Effective Ways to Remove Smoke smell From Your Room

Discover effective strategies to rid your room of persistent smoke odours with practical tips.

Are you a smoker? Do you smoke indoors? If so, then you could be facing more than just a smell problem. Not only does cigarette smoke linger, but it also makes your breath smell bad, stains your teeth yellow, and does the same thing to the walls in your house. In fact, one of the most effective ways to remove smoke smells from your home is to take it outdoors… However, we know we would be better off telling you not to smoke at all.

Instead, this article contains effective methods that will help you remove smoke smells from your home. Please keep an open mind. Quitting is possible if you have an alternative nicotine delivery system. We shall lecture no more.

Understanding the Sources

Understanding the sources of the smoke odour can help you to tackle it, one component at a time. So what is cigarette smoke made up of and how does it stain your walls and teeth? Is there a way to avoid this?

Cigarette smoke contains tar, a brown coloured, tacky liquid which stains everything it touches yellow. When you breath out a breath full of cigarette smoke, you are breathing out some of that tar in gaseous form. It stains where it lands.

When you choose a vape device instead, you do not have that same problem. Tar is not an ingredient in e-liquids. If you switch to vape juice instead of cigarettes, you will find there is far less yellow staining – or even none at all. We recommend Dinner Lady Vape juices as a good starter e-liquid for making that switch.

Immediate Remediation Steps

If you decide that you want to keep smoking or even if you decide that you want to rid the house of the smell of vape juice, then there are steps that you can take both long-term and short-term. These immediate remediation steps should help you remove smoke smells from your apartment.

Increase Ventilation

Air flow will help move the smoke or vapour smell out of your house. Opening windows helps, as does keeping doors wedged open. This is the next best thing to smoking outside. You can even only smoke in certain areas, such as underneath the open window.

Air Purification Systems

You can run an extractor fan or some other kind of air conditioning unit while you are smoking and for the time immediately after. Air purifiers will filter out the smoke over time, reducing that smoky smell.

Empty Your Ashtrays

Ashtrays, beer cans, and anything else you flicked your cigarette into, will all have the lingering smell of ash and smoke. Empty your ashtrays and give them a wash regularly to help prevent this source of odour.

Remember: your most effective tool to prevent a smoke smell in the home is to smoke outdoors or switch to a vape device. Vape devices contain less chemicals within the vapour and will not stain your walls like cigarettes will.

Deep Cleaning Techniques

If you try all of the above and the scent still lingers, then it is time to break out the deep cleaning techniques to get rid of smoke smells. Try the following things to prevent that smell from sticking around.

Wash all Fabrics

Once you have taken immediate action to remediate the smell of smoke at home, there are deeper cleaning tasks you can do. Since the smoke and yellow tar sticks to surfaces, washing all your soft furnishings could help eliminate the smell. Wash your curtains, cushion covers, sofas and carpets.

Clean Surfaces

Again, tar clings to surfaces and prolongs the smell of cigarette smoke. Cleaning your surfaces will help remove the smoke smell. The best substance to clean with is hot, soapy water. This is because tar has the same consistency as grease. You need a good lather to get it off.

Cleaning your surfaces might mean dusting, washing the walls, or wiping down any surface you have smoked near.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

If you mix baking powder with vinegar it gives a foam-based reaction. Using both can make a good cleaning solution for when you need something stronger than just soapy water. You can also sprinkle baking powder onto the carpet to help eliminate those odours.

Ammonia

Ammonia will kill almost any smells. You simply wipe down acceptable surfaces and be careful not to get it on any fabrics. The problem with ammonia is that it can ‘bleach’ things. Be careful!

Odour Absorption Methods

If you have tried all of the above and nothing is working, then you may wish to employ some odour absorption methods as an alternative.

Baking Powder

To remove the smoke smell from your house, try sprinkling baking soda on the carpets. The idea is that the smoke smell is absorbed into the baking soda, which you later vacuum up. You can even place bowls of baking powder around your house to absorb those lingering scents.

Air Freshener

Rather than using an air freshener which tries to cover up the smell, opt for an air freshener which completely eliminates it. There are certain air fresheners which will destroy the smell completely rather than add to it. Other odours which will mask the smell include bleach, incense, essential oils, and white vinegar.

Use Dryer Sheets

Do you use dryer sheets either in your tumble dryer or to smooth out your hair? Well they have another surprising benefit. Dryer sheets can absorb the smell of cigarette smoke from the air. These are best used inside drawers and cupboards where they will replace the smell of smoke with something cleaner and fresher.

Specialised Odour Eliminators

You can purchase special products designed with eliminating the smoke smell in mind. Commercial smoke odour eliminators can work hard to remove cigarette and vape smells.

DIY Cleaning Spray for Odour Elimination

You can make your own specialised odour eliminating spray if you have an empty spray bottle to hand. Simply mix 2 cups of water with 20 drops of essential oils of your choice. Add a tbsp of baking soda and mix it with a good shake.

Commercial Odour Eliminators

Another option to remove smoke smells from your home is to choose a commercial odour eliminator. These are similar to air fresheners but they work by finding the molecules causing the smell and eliminating them.

Neutradol

Neutradol are an air freshener brand who are dedicated to ‘eating’ odours, rather than masking them. They provide gel odour destroyers which you can position around your house to soak up the smell of smoke. Reviewers give these 4.5/5 stars.

Bamboo Air Purifiers

At four stars out of five, bamboo air fresheners are up-and-coming as the next best way to eliminate cigarette smoke. Bamboo air purifier bags contain bamboo shavings which you can place around the house.

Oust

Oust emerged in the early 00’s as a company who were on a mission to eliminate odours rather than mask them. Their aerosol spray routinely gains five star reviews and has wowed customers internationally. The only drawback is that this is not an ongoing odour absorption system. Rather, you must spray it to remove smoke smells.

Febreze

Febreze is a brand best used on your soft furnishings. If you have items which cannot be washed, such as fabric blinds or heavy curtains, then you can use Febreze to freshen it up and remove smoky smells.

Prevention and Maintenance Tips

Preventing the smell of smoke from getting indoors is by far the best way to prevent a lingering smoky scent. You can easily prevent the smoke smell at home by simply going outside to use your vape device or have a cigarette. Once you get into the habit of doing so, you will notice that your house is cleaner and smells better.

Here are some top tips for preventing the smoke smell at home and maintaining that prevention on an ongoing basis.

Create Designated Smoking Areas

Smoking outdoors is far better for your health – and for your décor – than smoking indoors. Setting up a designated outdoor smoking area could solve your problems. You should encourage friends and family members to smoke in the designated area wherever possible.

Proper Disposal of Cigarettes

Safely disposing of your used vape devices or cigarettes and smoking materials will help to minimise any lingering smells. Ashtrays stink. Don’t keep them around the house unless you have to. You should dispose of cigarette butts when you finish smoking. You can do this by making sure they are totally out and placing them in the bin. You cannot recycle cigarette butts.

Maintain Your Air Purification Systems

If you insist on smoking inside the house, then your health will benefit from the introduction of an air purification system. They can filter out the cigarette smoke over time. Just remember that all that tar will be trapped in the system and it will need ongoing cleaning and maintenance to stay in top working order.

Conclusion: Removing the Smoke Smell from Your Home is an Uphill Battle

Removing the smell of smoke from your home is an uphill battle. No sooner will the smell be gone than the smoker in your life will have lit another cigarette. This habit is bad for both you and your interiors, but there is an alternative.

In a side-by-side comparison, vape devices produce a different type of smoke. Rather than having a heady cloud of tobacco smoke, filled with chemicals, a vape kit will allow you to p=breathe out heated vapour, as if you were in a sauna or hot shower room. This does impact your walls and décor over time but by no means causes the same sticky tar problems as cigarettes do.

If your aim is to keep the walls clean then either take it outside or start vaping, instead. Is it time that you made the switch?