Kilts and cigarette smoke

[Barb T]

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?

[george7]

You have to get it to the dry cleaner and have tell them it needs to be deodorized. Otherwise she'll have to stop smoking, bathe, then work on kilts somewhere she doesn't smoke. That tar is sticky enough to stick to wet snot-covered surfaces in your lungs... it's not easy to get out of dry course fabric. I won't play smoke filled bars on my bagpipes, mostly for the health, but it's also $$$ I have to spend to smell good again.

[Kerr the Walker]

I've never ordered a kilt and had it come smelling like cigarette smoke. But an all-out smoking ban has just gotten passed here in VA, and the bars I tend to frequent used to allow smoking. A strong measure of Febreeze and a good lengthy airing out (preferably in front of an open window) was needed to get the cigarette smoke smell out of the kilts.

[george7]

The febreeze is probably a good home remedy... but these are for a pipe band. I would be offended if I ordered a brand new garment and it smelt like cigarettes and febreeze.

[Rex_Tremende]

I've worn my kilt into places that could have used a lighthouse and fog horns to navigate through, and wouldn't go to bed without showering first. A day or two of airing out and there were no lasting effects. However, you're talking about how someone handles someone else's stuff, and I think that's a different thing. Beyond the engineering that goes into constructing a kilt, I hope she is also getting some coaching on customer service and expectations. I wouldn't want to receive brand new kilt smelled like a 1970s era bowling alley. She will need to take extra precautions in where she stores her tartan, not smoking while stitching, washing her hands after breaks, etc.

Regards
Rex.

[duchessofnc]

Barb, while the woman probably won't appreciate the comment or critique of the garments she is producing are smelly, it would be doing her a disservice to her and her future clients if it wasn't gently commented on. I know for example, that I have asthma and just being in a space that is recently smoked in or sitting close to a person who is a heavy smoker can set my asthma off.

And I know that if I buy a fabric article that I expect said article to not smell of an individuals addiction ( I loathe the term habit ) . My concern about using a chemical like Febreeze is while Febreeze is fortunately not something that sets me off) that someone else may have an allergy to it and that the kilt may have to go to a professional dry clearner to deodorize.

[Kerr the Walker]

The febreeze is probably a good home remedy... but these are for a pipe band. I would be offended if I ordered a brand new garment and it smelt like cigarettes and febreeze.

Agree 100%. A new garment should be...well....new.

On the plus side, if the whole band ordered from her, at least they'd be uniform in their kilt's odor

[The Barry]

Wool + smoke = death.. Ok, I exaggerate.

Smoke is a very sticky substance, and wool, as we all know, is rather adherent itself.

Bottom line, I can't imagine a way (febreeze, air, other environment, etc) where she will be able to make kilts for her entire pipe band, and not name them the Ash Tray Pipers.

Even if she's not smoking at the time, it's in her lungs, on her clothes, on her hands, etc.. She'll be rubbing it into every yard of fabric that she handles, and febreeze won't be able to touch the damage that she'll do. Chemicals will just mask, so getting that smoke out of the wool is your only bet.

The question is, how do you do that without messing up the kilt? That's beyond my pay grade.

[Phogfan86]

Something needs to be said. If you're uncomfortable doing it, is there someone in the band who could?

[Barb T]

Barb, while the woman probably won't appreciate the comment or critique of the garments she is producing are smelly, it would be doing her a disservice to her and her future clients if it wasn't gently commented on.

I agree totally, although I was a coward and didn't mention it face to face when I saw her yesterday because I was afraid she would actually be embarrassed. I emailed her this morning before I made this post and mentioned it to her. She hasn't replied yet - I just couldn't let it go, and I wasn't sure that she even recognizes that she has an odor issue.

I started this thread because I was curious about all y'all's experience in how lingering the smell is. I googled how to remove the smell, and it doesn't seem as easy as I thought it might be.