Struggling with lingering smoke odor? These effective tips and natural remedies will help you get rid of cigarette smell from your home for good—fast, safe, and easy!
Or maybe you’ve just moved to an establishment where the previous owners or renters smoked, and the smell has lingered.
While air freshers are good at temporarily masking the smell, removing the cigarette smell from a house takes a bit of effort.
The lingering odor is caused by tiny ash or nicotine particles settling onto surfaces and climbing onto fabrics.
Unfortunately, there’s not really much that cigarette smoke doesn’t like to cling onto.
Fortunately, we’ve collated the best methods to remove cigarette smells from your home.
Keep reading to find out how.
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You will need to deep clean all of the significant areas of your house— furniture, walls, and carpets.
You don’t need many technical gadgets or chemicals. But; with soap, baking soda, and cloths, you should be able to tackle the cigarette smell in your home.
Ultimately, to remove the cigarette smoke smell, you’ll need to clean almost every exposed surface in your home.
So don’t worry about trying to do it all in one day; it’s better to take your time and clean each surface thoroughly.
We’ll take you through the best cleaning methods for the most common surfaces in your home that cigarette smoke will cling to.
How to remove smoke smells from upholstered furniture.
Upholstery is extremely porous and textured, and as such, it is the perfect vehicle for nasty smells.
However, with a few household items, you should be able to remove lingering odors.
What you will need:
- Vacuum with fabric attachment.
- Baking soda.
- A brush.
- Fabric refresher.
Follow these steps to remove cigarette smells from your upholstered furniture:
- Using the fabric attachment of a vacuum cleaner, vacuum all the furniture. Make sure you do this methodically and get at the items’ little nook and cranny. You’re trying to make sure all tiny ash particles are gone.
- Liberally sprinkle baking soda over the upholstery.
- With a soft bristle brush, work the baking soda into the fabric. Again, make sure to go easy and protect your furniture.
- Vacuum up the baking soda. The powder will absorb the scents trapped inside the fabric and thus leave the furniture scent-free.
- If the scent remains, repeat steps 2-4.
- Spritz a little fabric refresher for a finishing touch.
How to remove cigarette smells from walls.
Nicotine is pretty sticky and will create a thin layer over all walls and ceilings. It can leave the walls discolored, dirty, and smelly.
Fortunately, you just need to give the walls a good clean, and they should be good as new.
If you’re tackling years of cigarette buildup, you may also need to apply a top finishing layer of paint afterward.
What you’ll need:
- Microfiber cloth x 3
- All-purpose cleaner.
- Baking soda.
- Warm water.
- Bucket x 2.
Check out the link below to buy some baking soda in bulk because you’ll use it for almost every cleaning method relating to cigarette smoke:
[amazon box=”B0722NB764″ template=”vertical”]
Microfiber cloth bundle of 24:
[amazon box=”B009FUF6DM” template=”vertical”]
Steps to remove cigarette smells from walls:
- With a dry microfiber cloth, remove as much dust and cobwebs as possible. If these become wet in the cleaning process, it will only be more difficult to clean.
- In a bucket, combine one teaspoon of all-purpose cleaner, ½ baking soda, and a quart of warm water. Mix to combine.
- Grab another bucket, and fill it with clean water. You will use this bucket for rinsing the cloth.
- Dampen a cloth with the cleaning solution, wring it out well, and wipe the walls. Ensure you have covered any furniture, carpets, or rugs you don’t wish to get wet. Additionally, ensure you fully wring out the cloth to prevent drips.
- Start cleaning the walls systematically, working from the top downwards.
- As the cloth gets dirty, rinse it in a clean bucket of water. Change out the dirty water every so often. Clean in sections to avoid drips and running of dirty water.
- Grab another clean cloth or a sponge, and dampen with plain, clean water. Wipe the walls down again to remove any residual grime and use a cleaning solution.
How to remove cigarette smells from carpets and rugs.
Rugs and carpets require deep cleaning every few months; they see a lot of wear and tear. Additionally, smoke clings to the fibers and embeds itself.
Fortunately, many items you need to clean rugs and carpets are the same for upholstery.
What you will need:
- Vacuum cleaner.
- Baking soda.
- Fabric refreshing spray.
- Steam carpet cleaner (optional)
Head to the link below to grab some fabric spray:
[amazon box=”B09P4PKR9N” template=”vertical”]
If you’re in the market for a steam carpet cleaner, check out the link below.
It’s an investment, but it can be used to refresh both carpets and upholstery for years to come:
[amazon box=”B0016HF5GK” template=”vertical”]
Steps to remove cigarette smoke smells from carpets and rugs:
- First, thoroughly vacuum the carpet and rug. Remember to continually empty the vacuum cleaner bag to prevent the recirculation of nasty odors and ash particles.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda over the affected areas. Leave it to soak and do its magic for 8 – 12 hours. Afterward, vacuum it up, and empty the bag.
- Sprits the fabric with some fabric spray.
- If you have a steam carpet cleaner or can borrow one, we highly recommend it. You can also rent or hire a machine, which comes at a price, but it’s much cheaper than replacing the carpet.
- Repeat these steps if necessary.
Tips to keep your home cigarette smoke smell free:
- The biggest tip is not to smoke indoors. It’s a difficult habit to break, but it will keep your house in good condition for much longer. Plus, cigarette smoke damage to a home can decrease the establishment’s value if you want to sell it. You never know; you might begin to enjoy those few moments outdoors having a smoke and won’t miss smoking inside. Plus, it’s much better for the health of anyone else staying in the house.
- Invest in an air purifier. Not only do air purifiers improve the overall air quality in a home, but they can also help with smells. Air purifiers can range in price from around $30 to $250.
Check out the link below if you’re interested in investing in one.
[amazon box=”B09GTRVJQM” template=”vertical”]
- Regularly air out the home. Try to improve the ventilation, and keep windows open more often. More ventilation from windows and fans will help the nicotine not stick to furniture as much.
- Clean regularly. Keeping on top of the odor is easier than deep cleaning every few months.
- Simmer some vinegar with lemon peels in a pot of hot water on the stove. Doing this for 20-30 minutes will help neutralize the air in the space and help with odors.
To Summarize.
Smoke is a sticky, stinky substance that lingers on anything it touches. Clothes, sofas, walls, curtains, windows; you name it, smoke sticks to it.
To remove the cigarette smell from your home, you ultimately need to clean everything in your house. This can sound daunting, but it can be broken down into sections.
Cleaning furniture, floors, and walls doesn’t need to be so scary. There are different methods for cleaning each area of your home, but most are straightforward and do not cost much money.
You can remove cigarette smoke smells from a house; however, if you smoke inside more, it will come just as fast.
