Getting Rid of Cigarette Smoke Smell for Smokers

While researching this topic, I asked a relative for some practical advice to rid my house of cigarette smoke. Their answer was immediate and to the point: QUIT SMOKING! Who isn’t tired of hearing that one? The truth is that cigarette smoke permeates into our furniture, our carpets, our walls, our windows, and just about every other nook and cranny in our homes. Us smokers are generally unaware of the smell. The same problem exists in our cars. There are large numbers of people who are allergic to cigarette smoke, or suffer some very serious breathing issues when they come into contact with it. Even the lingering smell of cigarette smoke left in a home or a car by its previous occupants is not just noticeable, but may be close to intolerable to a non-smoker. So if you’re not ready to kick the habit just yet, let’s explore some methods of controlling the cigarette smoke in our environments. Who knows, the next person to bask in your odor may be a hot date or prospective employer and if they don’t smoke, a noticeable odor will definitely make an impression.

Get the Smoke Out!

If you smoke inside, devise a system that pulls the smoky air outside of your home so it doesn’t have time to set on your surroundings such as smoking in front of a window fan that is set to expel air from the room. Despite the people who feel second hand smoke is a health risk even if you are smoking outside in a wind storm, the smoke needs to be trapped inside an enclosed area to deposit its odor.

Make a Smoker’s Lounge

If you have any rooms in your home which are seldom used, consider making one your smoker’s lounge and furnish it accordingly. This room will reek, but it will also keep you from stinking up the rest of your home. Better yet, set up shop on your porch or patio to keep the stink out of your house entirely.

Purify the Air

There are many air purifiers on the market that claim to remove cigarette smoke and odor from the air before it gets a chance to turn your windows yellow. Many of them call themselves “ozone” based air cleaners. They run the gambit from crap to somewhat effective, but even the best ones only work in the room where they are placed. If you only have an occasional smoke then a good air purifier might be just what you are after, but for daily smokers these will only drain your wallet along with your electricity.

Mind Your Butts

A single ashtray can stink up a room almost as quickly as a lit cigarette. You can fight this menace by placing an absorbent substance in your ashtrays. This works both inside your home, and in your car. Baking soda works wonderfully, just pour enough in your ash tray to submerge your butts and use it to extinguish and bury the tip of your cigarettes when you are finished with them. This is not going to solve the problem 100%, but it will help. It will not only help diminish the smell of an ashtray full of extinguished butts, but will also draw some of the smoky odor out of the surrounding air. It is certainly a lot cheaper than putting an “ozone generating, state of the art titanium based corona and ultra violet light” air cleaner in every room of your house. Even if you can plug one into the cigarette lighter of your car, you’re still going to need to unplug it to light your next cigarette. Ashtrays with air-tight lids will also do the trick.

Your Clothing and Your Breath

If you find yourself in a situation where you really need to keep your person free of cigarette smoke smell, but you want to light up regardless then here’s what you do. First, smoke outside facing away from the wind, upwind from any other smokers in the vicinity, if you have an overcoat with you, wear it. This will keep most of the smoke away from your clothing. After you’ve finished your stogie, remove your coat and stand out in the wind a little longer to flush your person with fresh air. If it’s not particularly windy, take a brisk walk. As for your breath, the best you can do is brush your teeth, gargle with a strong mouthwash, and follow that up with the strongest mint you can handle.

Fall in Love with a Fellow Smoker

You might as well face it. Your body, your clothes, and most of all your breath are going to smell like cigarettes. Also, your teeth are going to turn a bit yellow. Cigarette smoke can be removed from the body and your clothing with normal washing. You can use whitening toothpaste , brush three times a day, use lots of mouthwash, and visit the dentist daily for professional teeth cleaning and this will remove all traces of cigarette smoke from your body, your clothes, and your breath... until about ten minutes later when you light up your next Marlboro. Cigarette smoke smell can be reduced, and it is a polite thing to try, but as long as you smoke, the problem of their lingering odor will exist, and non-smokers will be unhappy with it. Oh well.