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How to Get Rid of Cigarette Smell

November 20th, 2009 by admin
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Getting Rid of Cigarette Smoke Smell for Non-Smokers

If you are a non-smoker, and have become the owner of a home, car, book, or sofa that once belonged to a smoker, you are likely here because you want to remove that awful cigarette smoke smell. Here are some suggestions:

Cigarette Smoke Smell in Furniture

  • The Fabreeze Controversy When confronted with any odor on furniture, curtains, or bed linens, the natural thing to do is reach for a deodorizer such as Fabreeze. Some argue that this simply masks the odor temporarily and it will return as soon as the spray product evaporates. There have also been reports of breathing problems associated with the use of fabreeze and other deodorizers. Others swear it doesn’t work anyway. It just turns the odor into a disgusting blend of smoke and the great outdoors. If the odor your battling is very weak, it’s worth a try. If it’s strong then don’t even bother.
  • Get it Steam Cleaned Cigarette smoke smell in fabrics emanates from tar ash and oil deposits left in it’s fibers. In order to remove the smell, you need to remove these deposits. Unfortunately, when cigarette smoke condenses onto something, the resulting ‘goo’ is very, very stubborn. If you’ve ever cleaned (scraped) this residue off of glass or painted walls you know exactly how stubborn it can be – imagine that same goo stuck in every fiber of the piece of furniture you wish to clean. The bottom line is that household cleaners just won’t cut it, hire some professionals to come and clean it for you. Make sure they use a van-mounted steam cleaner and tell them exactly what your objective is so they can use the appropriate cleaning solution.
  • Low Budget? Completely cover the piece of furniture you’re cleaning with baking soda and then rub it and pat it into the fabric so it gets as far into it as possible. Let it sit overnight and then vacuum it all back up.
  • Get Rid of it This is not meant to be flip, but sometimes you just have to cut your losses. When cigarette smoke gets deeply enmeshed into the fabric of an ex-smokers favorite couch, there may be nothing that will ever get it out. Unless you enjoy reupholstering furniture, you might just have to throw it away. Better yet, sell it to a smoker.

Removing Cigarette Smoke Smell from Carpets

Carpets aren’t as hard as walls, but they’re still a lot of work.
  • Rent a Shampooer Most home improvement stores have carpet shampooer available for rental. Go pick one up, along with a bottle or so of shampoo, and get to work. A good carpet shampooer can remove the cigarette smell, but it may take several passes through each room to get it all. To make your job easier, sprinkle baking soda liberally over your entire carpet the night before you plan on shampooing, and vacuum it up just before using the carpet shampooer.
  • Call in the Professionals Give the carpets a serious and professional carpet cleaning . Hire a carpet cleaning company that uses van-mount steam cleaners. Tell them exactly what your goal is so they can use the appropriate cleaning agent when they arrive. If you have furniture to de-smokify, make sure they use smaller upholstery attachments and not the huge vacuum-like wand they use on your carpets.
  • Low Budget? Fill a large tub with bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), add a few drops of essential oil and mix well. Lavender smells nice, but the flavor is up to you. Sprinkle the mixture liberally over the carpet, let it sit for at least four hours and then just vacuum it up. Repeat as necessary.

Cleaning Cigarette Smoke Residue from Walls

Cleaning a smoker’s house is a nightmare, brown and yellow stains will be on everything from the windows to that intricate crown molding. Unless you’re willing to hire somebody else for the task, get ready for a lot of work.
  • Vinegar Next to Italian salad dressings, this may be vinegar’s most important job. Even if you are going to paint the walls, you still need to clean them first. In a large bowl or bucket mix one cup of white vinegar for every two cups of warm water, then add a scoop of baking soda – it should fizz. Use a sponge mop or brush to wash down your walls and ceilings with it. This solution will make residue much easier to remove and should be easy on your paint too. Follow this up with a vinegar based window washer for windows (can be found in organic grocery stores), and your basic bubbly vinegar/baking soda mix on the window moldings.
  • Paint If you’re still not happy with the result, you can attempt the last step again, or just repaint your walls.

Removing Cigarette Smoke Smell from your Car

  • Good old Vinegar The same mixture of vinegar and baking soda that you used on the walls inside the house can work on the interior of the car (one cup of white vinegar for every two cups of warm water along with a good scoop of baking soda). Wash down the windows, plastic moldings, and metals with a generous amount on a sponge. Don’t use this on fabric, however. Treat fabric as you would carpet inside – saturate it with baking soda, spray with a diluted solution of essential oil and water (optional), let sit overnight, and vacuum.
  • Cigarette Smoke Smell Home Remedies: There are almost as many cigarette smell removal remedies as there are people. Some of the ideas appear to mask the smell with another more powerful odor rather than to remove, so be sure you are going to be happy with the result. Here are some of them:
  • Fill a tub with vinegar and place it on the floor in the front seat, close the windows, open the floor vents and turn on the heat full blast. Let the car run in this state for an hour before removing the tub. Another version of this remedy requires hot summer weather and allowing the tub sit on the floor with the windows closed all day.
  • Leave an opened bag of charcoal in the car overnight.
  • Put a few drops of vanilla extract on a rag and toss it under the seat.
  • Put a sliced apple in a cup and set it on the floor. Leave it until it shrivels.
  • Sprinkle dry coffee grounds on the floor of the car, let them sit there for a few days and vacuum them up.
  • Mix of apple sauce and cinnamon and put it into a jar with holes punched in the lid. Place the jar on the floor of the car.
Which ever method you try, be prepared for several re-applications. You are going to most likely need them. If you have any tips to make this easier, please share them with the rest of us using the form below. Good luck!

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    1. Spencer Says:

      I’ve never seen anything like this one before…it’s a FOGGER for cars! Gonesmoke Auto Fogger. took every bit of smoke out of this used car just bought. Tells you to run the engine with air on high/recirculate. Pretty amazing stuff!

    2. Andy Says:

      I smoke sometimes before my mom comes home from work and i spend a looong time trying to get rid of the smell.. i only have 2 hours to achieve this and i found a good way.. if you have this problem i recomend soaking a small towell with bleach and then wave it around the smoke smelling room.. this is very helpful.. make sure its not dripping though or you will discolor your whole room..

    3. Foster Mom Says:

      I’m a foster mom and a devout nonsmoker. I’m allergic to cigarettes and simply hate the smell. I often get kids who come with everything just reeking of cigarettes. I just now found a solution that may work for others to get HEAVY cigarette smell out of clothes. I have a front loader washing machine. I washed some clothes in warm/cold with some ammonia, laundry soap (directions say use much less soap as the ammonia makes the soap go farther), and fabric softener. I used Tide HE and maybe 3/4 cup of ammonia (which says on the label can be used in the laundry) and Downy fabric softener. It took 2 washings, but the stuff is fresh now, surprisingly enough. I have soft water too, along with a front loader, so I don’t use as much soap as most people or I’ll wind up with a sudsy nightmare. Good luck to you all. I love garage sale-ing (who knows how to spell that!) but I once had to throw out a shirt I bought after washing it 3 or 4 times as it still smelled disgusting. BTW, I have an extremely accute sense of smell. The ammonia is what did the trick.

    4. Justin Says:

      I bought an air purifier (XJ-3000D) from ThePureAirStore.com for a really good price and even though I’m allergic to cigarette smoke, (and my partner smokes in the house) but with my air purifier I never have a problem with my allergies and the house never smells like cigarettes! I highly recommend buying an air purifier.

    5. jenn Says:

      I’m really sorry I don’t have any tips but I did date a guy who detailed cars and he basically said everything that the post from the other car guys stated which recommend ozone products/bio-products and a really good scrubbing.

      I have to empathize, I live with a horrible smoker! I am so sad that I smell dirty right after taking a shower. It’s in my hair, my clothes, by mattress, my shoes, and even when I blow my nose there’s this weird gray colored streak in some of the mucous secretions!! I know it’s sick!!! I am convinced that my skin is even absorbing these nasty chemicals = ( Anyway it just can’t be good for my health. I once heard a comedian say “Yeah, I smoke so what? I don’t give a f**k about killing myself,so why should I care about you whiny non-smokers?” I think that sums it up quite well.

    6. MG Says:

      No one in our home are smokers but our neighbors do smoke and there smoke comes through our shared walls. Is there anything, other than move, we can do? My husband is having a hard time breathing. Any suggestions? Thank you!

    7. Deaf RaGe Says:

      Anybody has a trick for getting rid of smoke smell off electronics? I recently bought a used Xbox 360 and it reeks of cigarettes. I go in my room and I can smell it. Ugh. Help!

    8. candy. Says:

      Terri, Im in the same boat as you. Only, it’s my parents, AND my mothers parents. All of which have been smoking for well over 30 years (minimum). It’s so hard for people to believe that I myself do not smoke because of how hard it is for me to avoid it in my own home.

    9. Amy Says:

      I had a smelly odor in my home due to smoking. My bed smelt like it, my furniture smelt like it, and my clothes. I tried using candles, but that didnt help unless you were nest to the candle. I tried Febreeze, but only a few minutes. A friend of mine suggested using an air purifier. I bought a filter one and tried it, it didnt help at all. I came across a different type of air purifier, Air Oasis. I bought a room unit. I love it! About a month later, I bought an induct unit. It covers my whole house. I get compliments all the time on how clean my home smells. I wouldnt trade it for any oher type of its kind.

    10. terri Says:

      I would like to say to all the people who make the comment “to just shut up and quit smoking”. My mother and my husband smokes so I have to live with a smoker. I don’t like it but I am stuck with it. Smokers are so inconsiderate people in the world. Smoking is so important to my mother and more so as she has aged. She will on purpose light up and smoke even if someone is asking her to smoke outside or in another room, and everything stinks so bad that when she opens her purse, its all I can do not to throw up and then she will claim she smells nothing. So non smokers are subjected to smoke from smokers all the time and most smokers don’t care. So even through I hate cigerette smoke there is little I can do not to come in contact with the smells it leaves behind. So as it would be nice just to “shut up and quit” thats not life for most people and yes I mean the non smokers of the world. And I have found that the more I say or ask smokers to please not smoke around me I have found most just smoke more. There mentality not mine.

    11. candy. Says:

      I live in a house where 4 of my family memebers smoke heavily. There is nothing I can seem to do to escape my hair and clothes from smelling like it. I’ve tried many products, but there is always a hint of the musky cigarette odor. Im tired of having to shower RIGHT before leaving, to avoid sitting in the house, and smelling like it; going outside with my hair wet.

      Any tips would be much appreciated.

    12. Mark Says:

      Removing cigarette smoke smell from your car is pretty easy if you do it once a month. Be prepared to use harsh chemicals though. I used to be a reconditioning guy at a car dealership.

      Step 1:

      Vac the car. Completely. Everything needs to come out.

      Step 2:

      WASH THE INSIDES OF THE WINDOWS! Use non-streak glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth. This will rid the windows of resin. Get into every little area too. Everything! Windshield, windows, back window, SUNROOF.

      Step 3: Mix the ammo.

      Lacquer Thinner, Carpet Foam, Good Smelly Stuff :

      1:1 Lacquer Thinner/Water. Add some carpet foam and whatever smelly stuff you want.

      Step 4: Fire!

      No, dont fire. Lacquer thinner will bleach your interior. Spray the mixture on a lint-free rag and wipe down the headliner, and the pillars. The drivers side A B and C pillars are going to contain the most resin.

      Step 4: Wipe down the carpet.

      Step 5: Clean the vents! I dont me just wipe them down, get inside them if you can. Spray some of the mixture into the vents and blast the heat. Replace the cabin filter.

      Step 6: Clean the seats. If you have leather, wipe them down with soap and water.

      Step 7: Open every single window and blast the heat.

      Your done! The interior should be really close to being smoke-neutral. Ive seen some REALLY bad cars. I cleaned a brand new Lexus RX that had a cream interior. The woman who owned it never opened a window when she smoked… the A pillar on the drivers side was dark dark yellow. This cleaned it up pretty well, but it took me 16 hours.

      If you want to go hardcore, scotch guard everything. Dont load it up, but put a nice layer down and then let it dry.

    13. Lisa Willson Says:

      Try Biocide System’s Room Shocker. This product works very well at getting cigarette odors out of everything in the room.

    14. dale Says:

      People just shut up and quit smoking. Enough of the freakin’ whining! Are you just too stupid to buy this thing called… hmmm… let’s see… NICOTINE GUM!

      Oh. by the way, I smoked everyday for several years but decided not to because the SMOKE is so harmful. That’s what happens to people who actually CARE about themselves and others.

      Oh yes I know what addiction is all about and a big part of it is childish narcissism. If these people were really caring they’d just go get some freakin’ GUM as it contains nicotine and actually it gives you a BETTER BUZZ. So again… enough of the whining!!!

      It really is funny seeing these smokers get on here giving suggestions on how to reduce the smell of the smoke. How ironic. Grow up.

    15. Sam Says:

      I am not a smoker. For some reason, the smell of cigarette smoke does not bother me as much as the smell of a house with cats or dogs in it.
      It really stinks for a long time. I bought a car were the previous owner kept a dog, and hair was all over the back seats. The car smelled and I had to get rid of it.

      I think, baking soda and vinegar reduce cigarette smoke smell to a minimum; hardly noticeable.

      Thanks.

    16. [...] How to Get Rid of Cigarette Smell HTH. I know Bicarbonate of Soda worked absolute wonders when getting rid of a vomit smell in the car after I’d been a bit too quick in the Alps and my duaghter wasn’t too happy in the back seat! Seems like it can help with the rest of the car and ciggie smells too. [...]

    17. kymmi Says:

      with good results I have used the baking soda on the carpets and furniture and left it overnight also washed walls and floors with vinegar..plus I buy these little bottles of scented oil such as vanilla they are for little potporri pots and I put a few drops onto a fabric softner sheet and then drop the sheet into a vent and then when the heat goes on it just smells wonderful.although this doesnt really get rid of the problem it does mask it nicely….also I have just put a few drops of the oil in basboard heaters if im not able to use the fabric sheet due to fire risk and it works great

    18. Jerry Johnson Says:

      My apologies for the double posting, but I didn’t think the first one took. I guess I’ll stick to racing cars,LOL.
      And, Debbie thank you for the info. I didn’t know they made one for the House. This will make the perfect Christmas gift for my sister-in-law.

    19. Debbie Miller Says:

      Jerry, the company you mentioned BiocideSystems.com has the same product for the House. It’s called Room Shocker. And yes, it’s pretty great stuff. I recently inherited a property that was occupied by a chain smoker. It works so well it even got the smell out of the furniture that was left behind and some shirts that were in the bedroom closet. What will they think of next?

    20. Jerry Johnson Says:

      I race cars for a living. We deal with gas spills and the odor they leave behind all the time. We were recently given a new product to test called Auto Vaccine from a company called biocide systems. It’s brand-new technology that will eliminate any severe odor, including gas and cigarette odors. I was amazed at how well it works. It’s really easy-to-use, eco-friendly, and not expensive.You just put it in the cup and let it sit in the car for a few hours. My brother-in-law is a chain smoker, and his favorite place to smoke is in his car. I put one of these auto vaccines in his car left overnight. I would never believed it if I did experience it myself. But it completely got rid of the odor. I even put my nose up to the headliner to see if I can get any kind of smell. But all I got was a little bit of a chlorinated smell, and that was even gone an hour later when I had my sister smell it. I’ve tried the vinegar solution and that works pretty well, but it’s only a temporary fix. If you want to permanently remove the odor I highly recommend this product. Especially to people or in the automotive business and auto detailing. I can see out would be a moneymaker.

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