Kilts and cigarette smoke

[cavscout]

Personally, I don't believe you can ever get all the order out. Leave the kilt in a warm car for a little while and the heat will release the order even if you think it is clean. The owner will spend the life of the kilt trying to cover the odor. Someone who is de-sensitized to smoke may not notice the odor if it is weak but someone who is never around smoke will pick it up immediately. Cigarette smoke just has one of those strong, distinct odors that is virtually impossible to get rid of.

[The Barry]

I started this thread because I was curious about all y'all's experience in how lingering the smell is.

It lingers.. And lingers, and lingers.. Cigarette smoke is notorious for not leaving when invited to do so. Which is why if you wear a cotton shirt to the pub and wash it afterward, you can sometimes still smell it.

And if it's a dress shirt, and (if you're lazy like me) have it dry cleaned, same story, you can often smell it afterward.

Which is why I love WA, smoking ban. Now I can hang out in a pub, wear me kilt, watch me some soccer, come home smelling like The Barry, and not the butt can.

[1MUNK3]

I personally would not tolerate it and that is coming from an ex smoker of many years. The mere smell disgusts me now. I have never received a garment that reeks of smoke, but after being around those that do smoke I take off what I'm wearing and throw it in the wash and then proceed to take a shower. Unless the whole pipe band are smokers, then I would most certainly refrain from smoking while working on the kilts PERIOD. If one needs one that bad, go outside, away from the work station, smoke, go to a sink and wash hands with SOAP and HOT water to get the stinky tar smell off. If it is bad you can also use rubbing alchohol to get the scent off and of course wash has usual. Febreeze will not cut it. It will end up smelling like fresh spring flowers (or whatever scent you choose) with a heavy dose of nasty smoke stench. Wool likes to keep a hold of smells. You have to be careful. I will not wear my kilt in areas filled with smokers.

[cessna152towser]

I'd be very angry indeed if I received a "new" kilt and it already reeked of cigarette smoke.
This woman has a serious issue.
If she is unable to quit her smoking addiction, she at least needs to go outside for a smoke and ensure that her workshop is a smoke free area otherwise she is never going to make it as a kiltmaker.

[Riverkilt]

I remember that when I ordered my first SportKilts back when they arrived reeking of smoke - not wool of course, but still reeking of cigarette smoke. I just washed them and that took the smell out. Know you can't do that with wool kilts.

I'd also be concerned about a hot ash falling on the work if the smoking kiltmaker became so engrossed in the work.

Whenever I used to have to go to a smoke filled venue - back before Arizona passed laws to eliminate them - I'd always chose to wear a washable kilt.

So sad that folks have become so hooked on nicotine. There are much less dangerous nicotine delivery systems than smoke...lozenges, gum, patches, inhalers...and plenty of support groups for them with a hankerin' to break free of such sad addiction.

Ron
Who quit his four pack a day habit back when the price of a pack went from 20 cents to 21 cents because he was too cheap to pay the extra penny a pack Philip Morris wanted for his precious Marlboros.

[Spartan]

Key is that the workshop has to be smoke free. As cavscout mentioned, smokers are desensitized to the odor of cigarette smoke and don't realize the signature that they are leaving behind them.

I do know that ozone chambers are sometimes used for smoke odor removal for things that have been in a fire. You would need to check with professional cleaners. That's an after the fact solution. Better to prevent it in the first place.

Thankfully, Arizona has a universal no smoking law in all public places (and within 20 feet of the entrance).

[Nervous Jock]

Hi folks

I have been teaching a person how to make kilts, and she's a smoker. Although she doesn't smoke around me, when she comes to visit me, the reek of cigarette smoke is very strong, and the two kilts that she has made to date are smelly enough that I wouldn't want either one in my house. She's now about to make a whole bunch of kilts for her pipe band.

So, the question is this. What's your experience with cigarette smoke and kilts? Have any of you ever received a kilt that you've ordered and had it smell of cigarette smoke? Would airing such a kilt get rid of it, or would it stink every time you got it back out of a garment bag?

Airing would probably work eventually with Dry cleaning probably. but from a business point of view she won't do any if she doesn't stop

[gilmore]

Barb, I admire your courage in forging ahead into what might be an unpleasant encounter that nonetheless needs very much to be addressed. You are doing her a favor, and she should thank you for bringing it up.

I once had an aquaintaince, the friend of a friend, who owned a boutique that sold upper-end ladies' ready to wear---a lot of the clothes were intended for cruises and warm weather vacations--- and who smoked like a chimney. You could smell it some distance from her shop. Her milieu was middle and upper class Southern ladies, and my guess is that everyone who knew her was too polite to say anything about it. She wound up going out of business. I strongly suspect that her selling clothes that reeked of cigarette smoke had something to do with it.

I have not much advice to contribute. I usually try to determine if a place has a non-smoking policy before wearing a good kilt to it by going to the place's website or calling first. If it can't be determined, I don't wear one of my better kilts, but maybe one of an acrylic, "Designed in Scotland" fashion tartan.

If there is smoking, I don't go, or if I go, don't stay long, or stay outside on a patio or deck if possible, and when I get home, I hang the kilt up by itself away from the other kilts to air it out. That has worked well so far.

[jmercier]

Unfortunately my experience with smokers, including close relatives, is they not only dont realize how badly they reek, but take offense to being told they stink too, because they take it as someone telling them to stop smoking and get defensive and beligerant.

I wouldnt tolerate a garment with as much $$ investment as a kilt arriving and smelling like a smoke shop.

[Pleater]

The smell lingers for years.

Wool seems particularly absorbant, and I have some clothes I used to wear when I went out to folk clubs and the smell is still there after decades.

Well done for bringing it to her attention - it is something very sensitive, but it really is important that smokers realise just what an impact the smell has.

I used to walk a couple of miles further to buy bread because the closest baker's shop was run by someone who smoked. It filled the shop and could be smelt on the paper used to wrap the loaves, and on the packaging for the sandwiches etc.

When I mentioned it to one of the shop assistants who lived near me, they were really surprised as the manager did not smoke in the shop - but he did not need to, he was surrounded by the smell from his clothes, his hands and his breath.

Anne the Pleater