how to rid your home of the smell of cigarettes?

Question

i have a smoker in the family who refuses to smoke outside , so what can i do to freshen my home? i hate airasoles!

Answer 1

you can place bowl of white vinegar around your house and this will absob the smoke

Answer 2

I suggest bowls of coffee--it doesnt matter if you use beans or fresh ground, they both absorb smell equally and give your house a great coffee smell. Though if you use the whole beans you can make arrangements out of it and it doesnt look like just bowls sitting around your house. Take silk flowers and stick in a vase filled with coffee beans. Use coffee beans surrounding candles on a plate (the way you normally see river rocks or marbles). Every 2 weeks though you will probably need to either throw out the beans or take them outside for a day (depending on how much he smokes) to mix them up, generate new smell and allow them to release the odor outside.

Use Febreeze. It's not airasole so it doesn't have that sick smell. Especially the fresh clean scent smells really nice. Spray on every piece of furniture weekly. For the carpet, you'll have to rent a rug doctor from the drugstore and shampoo the carpet at least once a month.

Also, like what was previously said, a vinegar solution to scrub the walls. The problem with that is while it removes some of the yellow tinge, your house will smell like vinegar (which is almost just as bad)

However, importantly while you can try many different approaches to rid your house of the SMELL, smoking in the house dyes things! The computer monitor probably has yellowing, the ceilings right at the corners, areas right near the air filtration system...and nothing gets rid of that. Walls, once they turn yellow, can only be fixed by removing the drywall. Same with the carpet. You can rent a carpet cleaner and that will help tremendously. Scrubbinb the walls helps a lot too temporarily. But carpet is basically like your hair and just sucks in odors. If someone had pets that urinated on the floor, it soaks in through the carpet into the subfloor and will always smell like it in that house. If frequent smoking continues in your house, even ripping out the carpet won't help. The substances that your house is made of are very porous--drywall, wood, carpet.

Clearly you love this person who smokes. You know it's going to kill him. Do everything in your power to get him to stop. If that means he has to smoke outside in 5degree weather...perhaps that will motivate him to stop.

For your house though--in the long run, like the other posters said get rid of the smoker--or put your foot down and get rid of the smoking in the house. It will destroy your house and kill your resale value.

Answer 3

Unfortunately you can't really get rid off the smell of cigarettes until you get rid of the smoking. You can spray air freshener and wash curtains and carpets and soft furnishings until your heart's content - but as soon as the next cigarette is lit - you will have to do it all over again. It's never ending.

Smokers really do have no idea how much they stink up a place. I would just lay down the law and tell that smoker how selfish and inconsiderate they are being to the rest of the family, and ask them again to smoke outside. If they still refuse - then pick up their cigarette packet and throw it out the window. They'll soon be running out that door. Good luck! lol :-)

Answer 4

Forget those sprays. The easiest is just use a good carbon odor absorber . Best one by far is a product called FRIDGE IT odor absorber. You can get these in kitchen sections of stores like Walmart. Also , I think Linens and Things. It's a little purple cube. It works better than the others too. It's an incredible product that is completely fragrance free - just eliminates the odors by absorbing them into an activated carbon fiter.
The product only costs 2 - 3 dollars and works great. Buy a few and put around the house.

Answer 5

Launder all your curtains, throws, etc.
Steam clean your carpet.
Paint your walls.
Wash your walls.

But all of these things are time consuming and the smell will come back as soon as your smoker does.

You can,...
Open your windows and let some fresh air in.
Try Febreeze. Both the pump and aerosol are pleasant smelling and work in a pinch. Even though this is temporary all you are going to get is temp fixes until he/she quits smoking.

Good luck!

Answer 6

The cigarette odor will cling to anything fabric, including clothing. For a temporary fix, try spraying Febreze directly onto upholstered furniture, curtains, rugs, etc. Also, use a simmer pot with some cinnamon sticks and/or whole cloves in it. This will also add some humidity into the air--a good idea in the winter when heating tends to dry out the atmosphere.

Answer 7

Even though this is alot of work I had to do the same.We had to wash every wall in the home.I used a bleach cleaner ,but before you do that you may want to test a small area to make sure you dont get a color change.We also had the carpet cleaned and I sprinkles carpet freshner everyday for about a 2 weeks.Another trick I do is place fabric sheets around the house that helps alot with the smell.

Answer 8

You cannot get rid of the smoke until you get rid of the smoker, but there are professional products at lowes and home depot that will work on the odor.

Answer 9

you can buy electronic air cleaners for your home that will help with taking out the odor of tobacco. they usually have carbon filters in them. it will not however take out the smell of tobacco in the fabric and carpet. perhaps if the smoker would only smoke in the room that the air cleaner is in, that would reduce the smell somewhat in your house. be care full though, some air cleaners are not very good, research them carefully, if the have filters, see what they cost, they can be very expensive. then u can buy pots with chemicals in them to absorb the odor, not sprays also good luck

Answer 10

Ozium - available at Wal-Mart. It is not to be used as an air freshener, but an air purifier. One spray, which will dissipate quickly, Ozium is used in hospitals and nursing homes. I highly recommend its use- it will do the trick- it is an aerosol, however ...but used in quick, short sprays.

Answer 11

I use that Fridge IT product in my car to get rid of the smoke odors. Works great. Bought it at an RV camping store.