Smoky smell.

[Whitworth]

Hanging it outside in the sun every chance you get may help.

 

[kje54]

Try Febreze.

Please NO!!!
We are a definitely only a small fraction of the general population but those of us who are allergic to artificial colognes, perfumes and added scents would thank you all for NOT using Febreze.
I'd rather have to deal with cig smoke than any masking scent. Those of us who suffer from this misory would be most appreciative.

 

[thompson50]

Seal it up in a garbage bag with some charcoal briquettes for a couple of weeks. I guarantee you this will get rid of the smell.

Yeah!? Okay, I’ve tried just about everything else. If this doesn’t work then I’m going to need a new sheath. Know of anyone who can make a decent sheath? Hint hint

 

[thompson50]

I find it hard to believe that a man could smoke enough cigarette's to infuse the shieth of a knife to the point that it is offensive to a non-smoker. I have however used saddle soap on leathers giving off a somewhat pungent aroma that one could describe as a bitter smokey smell.
Robby

You wouldn’t believe how bad the smell was! I just got the smell out of the maple scales and the damn blade! The blade smelled like smoke too!

 

[Notchy Bob]

I think @tallpine is on the right track. Seal it up with some natural wood charcoal chunks for a week or two, and let us know how it works!

I bought a couple of smoked, "commercial brain tanned" buckskins a few years ago. When these were delivered, the UPS driver commented on the odor of the package. Smoked braintan is supposed to smell "woodsy," maybe a little like smoked bacon, but these hides were like an open can of creosote! I couldn't keep them in the house. I made sort of a "towel rack" arrangement on the screened back porch and hung the skins on it for six weeks, until the smell settled down enough to bring them inside. They are fine now. Maybe the OP can try that with his sheath.

I started smoking cigarettes when I was 14. Almost all of the adult males, a great many women, and a lot of teenaged boys smoked back then, at least where I lived. By my senior year in high school, I was waking up every morning with a productive smoker's cough. I watched tobacco slowly killing my dad, and then saw something inspirational written in The Last Whole Earth Catalog and I decided to give up smoking. Before the end of the school year, I quit. It took a couple of years to get completely over it. However, I have learned that people who smoke will never be able to understand how much odor their habit produces, or how much the smell permeates everything in the household. Even, and perhaps especially, old books. I also think cigarette smoke is a lot ranker than pipe or cigar smoke, but that's just a personal opinion.

I'm not picking on smokers. A lot of people started smoking when they were quite young, before having developed the ability to make sound judgements about healthy living, and cigarettes are notoriously addictive. Once you realize how bad it is, you are already hooked. Quitting smoking can be one of the hardest things a person can do. I worked in healthcare for 30 years, and a major part of my caseload was made up of people with head and neck cancers and pulmonary disease. Only a miniscule proportion of these were nonsmokers.

It has been quite a few years since I read about Ishi, but I seem to recall that either Theodora Kroeber, who wrote his biography, or Saxton Pope, who wrote an in-depth study of Yahi archery based on his acquaintance with Ishi, stated that Ishi would avoid tobacco products and meats for four days (I think) before a deer hunt. I believe there were practical reasons for this as much as or maybe more than any ritual aspects.

On the other hand, there was Fred Bear, who designed and marketed a cigarette holder that would clip on the upper limb of his bow...

Getting back to the original point, I can understand how leather goods stored in a household with a habitual smoker might pick up the odor of stale cigarette smoke, and emit that odor strongly enough to get the attention of a non-smoker. I would try some natural means of mitigating the smell, like the charcoal treatment suggested by Tallpine, or simply airing it out for as long as it takes before applying any sort of chemical agent to the leather.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Billy Boy]

I have a question for all you crafty ole timers. I bought a knife on here a while ago. It was used and the previous owner was clearly a smoker. I have been trying to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of the sheath for months now. I’ve tried baking soda and even one of those ozone air freshener things. Does anyone have a remedy that would help.

I had the same problem with a canvas coat. Tried everything, no soap. Cured it by starting to smoke again, coat smell vanished.

 

[Brokennock]

Hmmm I've experienced that woodsmoke on my hunting clothes helps me. I even had a buck get wind of me, and instead of scampering off..., he turned and started stamping and huffing at me, and walked toward me. It was too dark to see my sights or he'd a been in the pot for sure. He got tired of trying to get whatever the smell was out of the hedge (where I was hiding) so he sauntered off... of course he left before the sun was up enough for me to shoot... just my luck.

I mentioned this to an "old salt" hunter, who said he thought that hickory or white oak woodsmoke may resemble the scent of a buck, and that buck may have thought a challenger had entered his territory....

LD

I agree. I've never had deer react negatively to the smell of woodsmoke. And, smoke kills the bacteria from our sweat that causes the human odors on our clothes to begin with. I've heard some say that, evolutionarily speaking, deer associate burned wood and leaves with the new growth that follows and thus aren't bothered by it and may be slightly attracted to it,,, not sure how much I believe this.

I also believe deer can be educated, and thus are not repulsed by odors they don't associate with a threat. If they smell something new they generally are curious about it and if nothing bad happens they won't be warned off by it. But, if they smell something and investigate then get shot at and missed or wounded, they will avoid that odor forever. This also applys to certain deer "attactants."

 

[thompson50]

Well I appreciate everyone’s 2 cents, the sheath is now in a bag with some natural lump charcoal. Lucky that’s all I grill with. We will see how it turns out. I just don’t like the smell anymore, I quit smoking about 15 years ago. I did however shoot my biggest buck while smoking. I still think it stinks, but honestly, thanks everyone. I let you all know the results.

 

[LawrenceA]

there is a product called skunk off that may do it.
fabreze is good.

Maybe just rub skunk on it!
That should hide the smell

 

[Whitworth]

If all fails just tote it around like Mr. Hickok

 

[VADSLRAM]

Ozium used to work for wacky backy, or so I was told. I would shy away from soaking it in any fluids like alcohol. That will strip any natural oils too and then you could just have crispy pieces of used to be sheath. Whatever you use I would liberally apply neatsfoot or Dr Jackson's hide rejuvinator, that way the leather will have a chance of sticking around.

 

[sheriff john]

Still smoking Kools for 55 years, ruining everything from my health to car interiors. That "smell" is a combination of not only burned tobacco but also exhaled moisture, lung goo, and ashes. When it settles, the moisture carries the odor onto and into everything sorta like tree sap. Used car salesman told me if he could find a way to remove the cigarette smell from car interiors, he'd make a fortune.

Even my tomcat smells like menthol.

 

[smoothshooter]

I find it hard to believe that a man could smoke enough cigarette's to infuse the shieth of a knife to the point that it is offensive to a non-smoker. I have however used saddle soap on leathers giving off a somewhat pungent aroma that one could describe as a bitter smokey smell.
Robby

the only way I can see it happening is if the knife was stored on a high shelf or peg within a couple feet of the ceiling where tobacco smoke lingers if not vented out.
After my father in law died, his family had to hire a crew to remove the old wallpaper because of the smell and yellow residue on the upper part of the walls. Ceiling had to be sealed and. re-painted.
I spent hours scrubbing with all kinds of cleaners trying to no avail to remove the yellow tint on the 2 return air vents onn the wall.
Smoking is a nasty, annoying, and dangerous habit.

 

[smoothshooter]

Still smoking Kools for 55 years, ruining everything from my health to car interiors. That "smell" is a combination of not only burned tobacco but also exhaled moisture, lung goo, and ashes. When it settles, the moisture carries the odor onto and into everything sorta like tree sap. Used car salesman told me if he could find a way to remove the cigarette smell from car interiors, he'd make a fortune.

Even my tomcat smells like menthol.

Still smoking Kools for 55 years, ruining everything from my health to car interiors. That "smell" is a combination of not only burned tobacco but also exhaled moisture, lung goo, and ashes. When it settles, the moisture carries the odor onto and into everything sorta like tree sap. Used car salesman told me if he could find a way to remove the cigarette smell from car interiors, he'd make a fortune.

Even my tomcat smells like menthol.

Think maybe it’s time to quit?
Think of your cat, if nothing else.

 

[smoothshooter]

If all fails just tote it around like Mr. Hickok
View attachment 94865

I doubt if he ever carried a knife that way.
No smart person would.

 

[Whitworth]

I doubt if he ever carried a knife that way.
No smart person would.

You missed an earlier post, it's a joke.

 

[smoothshooter]

You missed an earlier post, it's a joke.

I thought it might have been, but you never know.

 

[FishDFly]

I took a mantle clock in for repair. It had been in a house that my parents lived in, in the 1950's. My Father smoked at the time.

When the clock man opened up the clock to look inside, he could smell the cigarettes' s smoke. Not sure if you can ever get rid of the smell once it has impregnated things.

 

[oldwood]

Go out and gut a few deer with it and use it. Should take on the smell of the woods. Rub some woods into it. Put the sheath into camp fire smoke for little while. I used to hunt the late flintlock season w/ a friend. He didn't like to be cold , so would invariably build a fire to get warm out in the snowy woods. I almost got a shot at a doe not a hundred yds. downwind of his fire one day. I used to be able to find him by his fire smoke smell. You could always make up a "**** and Bull story" about a severe Wring you had and won , w/ a Shawnee chief that smoked a lot. Just sayin'. ......It's all fun.

 

[Eterry]

I have a question for all you crafty ole timers. I bought a knife on here a while ago. It was used and the previous owner was clearly a smoker. I have been trying to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of the sheath for months now. I’ve tried baking soda and even one of those ozone air freshener things. Does anyone have a remedy that would help.

Lots of good ideas here. I would take the sheath and put it under the patio, away from critters. The smell should dissipate in few days being in the elements.

My wife bought a loveseat online. They delivered it and we didn't notice until it was in thre house the owner was a smoker.

We tried lysol, freebreeze, other stuff. We moved it to the patio about 6 weeks. The smell disappeared and we moved it back in. Its still in our entertainment room.