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. Stopping smoking can be difficult, but support is available through NHS stop smoking services. We shall focus here on practical ways to reduce lingering odours.

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.

Cigarette smoke can leave stubborn residue on walls and soft furnishings. E-cigarette aerosol is different from tobacco smoke, but it can still contribute to indoor deposits and does not make indoor exposure harmless. The most reliable prevention is to keep smoking and vaping out of indoor spaces.

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 can help with lingering odours, but ventilation cannot eliminate secondhand smoke exposure or remove all residue. Keep smoking outdoors, away from doors, windows and air intakes.

Air Purification Systems

An extractor fan or air purifier may reduce some airborne particles and odours, but neither makes indoor smoking safe. Follow manufacturer guidance for filter maintenance and avoid relying on an air purifier instead of a smoke-free indoor environment.

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.

To prevent smoke odours and reduce exposure for others, keep the home and car smoke-free. Vaping aerosol can also leave deposits indoors, so it should not be presented as a guaranteed solution to staining or indoor air quality.

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

Do not mix household cleaning products or use homemade chemical combinations in place of a suitable surface cleaner. Use a product recommended for the material, follow its label, and test an inconspicuous area first. For carpets and upholstery, check the manufacturer's cleaning guidance.

Ammonia

Avoid using ammonia as a general-purpose smoke-odour remedy. It can irritate the eyes and lungs, and mixing it with bleach or certain other cleaners can release dangerous gases. Use a suitable, labelled cleaning product and never mix household chemicals.

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

Air fresheners may mask smells temporarily but do not remove smoke residue. Do not use bleach, incense or mixed cleaning chemicals as air fresheners. Focus on removing the source of smoke and cleaning affected surfaces safely.

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

Avoid making improvised cleaning sprays with combinations of household ingredients. Choose a product designed for the surface, follow the label and ensure good ventilation while cleaning.

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

Air purifiers require regular filter maintenance and may reduce some particles or odours, but they cannot eliminate the risks from indoor smoking. A smoke-free home remains the most effective protection for other occupants.

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.

Cigarette smoke can leave persistent tar and other residues on surfaces. Vaping produces an aerosol rather than tobacco smoke, but aerosol components can still settle on indoor surfaces. Neither opening a window nor using an air freshener reliably removes existing smoke contamination.

If your aim is to reduce smoke smells and protect indoor air quality, keep smoking outside and clean affected materials using appropriate products. For help to stop smoking, visit the NHS quit smoking service.