Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Smokey Smokerson

Sorry I've been a posting slacker. We got the news that our bundle of joy will be coming 3 weeks early, so we've spent every last available moment tying up loose ends in preparation. Don't worry though, once she gets here, I will have plenty of time to blog.

. . . . . pause and wait for laughter to die down . . . . . .

So here's a question for you, my faithful blog community: Is it okay to give a gift of used baby clothes if you are a smoker?

Don't get me wrong, I love hand-me-down clothes. Especially baby clothes because most times a baby hasn't worn them too much and as long as there are no bizarre stains on them, I am all about it. However, at my most recent shower, an attendee gave me a large gift bag stuffed to the brim with baby clothes her little darling had outgrown. I was very pleased with this gift until I held an item up to view it closer and it smelled like it had just spent the last 3 weeks in the local pub.

Mind you these garments were "freshly" washed before being put in said gift bag, and they STILL reeked of cigarette smoke. That stuff doesn't come out easily friends. Are smokers so numb to the smell of their vice that they don't realize that the stink remains even after a wash? Am I supposed to put those things on my precious little baby? I think not.

The offending bag-o-clothes currently sits in my garage until I can decide what to do with its contents. I don't want to give them to someone else. I even feel a little bad about donating them to Goodwill. I will probably choose the latter.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

One option you didn't list, but I know you are thinking about, is to let those clothes visit Oscar. You know, the guy who lives in the cylindrical silver house. That would be my advice.

DC

Anonymous said...

Good call! I may have to add that to my list of considerations!!

Anonymous said...

I second the vote for Oscar.

Anonymous said...

who's Oscar.. by the way you so took smokey smokerson from me!!
Kristi

Pigs said...

Ew. I wonder why the smell doesn't wash out? Would OxiClean work? It's pretty impressive on poop and barf. -end advertisement-
No, I don't think that's okay, but they probably don't know.

Anonymous said...

Kristi, "Oscar the Grouch" who lives in a trash can. And no, I SO stole "Smokey Smokerson" from Rachael on Friends. :o)

Anonymous said...

You can always give the bag to another family of smokers :) I don't know how many of those you know but they probably wouldn't be able to smell the smoke on the clothes!

Anonymous said...

Actually, there are a few things you can do to get the smell out. I'm not a smoker, but as you know, Dad (and my mom, too) are and always have been, so I used to hate going to school because my clothes always smelled like smoke. When I got into high school, I figured out a few tricks to get the smell out.

1. Consider getting those clothes dry-cleaned. I worked at a dry-cleaners for a while, and one of the things that we focused on was getting rid of the smoke-smell in clothes.

2. Wash the clothes with Tide Mountain Spring and hang them up outside to dry or in a laundry room with a window that lets sunlight filter in. You can also put a few drops of vinegar in the wash to act as a deodorizer.

3. Smoke Odor Kleen I've heard some amazing things about. It's safe for clothes. But since we're talking about a baby, I'd suggest spraying the clothes and then washing them again before you put them on Claire.

Really, all of these things are pretty easy and don't take that much time, and they actually work! I haven't tried number three, but I know for a fact the other two do because they worked great for me.

I'm glad Claire is here and it was wonderful to see you in Houston for lunch a few weeks back. Now that I know your blog address I'm going to be reading pretty often! :D

Much love,
Ashley