Most of the furniture in our house are antiques. And most of those pieces are hand me downs from various family member.
Recently my grandfather passed away. At the great age of 96 it was not really a surprise when he passed away in his sleep... But you're never ready to lose a loved one.
In clearing out some of his things I acquired 3 sets of his bookshelves.
He was a 86 year smoker, so I knew that there would be an issue with the smell. But with glass doors on the top and solid doors on the bottom, I knew these albeit somewhat dated shelves would be a great addition to the homestead.
We had the shelves sitting in the garage for about 3 days before I could start working on them.
And after just 1 day my garage REEKED of cigarettes!!
So I knew that I really needed to deal with the smoke smell... This seemed like a job for Pinterest! Surely SOMEONE would have the perfect tip for how to go about getting rid of smoke smell in furniture quickly and easily!!
Wrong.
The only tips I could seem to find included leaving the piece COVERED IN BAKING SODA for days!
No thanks, I'm not that patient.
So I took a whirl around the rest of the internet and found the quick and easy tip I was looking for.
It worked perfectly and so I wanted to share it with you!
B.I.N. Primer Sealer.
Boom! That's it!
This stuff is specifically made to seal in the smell from smoke and fire damage.
I bought a gallon, which was a little pricey at $41, but barely used any of it so I really could have gotten away with the $13 quart.
The bookshelves have that laminate top layer that is so fun to work with, and the B.I.N. Sealer worked perfectly.
Yes, I did paint these inside... It was POURING outside for a week and I couldn't wait to get started!
If you are going to do this, open a window and use a fan. The B.I.N. sealer is VERY strong!
I used a 4" roller to paint the majority of the shelves, just using a brush to fine tune the final actual paint coat, not the sealer.
This stuff dries FAST!
Before I even finished the first coat it was dry. I immediately applied a second coat of sealer.
Within 15 minutes the whole thing was sealed and dry!
I did use the sealer as a sort if primer, so on the second coat I made sure the coverage was pretty even.
Note: this stuff is THIN! I thought it wasn't mixed enough but that's just how it is... Be careful when pouring or you may end up with splattered feet like I did!
As soon as I was finished with the second coat, I didn't wait at all before painting the first coat of paint.
I let that coat dry for about an hour, then painted the final coat of paint.
This is when I went over the creases and crevices with a small brush.
I let the whole thing dry for about 2 hours after the final coat and the moved it into place in my living room!
I must say that I LOVE it!
Also, I did wait about a day before actually putting anything on the shelves, since I didn't want my antique books to stick to slightly tacky paint!
The glass doors and bottom doors are currently M.I.A... but as soon as I can find them they are going on!
Let me know what you think about this tip. I am SO glad I found it... garage sales here I come!
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