)

hmmmm,bacon


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## engage757 (Aug 22, 2011)

djpharoah said:


> Febreze the inside of the guitar case and let it air out for like 24hrs. Also if you want take a bit of the Febreze and spray some on a soft cloth and then wipe your guitar down.




Do this with febreze several times and alternate with Odo-ban. Then maybe some lemon oil after it starts to dissipate.


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## Ancestor (Aug 22, 2011)

SavM said:


> +1 on the case. I bought my guitar and it smelt of cigs, but now the smell has gone. I guess it's just a matter of waiting it out.



it can take some time, depending on how much the person smoked. just let it air out. there is some stuff online about getting the smell out of a car. you could use some of those techniques for the case probably -- charcoal, white vinegar, etc.


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## TheSixthWheel (Aug 23, 2011)

I've only ever bought 3 guitars new, so as an owner of mainly used guitars, let me assist.

Airing the guitar out is the long way, taking everything apart and wiping/scrubbing it clean is more work, but leaves you with a faster result of a smoke free smell. 
There's a thin layer of smoke residue on every exposed surface of your guitar. Reaching and wiping as many of those surfaces as possible will result in a fresher smelling guitar and case.
It's this residue which sticks to the surface of every component of a guitar and slowly fades but rarely leaves entirely. Residue hides under the bridge, in the pickup cavities and even the side and bottom surfaces of the pickups themselves, where you can't easily access and wipe them down.

Failing the disassembly and reassembly of your new guitar, get a couple of cans of compressed air (or even better, an air compressor if you have access to one!) and just blast all the hard to reach areas. Even spraying the case interior will dislodge a lot of the smoke particles/residue and leave you with a better smelling case. Leave the empty case open, outside in the sun for short periods too.

Stay away from nasty chemical cleaners. You should only need to use the regular cleaners associated with proper guitar maintenance.

Hope this helps!


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## faekildare (Aug 24, 2011)

Cheesebuiscut said:


> I tried febreezing / baking soda method for days at a time and neither helped much if at all.
> 
> 
> Not saying don't try it, just don't get your hopes up as these methods seem to do nothing for cigarette smell. The problem is the cigarette smell isn't just a smell but a film wrapped around the object thats letting smell out so no matter how much flowering up you try to do whatever you put on it has to be stronger / more persistent than the smell coming off the film.



How bout re buffing it? That should get rid of the film?


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## gilsontsang (Aug 24, 2011)

I use the Fender Polishing Spray and it polishes well and got rid of the smell. However for the inside, it still got a smell on the side though.


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## munizfire (Aug 24, 2011)

yea, when I bought my LTD, the case smelled of cigarettes too much, so did the guitar...

I left it out in the sun for a WHOLE day (the guitar on top of a towel on the grass, and it's case right by it's side) and used a bit of febreeze on the case as well.

That night, used some lemon oil on the fretboard, more febreeze on the case, and put them in a humidity controlled closet we have..

By morning the guitar was WAY better (it took 1 week for the smell to disappear, or for me to get used to it, lol), but the case took like 3 more weeks...


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