What Everybody Should Know... About How To Get Rid of Smoke Odor

Cigarette smoke is one of the most difficult odors to remove from your home. It permeates everything, your clothing, walls, sheets, carpet, furniture and most everything it comes in contact with. The smell is as about as pleasant as sticking your face in an ashtray. For the most part, smokers don't seem to notice or recognize the rank odor because they have become immune to it's yuckiness. Hopefully some of the suggestions below will assist you in your battle to remove smoke odors.                                                                          

Cigarette Smoke Smell in Furniture

When confronted with any odor on furniture, curtains, or bed linens, the natural thing to do is reach for a deodorizer such as Febreze. Of course, we’ve all heard of Febreze, and wonder why it works.       

Febreze uses a chemical compound called cyclodextrin that has been utilized in household and custodial cleaning products for some time. The substance doesn’t actually "clean" he odors out, but acts as an absorbent like baking soda or charcoal, to help soak the odor out. If the odor your battling is very weak, it’s worth a try. If it is a strong odor, it probably isn't going to help much. If you do utilize an odor removal product make sure that one of the ingredients is activated charcoal. Charcoal is used not only to filter water and other things, but is also used to soak up odors. If charcoal is an ingredient in an odor removing product, it will probably be successful at removing odors.                  

Baking Soda is a good way to get rid of smoke odor.                                                         

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. Upholstered furniture should be professionally cleaned and deodorized, as the wrong cleaner could cause damage and even result in color bleeding. However, if you are on a budget, you can try sprinkling baking soda into the furniture, rubbing it in and letting it set overnight. Then completely vacuum it the next day. When cigarette smoke gets deeply enmeshed into furniture fabric, it may be impossible to remove. If you have tried all options, you may have to dispose of the item, as you are wasting more time than what it's worth.

Removing Cigarette Smoke Smell from Carpets

You can rent a good quality carpet shampooer to remove the cigarette smell, but you may have to go over the carpet several times, depending on the degree of odor involved. It will help to 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.

If you have the extra money, a professional cleaning service is probably best. Hire a carpet cleaning company that uses van-mount steam cleaners. Be specific, tell them you are trying to remove cigarette smoke odor from the carpet, so they can use the appropriate cleaning agent . They can also clean your upholstered furniture using a smaller upholstery cleaner they have available.

Cleaning Cigarette Smoke Residue from Walls

A Vinegar Solution is a good method to get rid of smoke odor.

Cleaning a smoker’s house is a chore. Be prepared to clean everything, including light fixtures, walls, moldings, etc. For painted walls and ceilings, try a solution of 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. Newer vinyl papers can be washed with water, but older papers may be more delicate. For painted walls, washing should be followed by a fresh coat of paint and a stain-blocking sealer/primer. The undercoat prevents nicotine particles from bleeding through.

Removing Cigarette Smoke Smell from Curtains and Washable Fabrics

Shades, curtains, and fixtures need to be cleaned to get rid of smoke odor.

If you have machine-washable curtains or other fabrics in the room, trywashing them with heavy-duty, phosphate-based detergent plus 1 cup water conditioner and 1/2 cup bleach. Other fabrics may need to be professionally cleaned.

In conclusion, once you have followed the above steps, in order to neutralize any persisting odors that remain after cleaning, there are two options: a furnace filter or an air purifier. Furnace filters are an affordable option, and can improve indoor air quality by filtering 90% of contaminants and particles as small as one micron. Furnace filters also prolong the life of your heating and cooling system. However, for greater odor control, an air purifier using Activated Carbon, one of the most adsorbent materials known to man, can filter out smoke molecules. In fact, there are air purifiers on the market that are specifically designed to remove smoke, such as the Heaven Fresh Multi-Tech XJ-3800 Intelli-Pro Air Purifier

Fresh air is probably the best way to remove smoke smell and odor from a home.

Open up the house and let the air circulate to remove the smoke smell and accumulated odors from the tar and resin. Of course, unless you have already thoroughly cleaned the home, this will not eliminate the deep down smoke odors.