How to Get Rid of Cigarette Smoke Damage

May 2nd, 2007 by MartinDodge

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As Cheryl Kenny pointed out in the Washington Post last year, when it comes to embedded tobacco smoke, it’s not easy being clean. She reports on a Virginia couple who took a year to get the stink out of a house they had purchased from chain smokers.

"The couple stripped wallpaper and washed the plaster walls beneath it, then painted," Kenny wrote. "They scoured trim, windows, light fixtures. They scrubbed the mahogany front door, then sealed the wood with tung oil.

"They replaced carpeting, the kitchen's linoleum floor and the dining room's hardwood."

They employed professional cleaners, "even having their metal window blinds cleaned and the nicotine-yellowed cords replaced. They hired a chimney sweep to clear cigarette odor from their fireplace. They even had their HVAC ductwork cleaned."

Cleaning the ductwork was key, the couple said. The cleaners said it was the worst buildup of black gunk they had ever seen, all from tobacco smoke. Because smoke particles are so tiny (as little as .001% of the width of a human hair) and can get into any part of the house, the cleanup cost thousands of dollars and many person-hours of hard work.

Smoke particles that have been deposited on interior building surfaces over the years emit vapors, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) which persist because they have very low vapor pressures. They quickly condense out of the vapor stage and rapidly condense. Because of this and their volatility, it allows them to move from one surface to another, drenching the entire house with a tobacco film and causing the odor to persist for years.

So the next time Uncle Ned gets insulted when you forbid him from smoking in the house, ask him if he would like to pay you for the cost of the cleanup or whether he will cover the difference in what you’ll get vs. what you could get when you sell the house. That’s the first step in clearing out tobacco stench: no more smoking in the house by anyone at any time. The rest:

Open all the windows and flood the place with fresh air. Do this as much as possible to sweep out what burnt tobacco particles you can.
Thoroughly clean all hard surfaces, preferably with a cleaner containing ammonia and glycol. Don’t use this on woodwork, however; use a cleaner recommended for woodwork. Paint all walls and ceilings.
It is nearly impossible to remove smoke particles from carpeting, so get rid of it. Thoroughly scrub the flooring beneath before replacing the carpeting.
Soak Venetian blinds in a bathtub full of all-purpose cleaner, scrub them, and, if possible, hang them outside to dry.
Send curtains out to be professionally cleaned. Tell the cleaner you want the tobacco odors deodorized. Don’t be surprised if they return to stinking within a few weeks. You may have to discard them.
Some claim that fabric cleaners like Fabreze can eliminate odors in upholstered furniture, but we suspect that they will not remove tobacco odors that have built up over the years. You may have to get them professionally cleaned, and even then, it may not work if the odor has gone deep into the stuffing. (It’s never a good idea to purchase used upholstered furniture that stinks unless you plan on reupholstering it.)

There are special tools you can buy, such as a chemical sponge, which will remove nicotine film from lampshades and books.
Smoke that has leached into fiberglass insulation in walls, attics, or ductwork may have to be removed and replaced, a very expensive proposition. Non-insulated ducts will need to be cleaned out.
Once all that is done, you may have to neutralize whatever odor is left by taking every living thing out of the house and pumping ozone into it for three days.

If you would like to avoid all this, don’t allow smoking in your house, and don’t purchase a house from smokers. But what if you live in an apartment? More and more property management firms are prohibiting smoking in apartments, but there are still some that don’t. Tobacco smoke can circulate through a building’s ventilation system or come up through apartment floors. As the anti-smoking organization, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) points out, "If you can smell it, it could be killing you! And even if you can't smell it, many of these cancer-causing chemicals can never-the-less be entering your lungs."

If an apartment neighbor’s smoking is bothering you, take it up with the management. Ask them to make a reasonable accommodation, such as moving you to another apartment or even asking the smoker to leave (most property managers don’t want the expense of fumigating an apartment where a smoker has lived).

Resources:

"Removing tobacco odor from old magazines," Google. Home remedies. Similar hints at Google Answers.
"Guitar Odors – Sweat and Smoke," Catalina Guitars. Maybe that’s why Willy Nelson’s guitar has a big hole in it.
"Removing Smoke Odors and Stains," Dollar Stretcher.

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September 15th, 2011 at 2:45 pm JJ Henry Says:

I love apartment living, but the downside is you don’t know anything about the people that lived there before you. So many times I have moved into apartments that just had horrendous smells. Sometimes it was heavy cigarette smoke odor, pet urine smells, burnt food or other smells that are just unidentifiable. I tried a few things, but I found this odor eliminator that worked really well that was recommended to me by my mother. It works great and is safe around kids and pets because it is environmentally friendly.
May 29th, 2011 at 5:25 pm Shirley Says:

My neighbors smoke and our terrace joins; they smoke and it come in my apt. and covers the whole house with their smoke. I usually close my door but the smoke is already in. If I know they are home I don’t even open my door. My life has changed since they moved in. Yes I told them and they lye and said they would not stand near where our door join. PS the terrace are very long so they could walk to the far end and I probably won’t get smoke as much. I pray they never retire lol.
I will try the Vinegar one person said.
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:23 pm Sergio Says:

I’m in the odor remediation industry in Las Vegas where we have a lot of smoke damaged houses being given back to the banks. The ONLY thing I’ve ever used that works at permanently removing smoke damage from all substrates (walls, ceilings, carpets, wood floors, cabinets, appliances, etc) is ozone shock treatments at very high concentrations for no longer than 2-4 hours. (6-8 hours if there’s no carpet) It also removes the smoke damage from the air ducts. How does ozone work? Ozone is 3 oxygen atoms bound together and reverts back to two oxygen atoms (oxygen) after the third atom jumps off to oxidize a chemical chain or destroy the membrane of a biological agent, in this case, the urine and feces of pets. Ozone can even rid the house of the stench of dying flesh which also covers all substrates and is impossible to remove without ozone.

In an occupied house with furniture, it’s important to remove the cushions from furniture and to perform a 1-2 hour max shock treatment. Most ozone machines cost over $400 but they can be had for under $80. They’re the only ones I’ve found that sells these devices for a non-rip-off price. You can also pick up ozone generators used from ebay for under $50 but make sure they’re not the “Mica Plate” type (pop in like CD’s) as those machines are ozone air purifiers that produce low amounts of ozone to freshen the air in occupied rooms, something that can be dangerous if the ozone level rises above 1 ppm. That won’t perform a shock treatment which is ozone levels of 100-200 ppm in an unoccupied room (not even house plants) to get rid of biological odor causing agents for good.
June 14th, 2010 at 2:13 pm Lisa Says:

Question- I have a very nice leather chair given to us from my Father-in-Law who is a heavy smoker. It looks beautiful but it stinks. I have washed it with vinegar and soap, sprayed it with lysol, cleaned it with leather cleaner, but it still stinks, what can I do that will work?
May 28th, 2009 at 8:43 am Cyndi Says:

Very Interesting, I was wondering what I can do to get rid of this smell, in my home.

Thanks to all who wrote comments & to the person who wrote this article.

Cyndi
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm Jess Says:

Stop Smoking!! and move out! ha ha ha
June 8th, 2008 at 9:01 am Jim S Says:

There is a product called vamoose that will get rid of the cigarette smell. We purchased the home kit that included a fogger. We fogged the a/c vents, walls, and used the spray bottle to clean the doors and window frames, blinds, and ceiling fans. We also fogged the carpets and then cleaned them with a rug cleaner a few days later. Our home no longer has that the cigarette smell left behind from the previous owner.
June 3rd, 2007 at 7:16 pm Dawn Cohen Says:

put a bowl filled with white vinegar (At least 1 cup deep)in each room Throughout house for 24 hours. Clean the bowls and do one more time, for another 24 hours…something about the vinegar pulls all old stale tobacco from room. For a better smell afterwards, clean air filters, and clean wood work with murphys wood oil….it works.

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