Ponies and smoke/nicotine damage..? (long read)

T

thatgirlblu

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
Jul 9, 2013
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Hi, thanks for reading. So I have a question/discussion that pertains to smoking/smokers and pony displaying. First I'd like to say, please refrain from leaving any "Eiw smoking is gross" or "You should quit" comments, I am WELL AWARE that cigarettes are disgusting and terrible for you and that they are indeed bad to have around ponies and that YES I should quit but it irritates me when people judge without being welcomed to, my unfortunate habit is my business and mine alone. Though I do plan to quit (have tried nicorette gum, lozenge, and e-cig not to no avail so far..) for now I am still smoking. BTW if you don't smoke, I recommend you don't start, I struggle with it and hate that I am addicted to it. (Though fortunately, it is my only vice).

MOVING ON, for a few years now I have had a nice collection of mostly G3 ponies and of course all of my fair ponies and things, fair ponies in boxes mint, and the rest loose. Unfortunately they have all been in my closet or storage in plastic bins nicely stored, because of the fact that I smoke and have been worried about displaying them for fear of ruining or damaging them. This has brought me little to no joy lately as I have been desiring more and more to have them out on my shelves. Why collect them if you can't put them up? My answer was that "Someday I am going to quit and my reward will be that I can have all my ponies up on display" but years went by and I eventually (recently) decided that it was too sad to keep them all stuffed away and I was finally putting them up, regardless. So they have all come out on my shelves and look super amazing (I cleaned them all thoroughly and conditioned their hair and things, thanks to all for the tutorials and help on that!) seriously, they look great! Plus now I am ready to buy more lol (I am so addicted to ponies!).
How I married the thought of smoking and having ponies in my head...well we purchased a very nice high end (obscenely expensive!) air filter/purification tower which is said to clean the air of smoke/tar/nicotine. And we (my husband and I) resolved to only smoke with all the windows open and standing close to them (and the air filter always clean and running). And we also use room spray that's said to freshen after smoke (not sprayed in the direction of the ponies!) of course. The thought of only going outside to smoke would be difficult because we live on the top floor and my husband has trouble with stairs now (post injury, myself as well) and an array of different reasons, but any way...I've resolved to lightly clean my ponies biweekly to monthly (just a quick wipe down and what not, on all)

I am wondering, with the combination of things we are doing (smoking near open windows, using the air filter 24/7, spraying the rooms, and very lightly cleaning them all at least monthly) if this will prevent them from any "damage" from our smoking, and if not, then how bad do you think this will effect their over all quality in time? I am not a big pony seller, just a pony haver lol.
I am most concerned about my white ponies yellowing over a long period of time, or something to that effect. Though so far we've lived here 6 months and nothing we own has turned yellow or gross due to it. Even the white walls still look crisp bright white and new, so clearly we've been careful.
Thoughts? Advice? Experience? Non-judgmental comments? I'd appreciate them. Thanks for reading my novel, I mean post lol (I type a lot sometimes...sorrryyyyyy!)
-Blu
 
I don't know much about preventing ponies from getting smoke damage and I'm not really sure if it is possible to totally prevent them from picking up smoke smell.
The only thing I can think of is to start trying to smoke outside if possible so they don't get exposed to the smoke at all.
EDIT: Doh, I just read that smoking outside isn't really possible for you so I'm not of any help :p
I don't smoke so I've never had to deal with smoke damage. Maybe try Googling somethig like "protecting items from smoke damage" because there has to be someone out there that's figured out a possible solution.
 
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hmmm, I would say if you are concerned find some kind of display case that no smoke will get in. Like the ones with lids. I don't think they are air tight but might offer extra protection.
 
I did think about getting a display case but we have like ten zillion feet of wall to wall built in shelving here, and I have not much else to fill it with and landlords won't let us take the shelves down lol, plus a display case big enough to keep all of my ponies I have and will get in the next few months, will cost me hundreds most likely and we hardly have room for new furniture :/ I'm difficult, I know, LOL! BUT when we eventually BUY a home in the next few years and stop renting, we will have loads more space and we have agreed then that there will be a designated "smoking room" if we haven't quit by then, probably the bathroom (I know that's weird, but at my last apartment the landlord said we could only smoke in the bathroom cause of the vents and cause it was the smallest room to repaint in case it stained the walls with nicotine) but currently our landlord only wants us smoking in the bedroom, which is also the living room case we have a super over sized studio, err, thing. The bathroom is shared between us upstairs and the non smokers downstairs (I know that's weird but it works) because there's only one full bathroom between both levels of the shared house. Our "studio apartment" is an insanely big over sized master suite they had and since it's actually significantly larger than most stand alone studio apartments in the area, that's what we use it for (it's HUGE). Oh, kitchen is also shared. But our "studio" is the whole top floor and private access, kinda.
SO I can't smoke in a different room right now cause we only have one room that's ours lol. But they are putting a new bathroom downstairs within the year so we no longer have to share the one up here with them, so when that happens, I will smoke only in the bathroom or mostly only in the bathroom.
OR maybe the quit smoking fairy will have visited me by then...I really hope :/ Seriously, here in my area, the gum/patches/other things are FAR more costly than the packs of cigarettes themselves! IT'S A TRAP! I wish I never started :/
When my husband gets the new job he's applying for (notice the "when", not "if", I am using power statements here lol, he WILL get this job!) health benefits which we currently have none of, should kick in within 90 days and then hopefully I can see my doc again about different methods of kicking the habit.
Look at me, I am going on and on writing a book again, ha!
ANY WAY, my best option now is monthly light cleanings on the ponies, and running that air filter on high and having open windows at all times and what not.
I don't think with all that, that the smoke will effect the ponies other than a smell I can wash out of their hair if I am really diligent and careful and use the right stuff...but I am only worried about yellowing WHITE ponies. Again, the walls are not yellowed nor is any of my plastic white things we have in here that aren't ponies (NBC figures, plastic lamp shades are white, etc) but it's my ponies ....of COURSE I'm paranoid LOL!
Hence why I am curious if any one else has had this experience or dilemma and maybe has other tips and tricks to keep them nice that I hadn't thought of yet. :) Thanks for the suggestions though...our next place should get a display case and not have to smoke near them any way!
 
Oh yeah PS thanks so much for actually reading and not judging me! TBH I am not proud of being a smoker, I hate knowing it's bad for me, I can't just stop any time I want to, my wallet certainly doesn't like it, I have to bathe in perfume and eat breath mints like meals to not reek of smoke to others, I can't run as fast or as far so therefor in a zombie apocalypse I might not have the greatest chances...etc etc etc LOL...I just hate the addiction and all that comes with it. I seriously recommend no one ever picks it up who hasn't already. When a friend quits, I am SO ecstatic for them, and when a non smoker friend asks about it, I say "NO, DO NOT START THIS!" lol. At the very least I am proud to say it is my only vice. I don't do any drugs or drink heavily (I'm 25 so I do have a glass of wine with meals now and then, but that's only a few times a year) etc. Not judging those if they choose to do other things but I'm just saying, sometimes there is a stigma to smokers, like that if they smoke cigarettes they must do other things, and I don't. So fortunately, I only have one addiction to tackle in the future! And ponies isn't one of them...that addiction never needs a "cure", I bet it's even good for you too, LOL!!! YAY PONIES! :LOL:
 
I don't know that anyone has done a clear "study" on how long or how cigarette smoke affects ponies, but we all just seem to know that it does. It's just not clear how long it takes, or how exposed a pony needs to be for it, etc.

I think the only useful thing I can offer is that if you ever want to sell your ponies, you should mention that they come from a smoker's home (and explain how exposed they may be), since there are people out there who are super sensitive to it, and even if you can't smell it or other people can't either, some people can.
 
Hm..not sure...but I know how to get the smoke smell out of them. Somehow dunking them in a bucket of water with a small amount of bleach manages to take the smell out without ruining the pony. Obviously don't do this with battery operated ponies. It only take about a minute in the water, and drain and dry them well.

I'm one of those that's sensitive to smells, and I do wish that sellers mention if them came from a smoker's home.

Good luck in your endeavors!
 
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Ianthe99 said:
About the only thing I can say is that spray air freshener will probably not help anything, as all it does is cover up the smell with a chemical based one. I would make sure not to spray it toward the ponies, as you'll get that stuff on them as well.
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I totally hear you, but I don't just use stuff that's supposed to mask the odors, I use the expensive stuff that's supposed to absorb the odors and actually help clean the air lol. And oh god NEVER spray things near my ponies lol, I would not, ever. Nope! I also use these candles that are meant to supposedly help absorb those smoke chemicals in the air, but more importantly above all that it's the really high end air purification system we bought and the smoking near the open windows that helps the most, I think. My mother in law is super duper sensitive to smoke and smells on things and after a bath she couldn't smell or notice anything on my ponies, but maybe others would, I do take excellent care of them otherwise though :)
 
xayide2 said:
Hm..not sure...but I know how to get the smoke smell out of them. Somehow dunking them in a bucket of water with a small amount of bleach manages to take the smell out without ruining the pony. Obviously don't do this with battery operated ponies. It only take about a minute in the water, and drain and dry them well.

I'm one of those that's sensitive to smells, and I do wish that sellers mention if them came from a smoker's home.

Good luck in your endeavors!
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Thanks :) And when I sell things, which so far has never been my ponies lol but I do sell other items online, and I always clean them thoroughly downstairs where there is no smoking, and let them dry/what ever down there too, then leave them down there for a day or two to air out, THEN give them a gentle cleaning again, also while down there, before storing them in sealed plastic bin away from smoke for a week or two, THEN I can list them online lol. Cause I also have pets...and lots of people can't have pet stuffs on their things. So I tell people the items may have been exposed to smoke (sometimes not, sometimes I consign things for folks) but have been cleaned and stored in a smoke and pet free environment prior to being sold/listed. I'm really OCD about that too. I smoke in my car and on the long drive to the post office I won't light up, I wash my hands before touching anything, etc. I am super careful of things for other people :smilepony:
 
Well, I don't think this will help with displaying them, but if they do get a smoky smell and you need to store them again, try dipping some cotton balls in pure vanilla and putting them in the bins/boxes that you put them in. We had a stinky couple of dressers from my grandfather and those took the smell right out. Just be careful that the ponies don't directly touch the cotton balls as they might stain them.
 
Orange peels, coffee beans and baking soda can help absorb smells too.
 
denture cleaning tabs for smokers

I've heard denture cleaning tabs for smokers will help remove the smokey smell and by the way, i've bought ponies that were around smoke - for certain and actually I think that since the older ones G1's were around when smoking wasn't banned everywhere, that people must have smoked around them at one time or another.

PS: What ponies are your favorites?
 
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