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something smells

i've lived in a smoke free environment for 20 years.. i just brought in about 40k cards (1983-1993) from an uncle and he must have smoked for at least 20+ years...what do you do about the smell?????

i've stored them in the garage but what else can i do to get the smoke smell out of the cards (as well as the house)? i actually had them in the house/basement for no more than 20 minutes before my wife comes down from upstairs and asks "what is that smell?"...

any advice??



Thanks,

David (LD_Ferg)



1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06

Comments

  • Hi, Idferg,

    Unfortunately, I had the same problem with bound volumes of historic documents. I contacted many sources, universities, libraries and, alas, no answer. The smoke has penetrated the cards. Fortunately, and, I believe, in your case, they probably did not stain or discolor the cards. As, in my case, the volumes are stored offsite and only used as reference, whew, if you can get past the smell.

    Your friend,

    Bill




  • shagrotn77shagrotn77 Posts: 5,586 ✭✭✭✭
    Burn them.
    "My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Our childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When we were insolent we were placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds - pretty standard really."
  • Oh this is an easy one.....you and your wife need to take up smoking. After a week, the cards will smell fine.
  • "Donate" them to a local Boys & Girls club and get a receipt for 100x guide value.
  • KnucklesKnuckles Posts: 2,512 ✭✭✭
    If they're worth the trouble lay them all out in the attic for a year.. Smell will probably never go away if they're all tightly stored togeather.
    image
  • A761506A761506 Posts: 1,309 ✭✭✭
    I've received individual PSA holders that smell like they were packed with an ashtray dumped into the mailer also. But, the smell usually goes away quickly from just leaving it sit out for a couple days. The only way you'll get rid of that smell without ruining the card is to lay them out individually. That's why those books will never lose the smell, they can't be aired out in a way that the smell could go away.
  • CON40CON40 Posts: 1,324 ✭✭✭
    This treatment will get the smell out of those cards...

    image
  • MorrellManMorrellMan Posts: 3,240 ✭✭✭
    I use an air filtration system (deionizer?) in my card room. I've received lots of stuff from smoky environments and they smell awful. The filtration system cleans them up in a few days (I think; or maybe I just get used to the smell). Good luck.
    Mark (amerbbcards)


    "All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
  • BugOnTheRugBugOnTheRug Posts: 1,611 ✭✭✭


    << <i>This treatment will get the smell out of those cards... >>



    Con,

    Burning Man is no place to take baseball cards.

    BOTR
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