A while ago I bought an Easton Press copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame on eBay, and the seller didn’t mention that it came from a smoking household. When the book came and I went to smell it (like I do with all books without really thinking about it!) I was disappointed by the unmistakable smell of cigarette smoke. I decided to keep the book because it was a really good deal (and now I guess I know why it was so cheap) so I want to see if I can salvage it.
I bought cedar wood blocks and sealed the book in a plastic bag with planks of cedar on every side of the book. I left in there for an entire month, occasionally moving the cedar blocks around, and when I took the book out,it smelled a lot better, but not completely normal. I didn’t want to put it in my shelf with my other leather-bound books if there was a chance the cigarette smell would transfer, so I bought two cheap books from my local library’s book sale as a trial run. I sandwiched my Hunchback of Notre Dame between the two books, and after a week, the covers of the other books did smell faintly of cigarette smoke.
Does anyone have any suggestions for this situation? Has anyone successfully gotten the smell of cigarettes completely out of a leather-bound book?
by Tempest_in_a_TARDIS