Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How do you clean cigarette staining off kitchen worktops and cupboards?
By Deborah Kenning from Northern Ireland
Ammonia diluted with water works the best. Make sure the room is well ventilated and change the water/ammonia solution frequently. It is also great for cleaning any food grease.
Distilled vinegar works like a charm (I would use it straight to remove nicotine) and the advantage of using it is that it is not harmful to your lungs or other organs and the odor goes away in a just a few minutes. Also, it is environmentally friendly and super inexpensive and you can use it to clean and sanitize everything from windows and floors to sinks and toilets and in the rinse cycle of your washing machine as a fabric softener.
My mother in law just recently gave my husband and I her house. She was a heavy smoker and the house smells pretty badly of smoke, among other things. I really want to get rid of it and make it smell nice and I want the air to be healthier for when we have kids.
Is there any advice you can give to treat the house?It is almost impossible to remove cigarette smoke, gasses and particles from a home. There are three types of cigarette pollution from smoking in the home:
The most effective way to remove most of the pollution is to permanently remove all rugs and upholstered furniture, repaint walls and ceilings, and wash all hard surfaces in the entire home. Even then, there will most probably be some exposure from the smoke gasses and smoke particles as these last for years.
Good Luck!
Wash the walls and paint with a stainblocker to seal in any odor. Put in new carpet and pads. Try salvaging any upholstered furniture with a vinegar/detergent solution with baking soda to remove the smoke smell. New air filters on furnace and air purifier unit as well.
My daughter had this problem in a house they bought. They had to paint the walls with Zprime. That was the easy part. The insulation in the fridge was permeated with smoke, there was smoke stains behind the toilet.
I work in a paint department. There are Primers, a type of treatment you use before painting the walls and ceiling, that are made to seal in odors. I won't be brand specific, as most if not all primer brands offer a primer that seals in odors. You will use your chosen primer, wait only the amount of time on the label, then paint. If you have carpet, you will want to remove it, and clean the floors. If they are wooden, you can shellac them after cleaning to seal in the odor; just be sure to let the shellac cure fully according to the directions before putting down rugs or carpet or they will stick.
My son bought a house that had mice and the smell was awful. I bought a bag of Natural Magic Odor Eliminator that cost less than $7.00...took about 1 week but it really worked, and it can be re-used.
My Hubby paint's when heavy smoke has gotten in walls they Kiltz it first than paint color you want rest use vinegar & water,...
As has been stated by many - it will be very difficult, if not impossible to remove all of the tobacco smells from your "new" home, but - you can do a fairly good job - may even be able to make it safe to live in.
If you can afford to have it professionally removed then, certainly, that is the best way to go. If that is not the case, there may be some ways to remove most of the hazard.
Other respondents have given excellent advice/suggestions that should give you some ideas on how to get started.
I have worked/volunteered with Red Cross when families were forced (financially) to return to a home that had extensive smoke damage. Now this is not the same type of smoke but it is still dangerous to live in without some type of good cleaning.
The first thing we did was to open as many windows and doors as possible. Then we started with one room and determined what could be safely removed - even down to the electric covers.
Of course, any carpet had to be removed immediately.
Usually bedrooms could be striped and sealed and repainted. I am not familiar with the type of sealer and paint used.
Kitchens and bathrooms were usually the most difficult areas to remove the smoke as there are so many "built ins" that just cannot always be removed/replaced.
The cleaner that we used was 50% water with 50% ammonia.
Try to use a sturdy pail with a handle that will not tip over. Dirty water should be carefully discarded in an open area away from the house.
Do not add anything else to the cleaning solution.
Now ammonia can be dangerous and should not be without proper care/instructions.
This can be dangerous and should only be used by responsible adults - but - it works well and does not seem to damage cabinets or appliances but should be tested in small areas before full application.
1. Windows/doors HAVE to be open for ventilation.
2. gloves have to worn at all times.
3. face mask should also be worn as you are dealing with a chemical that you do not want to breath.
4. have several/many cleaning "rags" available as they will get filthy in a short period of time and you may not wish to spend time and energy trying to wash this slime/filth just to reuse the rag/cloth.
5. we did not "rinse" the solution off the cabinets (optional) but we did wipe more down than one time with the cleaning solution to make sure we had removed all of the smoke.
This may seem an elaborate solution but it did work and the Ammonia/water solution could also be put in a spray bottle and sprayed into corners where we were unable to reach.
As stated before - this can be dangerous if all stated safety rules are not followed to the letter.
I would go with a professional service! Especially since you were given the house. Better to invest wisely into your home than make it worse. Good Luck!
Activated charcoal will absorb some of the smell. Open windows and use fan to air out the home. You can also wash non-fabric surfaces with a diluted bleach or cut vinegar solution.
Actually it is completely possible to remove these odors, I have made a business of it, see below:
It takes much longer than 12 hours to remove the cigarette and smoke odors if it is a heavy smell, you would not believe the homes that I have done where people have used vinegar, baking soda and so much more.
The only thing that will permanently remove the smoke odor is to professionally fog the home and then multiple day ozone shock treatment with multiple high output ozone machines in the home. I recommend Prozone Solutions if you are going to buy your own machines.
This is all I do-odors, many others besides smoke odor (cigarette odor, cigar odor and fire damage odor, gasoline in cars, rodent odor and more). Please see my site and check me out under Ozone Pure Air at Yelp!!! I only serve Southern California. God bless,
Troy 949-291-0952
I have a method that's worked for me. Spray the carpet, air, and all furniture (basically everything... even walls if you must) with Febreeze Extra Strength. If needed add in a nice smoke eliminating candle (no normal scented candles will do nothing)... Lord Byrons Smoker's Candle or if you want a nice scent you can go with Smoke Odor Exterminator Candle (I'm sure there are others you could try) Lord Byrons can sometimes be found at Walmarts (the aisle that sells cigarettes if your Walmart does) other candles can be found online... if you have a smoke shop near you, you might find something there also.
Wash walls/ceiling with water a cleaning product call tsp(I picked mine up at ace hardware) and a couple tablespoons of cascade dishwasher soap. You will see the orange from the tar/nicotine on the rag you use. Works really well
Remove everything from house that is not attached and scrub walls, floors with a vinager and baking soda solution. Get a professional duct cleaner to clean the whole system. This should get rid of 95% of the smell and if you are that picky look for another house
I have actually done many houses where they have used much much febreze in their homes, if the odor is bad it won't have much effect, again this is all I do is odors. For free advice or service in Southern California. Troy 949-291-0952
Buy zero scent. It is 12 a bottle but works great. I smoked for years and didn't turn my ac on and when one of my rooms got hot it smelled like I smoked a whole pack. I spritzed the room, rug too and it killed the smell.
I moved into an apartment which used to be rented to a heavy smoker who lived here over 7 years. They repainted, had the unit professionally cleaned, replaced the carpeting and treated it with some kind of chemical bomb thing which was supposed to kill residual nicotine smells.
I have now lived here since April, and I can still smell nicotine. I recently went on vacation for two weeks and when I returned, the smell was overwhelming. I use plugins, Febreze, and burn scented oils, which helps, but I am very discouraged. It was not so bad over the summer since I kept windows open, but now we are heading into colder weather. I live in Nevada which has very cold winters.
I love my apartment and I am on a one year lease. (I am a senior woman.) Do you have any good suggestions to help me with this problem?
Nok-Out is a product which has gotten rave reviews. You can purchase it at Amazon.
Are you certain it's coming from inside your apartment and not a neighbours? You might want to check. Here are some things you can do to help get rid of nicotine odors:
Step 1
Open all your doors and windows as much as you can when you're home. Have fans pointed outward. Good ventilation does wonders over time.
Step 2
Use charcoal as a deodorizing agent. It absorbs tough odors and smells.
Step 3
If you have any items in there that used to be there with the smoker, get rid of them (including drapes-- have them switched out)
Step 4
Sprinkle your furniture and carpets with baking soda to eat/deodorize the odor.
Step 5
Look into getting an air purifier. That was my best bet after I had this same issue back in the day.
Get rid of smoke smell.
Cigarette smoke/smell is really a tough odor to get rid of. There is probably one area the smell is the strongest.
You will have to be a detective and look for anything where this stuff is hiding so you can eliminate the source.
How can I remove cigarette smoke smell from my home? A smoker visited and had it on their clothes.
If they didn't actually smoke inside, one simple way to get rid of the smell is to open the windows and air it out. If it has actually permeated carpets, aphostery, or fabrics, a light misting with odor neutralizing Febreeze may be sufficient.
Air out the home ny opening windows and using fans. You could also buy a product called Nok-Out, which will eliminate any lingering smell in curtains, upholstery or carpet.
If the visitor was only there for a short time you can open windows and turn on fans. Ventilation is the key but other steps may need to be taken. Hopefully they were only in one or two rooms and you can clean any hard surfaces with some white vinegar mixed in water. Wipe thoroughly and wipe moisture up with clean rags. You can wipe upholstered furniture with the same solution just do not wet it - just wipe over the surface. Vinegar smell will go away quickly.
Set small bowls of vinegar around the house. Similarly, set bowls filled with kitty litter or baking soda throughout the home to help absorb the odors.
If you think it is in the carpet, you can sprinkle baking soda around and leave for a day before vacuuming.
Run AC fan continuously. Change AC filter.
By what you have written it seems the person was visiting your home for a few hours. You smelled smoke on their clothes and when they left you are still smelling cigarette smoke in your home.
I would suggest that you turn on the fans, open all your windows and door. You can buy some breeze air fresheners to sit around your home. A nice way to get rid of lingering smoke that a person left behind is to burn scented candles. This gives the room a nice fresh smell.
Now if the person was smoking in your home this is another story. N such a case you will need at least a gallon of vinegar, baking soda, clean rags, a bucket. You will need to do some deep cleaning to remove the smoke order left behind.
If you still smell the smoke on your couch where the person sat you can try using one of the scented cleaner for your couch or chair.
activated charcoal and vinegar will both neutralize the smell
you can purchase activated charcoal here: www.amazon.com/
you can also spray with an enzymatic cleaner
Enzymatic cleaners are really the only thing that will get rid of that smell. These cleaners use enzymes to break up the organic matter that causes the smell. "They work quickly by bio-degrading the stain, grease, oil, dirt, grime, vomit, urine, blood, coffee or food into its basic carbon, hydrogen or oxygen element, eliminating the problem. "
You can buy one here www.chewy.com/
or, if you have brown sugar, citrus peels and a lot of time on your hands, you can make your own: www.wikihow.com/
I lived with a smoker for a long time and I used activated charcoal to remove the odor. Here is a guide:
gizmodo.com/
Air it out well, fabreze and change your ac filter.
We painted the yellow nicotine stained walls. To take the smell away do I have to clean and repaint again?
When we moved into our house, one bedroom had been used by a smoker. We had to rip out and replace the carpet, clean the walls and ceilings with Mean Green (straight), and apply two coats of Kilz. Then we painted and laid new carpet, and finally the room was inhabitable.
Need to resolve the nicotine problem first, paint will not adhere to the surface.
I have an apartment rental where the previous renters were chain smokers. The walls were dripping with nicotine residue. My handyman completely repainted the entire apartment from floor to ceiling with two coats of semi-gloss in the kitchen and bathrooms and then he did two coats of egg shell paint in the rest of the apartment. He also painted the cottage cheese ceilings.
My problem is that he did not clean the walls before he started. He painted over the nicotine drenched walls. My question is will I ever get the horrible cigarette smoke smell out of this apartment? Would it do any good to wipe the walls with vinegar and water? All of the cabinets have been refinished; there is all new tile, blinds, and carpet.By Joyce
An all-natural paint additive has been developed that converts any newly painted wall surface, into a perpetual air, purification system no electricity or filters required. The Air-ReNu, technology permanently maintains healthy indoor air quality and eliminates offensive pet or smoking odors. One treatment will last 10-12 years.
This product really works, we bought a home that had smokers, when we repainted and added the ionic paint additive to the paint, in about two days all smoking odor was gone. Vance Edwards
How can I eleminate cigarette smoke smells from my home when someone smokes in his room daily?
There is no way to remove cigarette smell/smoke from your home if someone smokes inside as the smoke permeates the entire house. You can use very powerful (smelly) room fresheners but they do not remove the smell; they provide a different smell that only lasts a certain period of time. The smell can last for years even though the house may be repainted, curtains and carpet replaced, etc.
