What is good to clean smoke stained walls?

Question

Cant afford to paint yet! Has any one tried bleach or vinegar? If so which is better

Answer 1

Try Simple Green. Sam's has large containers for under $10.00. Dulute as instructed...or make a bit stronger. I cleaned my son's entire mobile home getting his x wife's cigarette smoke off of it. Safe to breath while using. Also cuts grease. Worked very well.

Answer 2

I've tried bleach, vinegar, TSP and ammonia on my rentals where I've had smokers. I've been disappointed with the results from them all. However, last weekend I tried a new product called Krud Kutter and I'm impressed. At first I tried the 3:1 ratio they suggest for smoke which did an OK job. But then I tried it straight on a sponge and it really does a fantastic job. You have to rinse the sponge occasionally when you see it is completely saturated with that ugly yellow/brown stuff, but it does such a better job than anything else I've ever tried. I found it at the Lowes home improvement center on the cleaning aisle and it isn't terribly expensive either. Does a great job on other cleaning tasks, too, and it is non-toxic, non-fume and biodegradeable.

Answer 3

It depends on the composition of the wall. If it is acrylic, white vinegar will work, but it will stink for awhile. If it is not the vinegar will remove the paint or worse saturate the dry wall causing worse problems.. If I were you I would paint over it with Killz primer, then pick out a good indoor paint and paint over the killz. That will get rid of the smell and the stains. You could do one room at a time if your budget is tight as you seem to be implying.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Try vinegar first: It's an effective cleaner, and doesn't create the kinds of fumes that bleach does. If it doesn't work, you can always let the walls dry then use bleach.

Good luck! I've had to clean smoke-stained apartments, and that tar is a bear to remove!

Answer 5

we used to own an apt. building. When we had to clean up, after a smoker moved out, we used a cleaning agent called Super Clean. When used full strength, it is actually made for decreasing engines. But, it has instructions for diluted mixes to clean almost anything you can think of. You can buy it at K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc...or at an auto supply store.

Answer 6

Personally I use vinegar for almost everything, the coffee pot, the marble tile, the laundry, and it works great,, give it a try. if it doesn't work you can always use a more harsh chemical ... but I say keep it natural if ya can.