If your baseball cards smell like smoke, you’ll want to deal with it right away. Storing cards with strong scents only makes them stick around and more challenging to get rid of. Luckily, it’s pretty easy for you to get rid of the smell.
There are a few ways to remove smoke smells from your baseball cards. You want to temporarily store them next to a bowl of white vinegar or opened baking soda. It’s also helpful to air them out when you can. There are even more methods to try as well.
Overall, there are several strategies you can use to remove odors from your baseball cards safely. White vinegar is one of the most popular options since it tends to work well. Plus, many people already have this inexpensive ingredient in their kitchens.
How to Remove Smoke Smell From Baseball Cards
Did you recently buy cards online, then got a whiff of a strong cigarette smell when you opened the package? This problem happens a lot more than people realize! Many sellers list their items as “from a smoke-free home” for this reason.
However, now that you have the cards, there’s no reason to get rid of them. Getting the smoke smell out of your new baseball cards is very simple and won’t damage them. Once finished, you shouldn’t be able to smell lingering smoke at all!
These are all of the best methods for removing smoke smells safely from your trading cards:
Store With White Vinegar
The most popular method is to store your baseball cards with a fresh bowl of white vinegar. You want to ensure the liquid can’t get on your cards, but otherwise, it’s very safe and highly effective. Many people use white vinegar to remove smoke smells from all areas of their homes.
Start by placing your bowl of vinegar in a cooler or other tightly sealed, large container. Then, place the baseball cards around the bowl. The smell should be gone after just one night! White vinegar is very effective in dealing with foul odors.
While white vinegar has a strong smell, it won’t stick to your cards for long. As it dissipates, you can expect it to remove the cigarette smells with it.
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Store With Baking Soda
Another option is to store your baseball cards with baking soda. Much like white vinegar, baking soda is excellent for removing bad smells from all kinds of materials.
To do this, you’ll need a sealable plastic bag. Place the baseball cards inside, then sprinkle them lightly with baking soda. You want to make sure the baking soda is fresh first. Then, leave the bag sealed overnight- the smell should be entirely gone by the morning.
Even though the baking soda makes direct contact with the cards, it won’t damage them. This ingredient is a powder, so you can brush it off when finished with it. However, you need to make sure it’s very dry first, which is why you’ll want to use a new box that you never put in the fridge.
Air Them Out
Next, giving your cards some time to air out also helps immensely. To do this, place the cards outside in a safe location, where you know that no one will bother them. You want to put them in an open, tall container so that they don’t blow away.
Airing out your cards works best when used with another method. For example, you could air them out for a day, then use the white vinegar trick overnight. This process would work well for baseball cards that carry a very heavy smoke scent.
You also need to check the weather when you want to do this! It would not be good if your cards got rained on.
Dryer Sheets
Additionally, dryer sheets are another great tool to use. You likely have these items at home as well, so it saves you a few dollars.
To use the dryer sheets, simply place two at the bottom of a container. Next, you put the cards on top of the sheets, then seal the box up. You don’t need to worry about the dryer sheets harming the cards at all!
Finally, let the container sit overnight with the cards. When you open the cards, most of the smoke scent should be gone. This method isn’t as efficient as using baking soda or white vinegar. The smoke smell may also linger if it’s powerful when you put them into the box.
Still, dryer sheets are great for dealing with lighter cigarette smells. If you need to freshen up your baseball cards in a pinch, it’s the best choice.
Use White Rice
White rice is a very absorbent food! You can use it to absorb water and smells from the air. Because of its properties, white rice can help remove some moisture and foul odors from your baseball cards.
Simply pour a layer of dry rice into the bottom of a small container, then place your cards on top. You can add another layer of rice and cards if you have a lot you want to fix.
Rice won’t harm your cards at all, as long as it isn’t wet. You can leave the cards for a few days to allow the rice to remove as much smoke from them as possible. Make sure to throw out the rice afterward!
Final Thoughts
In short, if you happen to notice a strong tobacco scent attached to your new trading cards, don’t panic! There are different materials that you can utilize to remove foul odors. Often, the best practices include storing the cards with something to remove the scent.
It should only take a day for the smell to come out of the cards unless it is very potent when you receive them. None of the above methods will damage your baseball cards so that you can proceed with confidence.
Overall, you don’t want to store the cards with smoke smells still on them. Doing so allows the scent to settle and worsen with time.