Tobacco and collections

I happen to share a small house with my elderly mother - it's a very sensible arrangement as we are the only surviving members of the family. She is a smoker giving up - I keep the door to the room with our books and hopefully my planned collection shut (next to the sitting-room, hence the room smoked in) and the window in both open, as well as two of those Neutradol things in the room planned for the figures. Is this sufficient, if I need to sell something on, to keep out any damage to figures or the unpleasant smell of tobacco? Fortunately the house is quite fresh.

Mother is using quarantine to give up, so it shouldn't be an ongoing issue. Am I simply over-reacting?

You can minimise the effects on you collection as much as you can but it also depends on how much your mother smokes. If you could keep everything in sealed cabinets then that would be ideal, but not practical for books etc. If there is no other option then I wouldn't worry too much as there's not much else that can be done except to keep it will ventilated and possibly get an air purifyer

Any smoking done in the house will get into your collection period. Even if you are unable to perceive it, any non smoker that buys an item from you will immediately notice the lingering smell of smoke. I’d suggest not starting your collection until your mother has quit smoking entirely. It will be better for the resale value of your figures and your mother’s health, of course.

What a time to try to give up the ciggies

Buttmunch said:

Any smoking done in the house will get into your collection period. Even if you are unable to perceive it, any non smoker that buys an item from you will immediately notice the lingering smell of smoke. I’d suggest not starting your collection until your mother has quit smoking entirely. It will be better for the resale value of your figures and your mother’s health, of course.

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Period.

I got a HT Solo/Chewie 2-pack from a „non-smoking“ collector. Coffee and backing powder helped neutralizing the smell of the figures after a few months. Unfortunately the boxes still smell alot. If I ever put them back in the box, the smell will most likely return. At least I bought the set for a relatively good price back than, however the value seems to drop anyway.

My thanks to you all - how long a delay would you advise after the final stop? I imagine airing the house is necessary - three months or so?

Yeah it'll definitely take time to air out, and if you can have someone else besides you two come in and see what they think of the odor. You'd be too used to it to notice.

Even though fresh air will eventually dissipate the smell of smoke but there are still people who are sensitive enough to still smell it especially those allergic ones.

You would also have to worry about the smoke coming from the heater and air conditioning vents. The smoke travels everywhere in a house and leaves residue in vents. I f you never plan on sell anything your fine if not then it will be a concern. My wife and I are non smokers but her parents are and if either one of us stops by for a visit the other one can always tell.

I used to smoke years ago for about 10-12 years and you never truly get rid of the smoke smell in mostly everything. It's also the dust ash that ends up everywhere (especially in carpet and furniture) along with the residue.

Every time I see this thread bumped I think it’s a thread about collecting cigars

Why do people smoke indoors? Take 10 steps outside.

People do all kinds of things indoors.

As the song goes : "No no no no no no (theres no limit")