Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and Linoleum

I have a problem. I have just moved in with my soon-to-be mother-in-law. She is a chain smoker. She has the same wallpaper and linoleum she had 30 years ago when the house was built. I would like to remove the nicotine as a favor. Any suggestions? - sittinritehere

Answers:

Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and Linoleum

Wow-this house has got to reek! You won't be able to get the stains out of wallpaper without ruining it. On the floor, try strong mix of TSP and elbow grease. If all else fails, use oven cleaner. Spray on a small area. Leave on for 30 or so min., scrub off with soapy water and a brush. Wear gloves and a mask so you don't inhale the stuff. I did this once and it is hard work.

Do you realize that you will now be exposing yourself to all the liabilities of second-hand smoke? (08/23/2004)

By Linda

Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and Linoleum

My first suggestion: before beginning I'd discuss this with my soon-to-be spouse. If it seems like a good idea to him/her, I think someone (you or spouse) should run it by the mom for approval. A lot of people become very offended when anyone else makes decisions on their behalf regardless of the good intentions involved. And who knows... your future M-I-L may have finally gotten these things the color she wants!

We old single/widowed/divorced folk are often quite set in our ways and are particularly likely to cop an attitude about such things. (08/25/2004)

By Warren D. Lockaby

Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and

Go to your local professional cleaning store, they have products there for removing nicotine. I use one called Black Out and it takes off all sorts of nasty marks.
wonderfulone (09/01/2004)

By Susan

Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and Linoleum

I used a product called Awesome I bought for a dollar at The Dollar Tree Store. It is yellow in a clear spray bottle. It works. I used it full strength on wood work, painted walls, and wall paper walls. It removed horrible nicotine on all my walls that was caked on and saturated. I was careful not to let it drip on the wall paper because it will run and cause water marks. I also did not rub back and forth on the wall paper because it will take off the paper. I quickly dabbed and pressed the paper with a clean cloth after I sprayed a fine mist onto the paper.

I sometimes saturated a cloth with the full strength Awesome and pressed the cloth onto the paper and then used a separate cloth to dab and press the paper to absorb the yellow and brown nicotine stains. This product does not have harmful smelly fumes. It has many uses and it can be used full strength for tough problems and diluted for others. Eventually I would like to paint my walls, but at least for now everything looks clean. I love it. (09/15/2005)

By snoopy05

Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and Linoleum

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and Mean Green (08/24/2006)

By

Removing Nicotine Stains From 30 Year Old Wallpaper and Linoleum

Lots of good ideas, we clean up houses for a living and have done some cat houses and of course the " smoking houses" one lady had a popcorn ceiling and no lie it was chocolate brown, she had smoked there for 50 years. We clean ceilings and walls professionally and floors too. To get rid of the smell you can rent an ozone generator then for the walls and floors we use Clean-n-brite you mix it with water and it makes a hell of a lot of cleaner.

The you spray it on and the nicotine just disappears and it removes the smell too. My customers think that it is a magic trick. Buy it from the website: www.clean-n-brite.com
Jeff (02/24/2007)

By Jeff