Detoxing the Boxes

There are hundreds of ways to detox the smell out of vintage items. I like laundering by hand most; I'm able to remove storage odors from fabric (and even get stains out of yarn) with a mild detergent and a strategic soak in a vinegar solution. There are some things, however, that you can't wash or even get wet, like my lot of old cigar boxes. So I decided to do an experiment and use five different ways to detox the smell out of nonwashable items, so I could judge which worked best for me.

Some disclaimers: none of the boxes actually stink, but collectively they do have a bit of an old tobacco/storage odor, all about the same degree, too. I don't want to damage or ruin the boxes so I did not soak my materials whenever I used a liquid detoxing agent. All the methods I'm using are variations of my own ideas that I came up with while researching the methods others use.

Finally, none of what I do is ever meant to be expert advice, as I am certainly not an expert at anything. Follow my methods at your own risk, and please first consult an actual antique expert conservator or restorer to detox items that have value for you.

Onto my five methods, which clockwise from the top are: Baking soda, dryer sheets, Febreze, vinegar, and coffee grounds. I will use each one in the box it's sitting on to detox that particular box.

Here you can see how I used my five different agents. For the coffee grounds and baking soda I first lined the boxes with a paper towel. For the dryer sheets I just put them inside the box. The Febreze and vinegar I used sparingly on some paper towels, which I then folded and placed inside the box.

I'll let all the boxes sit for 24 hours, and then post my results. By the way, I thought I had only one wood cigar box, but after removing some stained paper from the inside of the black Punch box I discovered that one is made of wood, too.