Around smoking

When I got my dolls, I lived with my grandparents who both smoked indoors. One was a light smoker, the other was heavy. My dolls were kept in my room, on shelves, about 99% of the time. My door was always closed, though I should note that there weren’t really any gaps between the door and door frame, nor the floor. I think that made the biggest difference.

Never dealt with any staining on my dolls or their clothes and my stuff (be it dolls or whatever else) never really smelled like smoke either, so long as it was kept in my room.

I think if your dolls are in your room and in boxes, they should be fine. If you want an extra layer of protection, I would suggest getting one of those bins that seals shut pretty tight.

 

Resin is porous and absorbs any smells it's exposed to. That's why you see the disclaimer about smoking on MP sales. The boxes should only protect the dolls to a degree unless you find a way to make them airtight. I would keep the dolls exclusively in your smoke-free room and ask your friend to avoid smoking in there (also for the sake of your health) and if there's any smoke, open the windows and air out the room for a while before taking them out. Indoor smoke is really bad in general.

 

I'm not sure if the dolls will absorb smells, but if they do, you can use the kitty litter fix to get rid of the smells. People that restore dolls on a regular basis gave me this tip. You will have to wipe the dolls down afterwards.

• Buy the cheap clay kitty litter enough to cover the dolls.
• Use a large plastic garbage bag, and place it somewhere safe.
• Carefully lay dolls in bag, doll clothes and wigs as well.
• Gently pour the kitty litter on top of everything. Use face protector on dolls.
• Wait one week.
• Remove dolls and clothes and anything else you placed into the bag.
• Clean up dolls and clothes from all the kitty litter dust.
• Smoke scent will be gone.
• You can also put the litter in the boxes to remove the smoke from them as well.

 

If the dolls stay in boxes or in your room where they are not directly exposed to smoke, then they shouldn't get any nicotine on them, which causes staining, but they very well could absorb the smell. Even if you personally don't notice it, some people are extremely sensitive to it and will notice, so if you decide to sell any of them, be honest in the listing about your situation to avoid any problem transactions or making anyone sick. (Same goes for any perfumes, incense, pets or other smoked substances.)

Thanks for this info! I have received things from smoking homes before and tried everything from simply airing out in the garage to machine washing (clothes, not dolls) to Febreze to freezing to dish soap, and nothing has worked very well. Gonna have to try this next time!

 

I spent a year in a student house where one person smoked. They did it in their room upstairs and I was in the downstairs room (with doors kept closed) but by the time I moved out, everything of mine smelled of cig smoke, even my wallet! I've also lived next to people who smoked and it was incredible how the smell would come through into my house through the loft space or gaps between the skirting boards etc.
I would highly recommend getting some big saleable bags/boxes to put the dolls/boxes in while you're not playing with them. Whatever you use, make sure the seals are good and tight as cig smoke has the amazing ability to creep in everywhere!

I've found for hard plastic, Isopropyl alcohol was helpful for removing cig smell. However, I bought a vintage My Little Pony where the seller didn't disclose that it came from a smoker house and I tried every trick in the book to remove the smell with no luck. So it seems that it's very difficult to remove cig smell from vinyl so something to keep in mind for vinyl dolls.

Something I tried recently was I had a couple of books that had a strong musty smell on them. After sealing them in a box with sodium bicarbonate didn't help, I tossed them in to the bale of pine woodshavings I use for my guinea pigs. After a couple of weeks the smell was very reduced. So would add pine woodshavings to the list of smell absorbers! I haven't tried it on something smelling of cig-smoke yet. Though the problem there is that the smoke contains tar etc which sticks to the surface of things and has to be physically removed regardless of what smell reducing method you use.

(On a side note, I believe I read somewhere that stuff like Fabreeze simply mask the particles coming off the things so they don't active your nasal receptors rather than do anything to the stuff that's smelling so no good for actually removing/reducing smells)

 

They will be exposed, yes. They will probably smell a bit like smoke, as will everything you wear and own. It's just the unfortunate fact of living with a smoker. I'd advise the baking soda trick, possibly putting some tight fabric (breathable) bags of baking soda inside their boxes, and keeping them in boxes will at least keep them from developing the staining oily residue of tars and chemicals that cigarette smoke leaves on surfaces.

 

Seconding what Epicari has mentioned -- even if the smoking isn't directly in your space, the smell will still get into your stuff if they smoke indoors. If they smoke outside, I don't think it will be as big of a problem and will be a lot easier to manage. I've bought from sellers who did not disclose they lived with smokers, or they didn't think their items would smell, but they 100% do. Unless things are in a sealed container, the smoke will permeate through your objects and will smell of cigarette smoke. One of the shipping boxes from a doll I bought from someone who lived with a smoker reeked of smoke. Since they were living in the home, they didn't notice the smell, but I immediately could tell when it was delivered into my home.

I think you should still enjoy your dolls but just be aware that your possessions will most likely smell of cigarette smoke if someone is smoking indoors.

 

Some 30years ago I bought my first vintage MA Cissy doll on evilbay
(long before I’d ever heard of bjds). Imagine my horror when the
box arrived with a suspicious smell and the doll positively reeked of
smoke!! (seller replied that it was up to me to ask about smells…)
Well, I tried all the things listed above and none of them really made
an appreciable difference - including the kitty litter.

That was when I came across a new website with products created
by a chemical engineer Twin Pines, LLC.

His D-stinker product did the trick!!! It did take multiple applications
(she really reeked….) but I was able to get the smoke stink out of the
vinyl doll and she never relapsed.
Now I don’t know how it would work on our bjd but they are afterall
a type of plastic. One could call their number and ask for more
info on the bjd resin too? I’d used a number of their other products
as well, and each of them worked brilliantly.

 

As others have said there's no 100% sure-fire way to prevent the smoke from seeping into your room over time, but putting some draft guards or weather stripping around the door to better seal it will probably help a little bit.

 

Resin in particular holds smells more than a lot of materials, so I'd consider leaving the dolls and anything else you can't easily wash with someone in a non-smoking household if that's an option. Understandably, it might not be, so I think honesty is the best policy if you ever end up reselling or trading the dolls. I've unfortunately purchased too many items from sellers who didn't disclose this. If you're a smoker or live with smokers, you might eventually become used to the smell, but I promise you others can smell the smoke perfectly.