Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with smoke

Where does electrical smoke come from?

Jeff Howard — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:43:16 -0800

Would pre-industrial cultures have been familiar with the odor of electrical smoke under another name? Are there natural sources or was it introduced to the world with the adoption of electrical appliances?

I don't want to smell like an ashtray!

peanut_mcgillicuty — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:51:03 -0800

How can I mask or block the smell of my neighbor's smoke in my closet? My downstairs neighbor smokes in his apartment and the smell is making its way into my hallway and closet. My clothes are starting to take on the scent. If I sleep with the bedroom door open, the smell often wakes me up, and even when it doesn't, I wake up with the sore throat and congestion I normally get after a night at a smokey bar. It's been getting worse as the weather gets colder, presumably because he's now got his windows closed. I want to make the smell go away!

To be very clear, I am not asking how do I confront him or complain to the management company. There have been well-publicized accounts of tenants or condo-owners fighting smoking neighbors in New York City and I'm not willing to go that route yet. I'll certainly look into filing a complaint with my management company, but I want to take steps to mitigate the smell myself first. Frankly, I don't care if he smokes in his apartment, even if I can smell it a little, as long as it doesn't wake me up or make my clothes stink.

What I'm looking for includes suggestions on blocking up any possible nooks and crannies in this closet or finding absorption materials to put in that will block, absorb, and otherwise mask the smell. I currently have a fridge/freezer baking soda pack in there, which has made not one bit of difference. I did not notice any holes in the closet floor or walls when we moved in. But another closet in the same hallway doesn't smell, so I'm sure there's something in my closet that's letting the smoke get in. For what it's worth, the smoke smells mostly like cigar or cigarillo smoke, or cigarettes, but definitely not pot. Sadly, not using the closet isn't really an option, storage space being at such a premium in NYC.

Has anyone had to deal with this before? What did you do? What are some (preferably inexpensive) options to deal with this?

Really, no more cloves?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:14:08 -0800

So... The US has banned clove cigarettes. This is the only type I smoke because I dislike the taste and feel of smoking a tobacco-only cigarette. What options to I have? Please, no advice about quitting. I am an adult smoker who is aware that smoking is harmful, and I've set for myself a time at which I will quit. The FDA meddling in my decisions is not the time I had selected.

Things I've considered...
~ It seems that pipe tobacco may still be ok - does clove pipe tobacco exist?
~ Blending my own pipe tobacco with (organic?) cloves
~ Purchasing from an online retailer (outside the US) and sending money orders to the government to cover the taxes I would have incurred, had I been able to purchase the cloves in my area.
~ Driving to Canada or Mexico.
~ Asking friends that live in other countries to send them to me (from Europe, Asia or Africa)
~ Purchasing them on an American Indian reservation (I haven't been able to decipher whether or not the law prevents them from being sold there)

I live in a major US city within a day's drive from either Mexico or Canada. I can be contacted at nocloves@gmail.com for follow up questions or information you'd rather not post here.

Thank you!

Ummm...you put your weed in there.

hal_c_on — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:23:26 -0800

What the frack is a roor? So I was given THESE THINGS that say ROOR on it.

What the hell is it...and more importantly...how does it work?

I know these are used for ingesting marijuana. Is it a regular bong, or some kind of fancy device that isn't referred to as a bong or water pipe. I'm not really a fan of that...but I am kinda interested in:

1. How can I clean this so it looks clean and new?...and then how do I sell it? Is craigslist a good bet since ebay doesn't really like to sell "BONGS". I've looked up laws and what I've found is that I can't sell it to anybody under 18, and I MUST clean it before I sell it otherwise its actual drug paraphernalia.

2. I'm PROBABLY not going to buy a pack of cigarettes, take out the tobacco and smoke it...or even take a cuban cigar that I have, crumple it and smoke that...but what if I wanted to. How do I use this to smoke tobacco? I know there are several parts and they connect in a specific way, how do they attach together and work? I wanted to attach them...but since I don't know much about this, I figured I'd keep it separate until I know how to not break it.

3. Also, just in case you were wondering, I won this at poker. They dude claimed that it was worth over $700 (although it was deemed to be worth a $100 bet at the table). How much is it worth? How much did he likely buy it for?

How can I deal with the second hand smoke on my visit to Spain?

TurkishGolds — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:59:15 -0800

I'm really looking forward to my upcoming trip to Spain, but I'm afraid that the second-hand smoke is going to drive me crazy. Tips? I'm a recent ex-smoker, within the past year. I'm very happy as a non-smoker, and there is absolutely 0 chance that I'm going to be tempted to light-up. I'm at the point where I find it repulsive. Repulsive to the point where I'm afraid that all of the second hand smoke in Spain is going to get in the way of me having a good time.

We're going to be in Austurias (primarily Gijón) for 4 nights, and then in Madrid for 2 nights.

I've resigned myself to telling people that I'm "allergic" to smoke. I hate how it smells, I hate how it feels in my eyes, and I hate having to breath something so toxic. I had to spend about an hour in an enclosed smoky room about 6 months ago, and I thought that my head was going to explode. I was miserable the entire time, and I could still feel it in my throat the next morning.

Here in Massachusetts, I don't have to worry about it too much because smoking is strictly banned in all bars/restaurants.

From what I understand, people will be smoking in almost all bars, restaurants and clubs. Bummer, because there are my fav places to frequent on vacation. Looking for places to hang outside will be a priority, but I'm sure that we won't be able to do that exclusively.

Also, I know that I'm going to have to visit with a friend's mother who is planning on cooking for us in her home. I can't wait to meet her and enjoy a delicious home cooked meal, but I'm afraid that her smoking indoors is going to ruin the whole experience for me. My traveling companion believes that it would be rude and hard for her to understand if we request that she doesn't smoke inside while we're there.

So, my question is two fold: A) How do I avoid smoke as much as possible? Will this even really be an option? Specific establishments or areas? B) Assuming that I'll have to deal with it, as some point, what are some techniques that I can use to make it less painful, put it out of my head, and just enjoy myself?

(I hope that it goes without saying that telling me to just take up smoking for the week that I'm there is not an option!)

Steam Detector?

LolaGeek — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:00:06 -0800

Why does my smoke detector go off after I take a shower? This only seems to happen in mornings when I'm home by myself, it's never happened when my husband is around. About 10 minutes after getting out of the shower, one of our smoke detectors goes off. It is in the room at the opposite end of the hallway from the bathroom (maybe 12 feet away). There is a smoke detector in the hallway directly outside the bathroom which has never gone off. The only way to get it to stop is to remove the battery for a while. It doesn't happen every day, or even once a week or once a month, but often enough that I've noticed the pattern.

The first time this happened, when I didn't find anything on fire, I thought the batteries needed to be changed. That didn't solve the problem. I was thinking the steam when I open the bathroom door might cause it, but 1) doesn't a smoke detector know the difference between smoke and steam? and 2) why wouldn't that set off the detector directly outside the bathroom door? and 3) why does it only seem to happen when I'm alone?

Does anyone know anything about the back corridors in malls behind the stores?

Sully — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:41:34 -0800

Does anyone know anything about the back corridors in malls behind the stores? This is kinda a tricky question because it makes me sound like I'm going to burglarize a mall, but I don't know how else to ask it.

Okay, I'm writing this short story about a group of friends who all work in a mall. They weren't friends before, but got to be friends after they all started working there.

Trouble is, I've never worked retail, and I've never worked in a mall before. Sometimes though, inside a mall, I'm tempted to go exploring, just to answer some questions, but I've always been deterred by the Authorized Personnel Only signs.

I googled 'Mall Blueprints', to find out the layout of malls, but understandably, for security reasons, anything but the basic layout of a mall, like the kinds they have on these black plinths near the entrance for shoppers, aren't shown.

So I guess what I'm wondering is this - I know that there are these corridors that run behind the stores in some malls. They're pretty basic and ugly and sometimes there are cardboard boxes and stuff in them - in my story, my characters like to go into them and smoke.

But I've also got this huge elaborate scene later on and I just want to know if it's possible for someone to exit a store into the corridor, then go to an elevator just off the corridor and take it down to the loading docks, with stops in between that let out into a parking lot structure. Essentially, these kids begin to hang out in these areas. This is their "club house".

I know that a lot of malls are different, and that it would depend on the mall. But does this make sense? Or to someone who's ever actually worked in a mall - would they cry bullshit on this sort of layout?

That's all. Thank you in advance.

Like drinking the best parts of a bonfire...

fake — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:48:08 -0800

I just discovered lapsang souchong , which might be the greatest drink I've ever encountered. What other smoky things can you recommend? I'm also interested in non-food smoky things, like pine tar soap. Cedar, pine, and juniper are some of my favorite smells.

Beeping fire alarm. Should I be alarmed?

jujube — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:02:15 -0800

Beeping fire alarm. Should I be alarmed? Last night, my fire/smoke alarm started emitting high pitched beeps. Thought it was beeping because of low battery--ones in the old house did this. But when I took the cap off, remembered that it's the kind that's directly wired in.
So, what does it mean that it's beeping? It beeped couple of times last night, then couple of times again this morning. I've triggered the alarm by accident in the past while cooking, so I know what it sounds like when the alarm is full-on on, and this isn't it. It's just a signal beep.
Other information that possibly be related. Not sure if it's just a smoke detector or a smoke and carbon monoxide detector. It's been unusually cold here, so the gas furnace has been on constantly.
If it turns out it's broken and needs to be replaced, do I need an electrician, or where can I find directions for doing it on my own.
Thanks. As you can tell from the somewhat ramble, I'm at a loss here, so any suggestion/insight would be welcome.

How to get cigarette smoke smell out of my laptop?

ibechase — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:49:44 -0800

I recently purchased a laptop on ebay, what I failed to notice is that the seller noted (in a separate 'About Me' webpage) that he was a smoker. How can I get rid of the smell of smoke? So, now I've got a great computer that works perfectly, but reeks of smoke. I have a pretty strong allergy to any sort of cigarette smoke, so I'm in a tough spot here. I'm looking for ideas that are low risk and/or that have been proven to work to help get rid of smoke smell from electronics/computers.

I've google'd a bit and the only things I am coming up with are industrial strength liquids which would work for the exterior of the computer, but not the interior for obvious reasons. Also, people saying put the laptop in an airtight box with baking soda/vinegar/lemon peels/tea bags/coffee/etc. These ideas all sound great, but no one really recommends anything with confidence. Has anyone tried any of these with any success?

I've got time and I am extremely patient, so something that takes a while wouldn't be ruled out. Does any one have a endall solution to help me out? What have you done to get cigarette smoke out of your items? Thanks in advance to you all.

What happens to a candle's wax?

mstillwell — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:52:17 -0800

When a candle is burnt indoors, what happens to the wax? An amount of smoke equivalent to the mass of the candle is released as it's burnt (?)--does this manage to escape the house, or does most of it stay in the room and coat the walls, floors, ceiling, etc.?

Cheap dragon smoke wanted

disclaimer — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:15:02 -0800

My dragon has lost its fire. I have a dragon above my front door. I want to make it blow smoke out the nostrils. And I'm cheap. The dragon is a rubber halloween mask. I'm going to run some tubing to it to augment the LEDs I've installed as eyes. I don't want to pay 200 bucks for a small smoke generator.
I also don't want to burn down my house. I suppose I could sit on my front porch and shotgun the dragon through the tubing, but that's going to be expensive and the candy won't make it to the kids.

Any recommendations for making smoke on the cheap?

I see a black wall, and I want it painted white

malp — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:23:58 -0800

Can I seal the inside surface of an exterior brick wall in my house without trapping moisture in the brick or in the insulation? I own a 1920s brick house in philly w/ some fire damage. The sellers didn't disclose the damage, so I didn't learn of it until the dog days of summer when the place started to stink of smoke. The fire started in the first floor kitchen and smoked the two rooms immediately above it. I tore down most of the plaster and lath in the two rooms and sealed the joists and studs with bin shellac.

How do I treat the exterior brick wall? The brick is blackened and has a faint char smell. A local restoration contractor said he would paint over the brick, frame out and insulate the walls, and omit a vapor a barrier on the warm side of the wall. That way, the paint would double as a vapor barrier. I'm worried condensation would collect against the painted brick during the winter and grow mold. Is this a valid concern? Instead, could I leave the brick untouched, and try sealing the odor by shellac'in the drywall? That way, the vapor barrier would be on the correct side of the insulation and any odor would be trapped within the wall cavity. OR, should I just pay to have the brick soda-blasted?

Just FYI, I sent the sellers a demand letter and am waiting their response before taking them to small claims court.

How do I get smoke out of suits?

midwestguy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:43:06 -0800

How do I get smoke smells out of men's wool suits--dry cleaning didn't work. I recently received half a dozen very nice (and very expensive) men's suits, along with a full length wool Burberry coat from my uncle, who recently retired and moved to Florida. They fit perfectly, look fantastic, but they reek of smoke. I've tried hanging them out in the sun, sprayed them with Febreze extra strength, and they have all been dry cleaned. Does anyone have any further ideas before I gamble and throw them in the washing machine? I love the suits, and could not afford anything like them on my own, but the smoke smell icks me out.

I need some fresh air.

stormygrey — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:59:48 -0800

I need creative ideas for remedying a stale apartment. The home I own has about 1300 square feet upstairs where we live and 600 sq feet in an apartment we rent out downstairs.

Our first two tenants were drunk construction workers and never complained about a thing, but our last two folks have said the apartment smells stale or smokey. I have noticed that the last two tenants who cook a lot make the whole house smell like stale food. So it seems like air is not circulating at all.

The stale food doesn't bother me, but it does bother me that he can smell our cigarette smoke, particularly in his bathroom. The house shares central air and there is only one return in the whole place. We have a whole house Aprilaire high efficiency air cleaner on the furnace.

We are willing to try filters in vents, baking soda, room size air purifiers, smoking only in certain rooms of the house, caulking up everything in site, a portable air conditioner or window unit down there.

I don't know about how much adding extra returns or whatever would be and I know that realistically we aren't going to start smoking outside anytime soon.

I really don't understand a lot about how ac units work. He seems to think the stale smoke smell is coming from the vents not from seeping down the stairs or floorboards, that is why we are focusing on those issues, but if you have experience or ideas no matter how off the wall throw them at me!

He is being really gracious about it, so I really want to do right by him.

I asked a similar question last year, but this is more about ac this time as that seems to be the culprit rather than just stank basement.

Removing the smell of smoke from apartment?

spacesbetween — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 09:02:49 -0800

Any tips or advice on how to remove the smell of smoke from an entire apartment? Roommate left a pot of boiling eggs on and forgot about it, am I in the clear if I ask my roommate that caused the problem to pay for it? So my roommate was cooking late last night and ended up falling asleep while leaving the stove on with his hard boiled eggs. It was only due to the smoke detector that I managed to wake up in the middle of the night and found the entire apartment filled with smoke, thankfully there wasn't any fire but the place took an hour to clear of the smoke.

I noticed just how bad it was this morning when I went outside for some errands and came back inside. I don't think there is no amount of febreeze that could stop the smell.

I'm thinking we would actually need to do professional cleaning? Am I right to ask him to pay for all the cleaning? I know if we don't clean this we would end up losing our deposit and probably paying extra to get the smell removed anyway..

Thanks for your input or opinions.

These DVDs smell!

santaliqueur — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:51:00 -0800

How do I remove the smell of smoke from DVDs? I recently bought a DVD collection from someone who smokes. I couldn't tell they smelled until I got them home, but now I'd like to remove the smell from the boxes. The interiors and disks don't smell that much, it's only the outer boxes. How can I do it? Febreze? Dehumidifier possibly? Thanks much.

Wierd Reefer?

raildr — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:28:33 -0800

I saw a girl slice a cigar lengthwise, poke it with what looked like a syringe and proceed to roll it back up into a thin 'joint'. Whether any pot went side I do not know, anybody have a clue what she was doing?

As a cigarette should

frecklefaerie — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:57:48 -0800

Smoking hot american mefites! I'll be traveling from MD to MA soon. Which state between here and there has the cheapest cigarettes? I found this lovely document in my searches, but it seems to be dated 0207 and since then at least MD's cig taxes just went up, so I don't trust its accuracy. I will likely be traveling through MD, DE, PA, RI, CT, NY, MA. Thanks!

How to exorcise cigarette smells and tar from an iMac?

mattybonez — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:32:26 -0800

How can I clean away cigarette odor and tar buildup from a G3 iMac? I loaned an old iMac to a friend who needed a computer after his house was burgled. The “week or two” loan turned into many months, and I finally got the computer back last night.

When I saw the condition of my previously minty Mac, I was very sad. The keyboard, mouse, and computer are all showing signs of living with chain smokers. There is some tar discoloration in the clear plastic bits, and there is also a very distinct smell. It's strong enough that I can't bring the computer into my house.

I'm planning on taking apart the components and cleaning them up, but wanted to know if anyone had any additional tips or suggestions before I get started. Any idea on cleaning agents that I can use that won't craze the plastic?

Thanks in advance.

Smoky battery is never good.

Holy foxy moxie batman! — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:16:12 -0800

Why did my battery start to smoke in my lovely (but old) car? OK metafilter hive mind, do me this solid and tell me if any of you have run into this problem.

My poor little slant six 66 Dart would not start when I got into the car. I pulled the alternator, got it tested and it was bad. Good for me, an easy fix. So, I pulled my battery, charged it overnight on a battery charger, tossed it in my car this morning and started her up. She wouldn't turn over but that doesn't really mean much because she never turns over first try. The car was strong, it was getting power, all was fine.

Tried to start it again and nothing happened. It was so quiet I could hear crickets in the background. Suddenly my battery starts to smoke. Very scary.

I think it may be a voltage regulator issue but it was replaced about a year ago and so perhaps not. My alternator is hooked up right but I don't think that's the problem.

Question is, could a bad battery be at fault and nothing more? I doubt it but perhaps. OR, could it be the fault of a voltage regulator. I have had problems with that in the past but it melted wires not killed my battery in one smoky blow.

Oh and before you ask, "did you hook your battery up right?" the answer is yes, yes, yes. It's been taken out of my car more times than Bush has told a lie and I know which way it needs to go.

You guys are smart smart smart so I know you'll have more insight than I.

smoke on the mattress

thinkingwoman — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 07:09:07 -0800

how do we get the smell of smoke out of a mattress and boxspring? eek. we have inherited a mattress and boxspring from my sister and her boyfriend, who are heavy smokers. is there any way to get the smell out?

the bed is just for the spare bedroom, and we don't anticipate having guests for a while, so we were thinking about closing the heat vents, opening the window, and just airing them out for, like, a month.

obviously, this not exactly efficient, since it is winter and we are heating our house, and having nothing but an interior door between our heated home and the cold outdoors seems like not a great idea.

any other ideas? we febreezed the heck out of them but they still stink.

Aside from cannibas, which herbs induce a high?

watercarrier — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:10:21 -0800

Aside from cannibas, what herbs, individual and in combination induce the most powerful highs? Thanks.

Curiouser and curiouser... where to smoke in NYC

jewishbuddha — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:05:47 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good hookah bar in Manhattan? I know there are a ton of places in the East Village, LES, Ave. A, where I can go to smoke hookah/shisha, but I've got a couple things in particular I'd like to find if possible, as I've been to couple here that were not exactly right.

1. No super-loud music. My buddy and I like to go sit and smoke and talk for a couple hours. If it's too loud to have an extended conversation, it's not the right place. It seems like the places on 1st Ave that I saw are more like bars or clubs that have hookahs than places you can actually go and chill for a bit.

2. More than one coal. Most places I've been in other cities (and when I smoke at home with friends), they keep replenishing with hot coals to get better smoke. One place here looked at me like I was nuts when I asked for fresh coal.

3. Not self-lighting coals. I've found that the broken up lump charcoal does a better job than the self-lighting charcoal disks. The last place I went in NYC used the disks though.

4. Fresh water. Everywhere else I've been, you order a hookah and they bring everything out fresh. It seems like here, a lot of places leave the hookah out on the table and just bring out a bowl of tobacco when you order.

The only one that's critical is 1. The others would be nice to have though as long as I'm making silly requests.

Thanks

Smoke'em if you got'em...just do it outside!

cosmicbandito — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:07:59 -0800

Why do cigarettes smell so much better outside? I can't be the only one who's noticed. When you walk past somebody who's just lit up outside, there's a delightful quality to the smoke. It smells fantastic. Doesn't seem to matter what brand, or what the weather is like. But as soon as you step indoors, if that same person lights up, the smoke smells different; somehow less intense. What gives? Is there some chemical difference going on, or is it all in my head?