Ex-smokers and non-smokers alike will understand the necessity of getting rid of smoke smells and smoke odors. Whether the smell of smoke is in your home or in your car, you know it’s one of the worst odors imaginable. Cigarette smoke isn’t a quaint smell like a wood furnace or a fireplace. It gets into everything: your carpets, your walls, your sheets, your clothes, your jackets and your bags.

The first answer to get rid of smoke smell is immediate and to the point: QUIT SMOKING! But who among smokers isn’t tired of hearing that one? The truth is that cigarette smoke permeates into just about every nook and cranny in your home. Whether you’re a smoker or non-smoker, it’s a definite problem that should be addressed immediately.

There are almost as many cigarette smell removal remedies as there are smokers. Regardless, here are the best ones of the bunch, and hopefully the suggestions below will help you get the smell of cigarette smoke out of whatever it is that smells of it. 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 that is less than favorable.

Smoke Smell Removal for Smokers

Smokers are generally unaware of the smoky smell. Alas, 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. As a smoker, here’s how you can help the non-smokers out.

* There are tons of 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 garbage 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.

* If you smoke inside, devise a system that pulls the smoky air outside of your home so it doesn’t have time to settle on your surroundings. Try smoking in front of a window fan that is set to expel air from the room. The smoke needs to be trapped inside an enclosed area to deposit its odor, so if you can prevent this from happening, you’ll stop the odor from permeating items in your home.

* 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 problem100%, but it will help.

This method 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.

* If you have any rooms in your home that 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.

* 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 have to 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 smoke, 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.

Smoke Smell Removal for Non-Smokers

* Get a box of Arm & Hammer baking soda, dust the furniture and the carpets (if they haven’t been shampooed), and leave the baking soda to settle for a day or so. That will give it time to absorb some of the smoke smell and moisture around it. Then, vacuum it up and repeat the process a few more times over the course of a week. Use scented baking soda if you’d like.

* Shampoo your carpets. You have a couple of options here: you can either go to your local hardware store and rent a carpet steam cleaner and shampoo the carpets yourself, or you can hire a professional to bring in a big truck and do the dirty work for you. If you want to save money, it’s best to do it yourself.

* Clean your shades, curtains and fixtures. A lot of people forget to clean things like shades, chandeliers, curtains and wall hangings, but these things have probably collected quite a bit of tar and resin from years of absorbing smoke. Do yourself a favor and put the curtains in the washer, buy new shades and wipe down the chandelier with a good dose of ammonia to make sure that smell is gone.

* Wash the walls and ceilings. Try mixing up one gallon of warm water, one half cup of ammonia, one quarter cup of vinegar, and one quarter cup of washing soda. Work your way up from the baseboards to the ceiling while you clean, making sure to change the solution often.

* Open the windows and doors every couple of days for a whole day will help get the stink of cigarettes out of a home. The air flow allows tar and resin particles to escape, leaving the house smelling more like a house than a tar pit.

* Because the smell of smoke is caused by the leftover resins and tars, vinegar (an acid that cuts through resin and tar) is a great way to clean those surfaces that aren’t made of fabric and perhaps some that are fabric. Of course, vinegar doesn’t smell much better than smoke, but the smell of vinegar eventually diminishes, while cigarette smoke doesn’t.

Smoke Smell Removing Products

Don’t be fooled by the claims of odor removal products. If it doesn’t have a cleaning agent in it, you’re not going to get rid of the smoke smell. Scent-generating deodorizers only serve to mask the smell. Once you take them out of the house, you’ll notice the smell of old cigarettes again.

* Febreze uses a chemical compound called cyclodextrin that has been used in household and custodial cleaning products for quite some time. The sugar-like substance doesn’t necessarily “clean” the odors out, but acts as an absorbent like baking soda or charcoal to help soak the odor out.

* Another odor removal product is activated charcoal. Charcoal is used not only to filter water and other things, but is also used to soak up odors, just like baking soda. If you see charcoal in an odor removing product, it’s likely to succeed at removing bad smells.

* An ozone generator will get rid of any odor you can think of if it’s left on long enough in a closed house or apartment. The specifics of this procedure are a bit unclear, but if you’re getting desperate it might be worth a shot. However, you will have to take full responsibility for what this might do to your home or your health; just be sure to air out the home thoroughly after doing this because ozone is bad for your lungs.

* Natural cleaners and odor-removing products are a good idea. If you want to get rid of that smoke odor in an eco-friendly manner, how about using some of the cleaning products found in the organic and natural foods section of your local grocery store? Often, these products work just as well as the brand name chemicals.