The Smell of Smoke and Grandmas

The past few days have been my fall break from school (long awaited and much needed!), and my dad, sister, and I went on our annual father-daughter camping trip.  It was a LOT of fun, and very rejuvenating.  I'm ready to start the last half of the semester off well!

On the way back we stopped at a flea market (yes, I chop wood then buy girly stuff at flea markets without blinking an eye; it's weird), and I found this pinkish-maroon 1950s hat for five bucks!!!  While not perfect, it's a unique color and definitely in my poor college student price range.

However, after being with my camping stuff and in a flea market, the hat smelled like wood smoke/grandmas/flea market musty.  My mother, a basically professional hospitality/creativity/homemaking lady, had a solution that I'm sure you will all find useful:

How to Remove Icky Smells From Items You Can't Wash

Needed:

- smelly item

- paper bag

- newspaper

- Febreze (optional)

Take your smelly item and place it in the paper bag.

Wad up sheets of newspaper and spray Febreze on them.  (The spray is optional, but it will give the item a clean smell.)

Put the newspaper wads in the paper bag with the smelly item and leave it for a day or two.  (I left my hat overnight.)  The newspaper will absorb the smell and your item will smell great, and you don't have to worry about ruining it with cleaner or water stains!  

*Additional tip:  If you're afraid the newsprint ink will rub off on your item, wrap the item in white tissue paper for one layer, then surround with newspaper.

(My smoky-smelling backpack or other such items can be filled with newspaper wads, and this gets rid of the smell for bigger items.)