Selling homemade baby items while living with a smoker?

[tryphena rose]

I absolutely love crocheting and am planning on opening up an etsy shop next month. My main craft is baby items, specifically baby blankets and toys. I am really worried about my items staying fresh and clean due to the fact that my mother in law smokes in the house. I have all of my items sealed in plastic bags (which I'm thinking of transferring them into zip-lock bags as an added safety measure). Those bags I then have stored in a plastic container. I'm still worried that the smoke may seep through onto my items, which would ruin my shop until I have better living conditions. Any tips or advice for keeping the cigarette smell from ruining my shop? :/

 

[joshua 1 9]

Storage containers are good but plastic bags can damage clothing over long periods of time. The air is suppose to be able to circulate though them. In the Flea market we use to but the beanie baby stuffed animals in a plastic container and that kept them in good condition, even out in all of that dust that ruins so much stuff out at the market. I do have some clothing in the bag the manufacturer put them in. Over time they have been ruined by the plastic and lack of air circulation.

 

[Ada Lovelace]

I absolutely love crocheting and am planning on opening up an etsy shop next month. My main craft is baby items, specifically baby blankets and toys. I am really worried about my items staying fresh and clean due to the fact that my mother in law smokes in the house. I have all of my items sealed in plastic bags (which I'm thinking of transferring them into zip-lock bags as an added safety measure). Those bags I then have stored in a plastic container. I'm still worried that the smoke may seep through onto my items, which would ruin my shop until I have better living conditions. Any tips or advice for keeping the cigarette smell from ruining my shop? :/

Can you designate a room for your workspace and ask that your mother-in-law not smoke in it? You can get stoppers that fit on the bottom of your door and help prevent odors and draft from seeping in.

I don't have any personal experience with ridding the smell of cigarette smoke, but the dorms at my college have been invaded with wildfire smoke and people shared tips on how to clean the air. These are two of the products that are popular:

https://www.amazon.com/One-Earth-He...bad+air+cigarette+smell&qid=1573456888&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Air-Spon...bad+air+cigarette+smell&qid=1573456888&sr=8-3

Plants can help to naturally deodorize. Dried eucalyptus and dried lavender are calming and aromatic. You can hang bunches around the room or in vases. Maybe you could got odor eliminating fabric softener sheets and put them into the plastic container with your items.

If you're worried about the items still having the lingering scent of smoke, bring them somewhere outside of your house and ask a friend who is a non-smoker to take a sniff. Since you are accustomed to smoke your sense can be dulled but it will be more detectable to someone who isn't used to it.

 

[tryphena rose]

Storage containers are good but plastic bags can damage clothing over long periods of time. The air is suppose to be able to circulate though them. In the Flea market we use to but the beanie baby stuffed animals in a plastic container and that kept them in good condition, even out in all of that dust that ruins so much stuff out at the market. I do have some clothing in the bag the manufacturer put them in. Over time they have been ruined by the plastic and lack of air circulation.

Oh wow, I had no clue that plastic bags can ruin fabric. Thank you for shedding light on this. Do you think the storage containers alone should block out the smell then?

Can you designate a room for your workspace and ask that your mother-in-law not smoke in it? You can get stoppers that fit on the bottom of your door and help prevent odors and draft from seeping in.

I don't have any personal experience with ridding the smell of cigarette smoke, but the dorms at my college have been invaded with wildfire smoke and people shared tips on how to clean the air. These are two of the products that are popular:

https://www.amazon.com/One-Earth-He...bad+air+cigarette+smell&qid=1573456888&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Air-Spon...bad+air+cigarette+smell&qid=1573456888&sr=8-3

Plants can help to naturally deodorize. Dried eucalyptus and dried lavender are calming and aromatic. You can hang bunches around the room or in vases. Maybe you could got odor eliminating fabric softener sheets and put them into the plastic container with your items.

If you're worried about the items still having the lingering scent of smoke, bring them somewhere outside of your house and ask a friend who is a non-smoker to take a sniff. Since you are accustomed to smoke your sense can be dulled but it will be more detectable to someone who isn't used to it.

My husband and I actually have the entire second floor to ourselves and she smokes on the first floor in her bedroom, so that's a relief. However, the smoke still gets through as I've noticed when I'm outside, my clothes and hair tend to smell like smoke. Those links you posted look wonderful! And thank you for all the amazing tips! I'll certainly give them a try.

 

[joshua 1 9]

Do you think the storage containers alone should block out the smell then?

Yes they will block the smell, keep the bugs out and still allow the air to pass through the material. I have an issue here I put plastic chair-mats down on a hardwood floor and that created an issue with mold somehow because it could not breath properly.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

If there is a garage where she does not go, store them there or in the attic.

 

[Hazelelponi]

A couple things here.

A HEPA air purifier can be a great tool to combat smoke smell coming from another area of the house, such as you said she's downstairs yet you still smell like cigarettes when you leave.

Another idea is to combine that with periodically clean your carpets, furniture and curtains with something like this here:

Odorcide Cigarette Smoke Odor Eliminator Concentrated 16 Ounces

And even seeing if a diluted spray or two of the above solution would hurt the items your selling, if it doesnt you might like to give a small spray or two right before your items go out the door... that way your customers never smell any smoke..

 

[Daniel Marsh]

If there is enough space in your car...

 

[KateforChrist]

Odorcide Cigarette Smoke Odor Eliminator Concentrated 16 Ounces

And even seeing if a diluted spray or two of the above solution would hurt the items your selling, if it doesnt you might like to give a small spray or two right before your items go out the door... that way your customers never smell any smoke..

I would not be using this on the baby items.

Oh wow, I had no clue that plastic bags can ruin fabric. Thank you for shedding light on this. Do you think the storage containers alone should block out the smell then?

If you are going to put the items in anything enclosed I think you would have to use desiccant packs (silica gel). Make sure that any printing on the packs is not next to the items in case the ink transfers.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I absolutely love crocheting and am planning on opening up an etsy shop next month. My main craft is baby items, specifically baby blankets and toys. I am really worried about my items staying fresh and clean due to the fact that my mother in law smokes in the house. I have all of my items sealed in plastic bags (which I'm thinking of transferring them into zip-lock bags as an added safety measure). Those bags I then have stored in a plastic container. I'm still worried that the smoke may seep through onto my items, which would ruin my shop until I have better living conditions. Any tips or advice for keeping the cigarette smell from ruining my shop? :/

Hi @tryphena rose Sounds like you keep your hands very busy.

Great header verse there from Acts!

 

[joshua 1 9]

I absolutely love crocheting and am planning on opening up an etsy shop next month. My main craft is baby items, specifically baby blankets and toys. I am really worried about my items staying fresh and clean due to the fact that my mother in law smokes in the house. I have all of my items sealed in plastic bags (which I'm thinking of transferring them into zip-lock bags as an added safety measure). Those bags I then have stored in a plastic container. I'm still worried that the smoke may seep through onto my items, which would ruin my shop until I have better living conditions. Any tips or advice for keeping the cigarette smell from ruining my shop? :/

Plastic bags will keep the smoke out. We use to sell beanie babies. But rubber maind containers can ruin clothing. In fact I have one out in the garage that is ruined. It is a special material that is only suppose to be hand washed because it is delicate. But I wish I had known not to store them like that. I could have sold them and got my money back out of them a long time ago rather than to let them stay in storage like that.

 

[tryphena rose]

Thanks everyone for all your replies! These tips have been a ton of help!