hubby bought some oranges today and i want to keep the peelings to help get rid of some of the smoke smell in the house. what can i do with them on this

I've used orange and lemon peels for odors. I put them in water in a pan on the stove and gently simmer them. Add more water if the level drops. Crushing the peels and cutting in small pieces helps liberate the oils. Add a cinnamon stick too if you want a nice spicy smell.

thanks sorta, need to do something to get rid of the smells in here. and can't open an windows to air things out.

You might also think about the things in the house that have absorbed the smoke and nicotine over the years and have them cleaned too. Curtains can hang on to the smell for years, as can your furniture. Carpeting will also retain the smell for years. We had to do this for a house my son bought. No matter what we did to air it out and cover it up with other smells, it just got horrible again as soon as they had to close up the house again. Having the carpet and draperies cleaned finally did it.

But the orange peels with a bit of cinnamon will help enormously. Plus they just smell good!

no carpeting . need to get some one to wash my walls and my son is going to wash my ceiling fans. right now just will be able to use the oranges and find some other things i can use that won't give me any problems. wish it was where i could open the house up

If you are thinking about washing walls, it will surely help, but it would be a permanent fix if you buy some KILZ or other 'sealant' paint and just cover everything. Smoke is very hard to get rid of.

Also boiling white vinegar on the stove is amazing for removing smells in the air. I burned popcorn in the microwave and thought it was ruined. Boiled a cup of vinegar in it and NO more burnt smell. Amazing. So I tried it on my stove to remove the odor in the air and for cooked fish smells, etc. Works wonders. Won't however, remove odors that are ingrained in the wood or wallboard unfortunately. Might help a bit if you wash down things with vinegar in the water.

Also there is the good old remedy of 'Nature's Miracle'. Available in pet stores and most large stores like Wal-Mart. I spray that on everything 'pet-wise' and on any other odor I can't get rid of on chairs, floor, etc. Works great, but is expensive and the smell gets worse just after 'treatment'. Then it dries and it's gone. Got the urine smell out of my hardwood floors and on outdoor furniture where the male cats had 'sprayed'. I still use it on my screen door when the tomcat of the neighborhood leaves his mark.

Good luck.

wont be able to repaint my walls , as money situtation won't allow it. but i will get what i can done and with the help of my son, and hubby.

my10rugrats .... If you peel a white onion and cut it in half and then place the halves "cut side up" in one or more shallow dishes around a room, the onion will help to absorb both odours and bacteria

For the airborne odors, I vote for the the vinegar followed by the orange peels! Not only will the onions make your house really stinky, this onion thing has been disproven after something going around saying they would keep flu germs out of your house. Sorry, Mad!

From Dr. Ruth McDonald, PhD, RD, Chair of the Food Science and & Human Nutrition Department at Iowa State University...

Do onions absorb bacteria and cure illness?

Dr. MacDonald: No, onions do not absorb bacteria. The idea that a vegetable would attract and suck into itself bacteria from the air is not even logical. The onion may turn black because it would eventually rot from both cell breakdown events and bacterial contamination if you left it out, not because it absorbs germs. Onions and garlic are slightly acidic, which could have antibacterial effects if you rubbed the juice on things, but these are much less effective than bleach or chemical antibiotics.

Hi Draclvr

Onions used in the way I describe DO eliminate odours and DO NOT make the room stinky.
I can personally attest to this as I have used onions myslf in this way many times.

And they are especially effective in dealing with the paint fumes that once were prevalent when decorating inside the home.
However, I don't think "modern" paint for interior use is as problematic. Certainly not here in the UK, anyway .... which is worthy progress !!

I have no experience, however, of onions absorbing bacteria and so must bow to Dr. Ruth McDonald's superior knowledge and apologise for any misunderstanding I might have caused.

Cheers.

Mad

They don't make your house stinky of onions? Then I might have to give it a try!

Bad for your pets if they get into them!

Yup, you're right, oldbroad. Onions are toxic to both dogs and cats. I knew that, but had forgotten. My big dog is an an outdoor dog, but we do have a indoor/outdoor cat. She wouldn't touch an onion for any reason though! Good catch on that fact though.

Well, I presume most pet owners, happily, will know what is safe for their pets and what is not ??

And "out of reach" is always a very simple maxim.

Although not with my Great Danes ....
"Out of reach" was a totally alien concept as far as they were concerned !!

The "out of reach" maxim also does not apply to my cat! No such thing to her!

Yup, and I had an Alaskan Malamute, Wuuku, who always said, "If I can reach it, it's mine."

Time to deploy double strength, iron, barred cages ????

My10 ... I use fresh ground coffee in small aluminum break pans to absorb odors ... the pans are well out of reach of all of our 4-legged critters

Out of reach never applied to my Borzois either.