How to Remove Smoke Smell from Plastic Toys

Dear Domestically Divine ones,
I recently purchased replacement pieces for a beloved vintage Fisher-Price toy on eBay. They arrived today after a long wait, absolutely reeking of smoke.

If the seller will refund my money, that’s the direction I’ll go in. If she won’t, I’d like to find a way to exorcise the smoke stink from these hard plastic toys. I still don’t think I want my kid playing with them, but I can at least sell them to a collector.
Any advice?
Signed,
Stinking in Stanford

Dear Stinking in Stanford:

Flattery will get you everywhere, my smelly one.

Fisher-Price recommends using the dishwasher on their small plastic toys. Since you are saving these for resale, I would hand wash the toys. If the toys still smell after a nice soapy bath, followed by a good rinse please place them in a tightly sealed bin with lots of crumpled newspaper. For added odor absorbency, sprinkle liberally with baking soda or toss in an activated charcoal adsorber.

I once had success with the newspaper trick in the past when we returned from vacation to find our refrigerator had gone on the blink.

The activated charcoal works similarly to the crumpled newspaper but with a lot more surface area to capture those volatile molecules that are the source of that smokey odor.

Submit your household questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.