9 Tips for Getting Cigarette Smell Out of Your House
Your house smells like cigarettes. You know it, your guests know it, perhaps even your neighbors know it. But what can you really do? Cigarette smell can be pervasive, but there are some ways to defeat it. Let’s take a look at 9 tips to hopefully restore your home to nose-friendly condition.
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1. Clean (or get rid of) the furniture.
If you’ve cleaned and cleaned and cleaned but still smell cigarettes, it’s because it’s in your upholstery. Cigarette smell will get into things like couches and charges and will stay there. You can pay for upholstery cleaning or rent an upholstery cleaner yourself, but either way, you need to clean anything that’s made of cloth or padded.
2. Clean (or get rid of) the carpet.
Once you’ve cleaned up the furniture, you need to clean up any rugs or carpeting. And you need to do a deep clean. The smell of smoke doesn’t just penetrate the carpet, but also the padding under the carpet. Often, you’ll need a commercial carpet cleaner to penetrate that deep. You can hire a cleaner on Angi (formerly Angie’s List) to try to get the smell out.
3. Wash the drapes.
People often forget about the other cloth items they have around their house. You’ll need to freshly launder your drapes, your bedding, your sheets, your throw pillows; literally anything that’s around your home. The smoke smell could still be coming from your winter clothes in your closet. Because smoke gets everywhere, the smoke can remain everywhere, too.
4. Air it out.
Letting in fresh air can really help get any smells out. Open up all the windows and doors. Let the breeze take the odors away. While you still need to clean everything in the house, this could be the vital last step that you need. You should also pull back any drapes. Sunlight is also an excellent way to break down odors.
5. Clean the walls.
Have you ever noticed that walls and ceilings also get nicotine stains? If you have wallpaper, it needs to come down. Consider repainting your house and replacing that nicotine smell with the smell of fresh, clean paint. The smell could easily be coming from the walls themselves. A fresh coat of paint will seal those odors in.
6. Use an odor eliminator.
Consider spraying an odor eliminator meant for strong smells around your house, regularly, after cleaning. It’s possible that the odor needs to be chemically neutralized. An odor eliminator is usually a chemical agent that will actually get rid of smells, rather than just masking them up like air fresheners might.
7. Use white vinegar.
Sometimes, you also need to go a little handmade. You can place white vinegar around your house to start destroying odors; it works with nicotine as well as with pets. White vinegar can also be used on walls and sprayed on furniture, if you want a more natural way to get rid of the odors.
8. Invest in an ozone machine.
Ozone machines are machines that are specifically meant to clear the air. An ozone machine is a commercial unit, so you might need to contact a professional on Angi to find out more. But they’ll go through a complete cycle (during which you’ll need to be out of your home) to eliminate any odors that still persist. They emit ozone molecules that actually bind to the scents around your home and destroy them.
9. Hire a professional for move out cleaning or deep cleaning services.
At this point, you’ve tried everything. The truth is that it can be almost impossible for someone who isn’t a professional to get the cigarette smell out of some houses. Consider hiring a move out cleaning company on Angi (formerly Angie’s List). A professional will be able to go through your house meticulously with commercial-grade equipment and chemicals to get the cigarette smell fully out of your house.
Do you need to get the cigarette smell out, once and for good? It may be time to call a professional on Angi — even with the above tips, an Angi professional may be able to save you time and money.
