Getting Rid of Smoke Smell
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Getting Rid of Smoke Smell
Dec 2009
Our downstairs neighbor has been smoking and the smoke has
been coming up through the floor and filling our apartment.
We are moving, but EVERYTHING we own stinks. Does anyone
have tips about cleaning curtains, rugs, furniture, lamp
shades, etc? What about our baby's crib mattress? Our
futon? Is there any hope for us?
coughing mama
My used car had a smoke smell (kind of like a Motel 6
room), so I sprayed Oust in there and left it for a few
hours with the windows closed. It worked! You might want to
give it a try.
Anon
I am amazed at the effectiveness of the ''Bad Air Sponge''.
We bought a used car which had been well-detailed to
conceal the stinky smells. After a few weeks, the stench
was awful and nothing I tried worked. I came across the
Bad Air Sponge at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It absorbs the odor
w/o leaving a perfumy smell. You can check the website
for an explanation of how/why it works
(www.thebadairsponge.com).
Jane
Nov 2007
I don't smoke and have never smoked and detest the scent of
cigarette smoke but in the last few weeks I've been smelling the
scent of cigarette smoke everywhere even when no one around me
is smoking! When I go to work, I see and steer clear from people
who smoke on the job and/or on the street b/c I can't stand the
second-hand smoke that will make my noise bleed but lately the
scent has just followed me. I don't know what's wrong with me?
Anyone ever experience this?
Smoky
Maybe you are pregnant.
been there
Are you female? Are you pregnant? This happened to me and it turned out
I was
pregnant! Hopefully the bay area will get with it and outlaw smoking in
public soon!
searching for clean air
I thought I was the only one with this weird thing! I've been
going through occasional periods for the last three years where
I smell stale cigarette smoke all the time. I've come to
realize that there's no actual smoke that I'm smelling --it's
just some strange perception on my part that everything smells
that way. I've decided that it happens during periods when my
neck/shoulder muscles are really knotted up, so I figure that
causes some effect on the neural pathways that affects my
smelling functions. I mentioned it to my chiropractor and she
thought that made sense. I'm not too worried about it because
it always goes away, and seldom lasts more than a week.
hates smoke
Consider getting a referral to a neurologist. Experiencing
scents which are ''not there'' can be due to olfactory
hallucinations which can, in turn be related to a form of
epilepsy.
Robert
Are you pregnant? I am like you - I can't stand the smell of smoke. In a
non-pregnant
state, I hate it and avoid it but deal. While pregnant - I'm now at 30
weeks with number
2 - I can smell it if someone lights up down the street and feel sick at
the smell of it.
Many times, my husband can't smell what I'm smelling...
Just a thought!
anon
Are you pregnant? Many pregnant folks have a stronger sense of smell.
Congrats if
you are.
anon
Oct 2007
I just received a gift of blankets and clothes for my 2 month
old from my father. Unfortunately he and the folks he lives
with smoke. Everything reeked. After 3 washings, I feel like I
can still smell traces of cigarette smell. Any sugesstions for
how to rid these items of the scent?
casey
Next time you wash the items include a good glug of white
vinegar - half to a whole cup. If that doesn't work, try
soaking the items in water with a similar amount of vinegar
before washing for an hour or so. It removes an amazing
variety of odors and doesn't leave its own scent.
laundry lady
soak in baking soda with water overnight, or put in a plastic bag
with a paper towel with some essential oil of lavendar (which is
what i do with cashmere sweaters after a night someplace smokey).
anon
Dec 2006
For as long as we can remember, our now 13 month old child's
nursery has smelled like burnt matches when you open the door.
We always thought it was funny... but that it was just his
smell. The rest of the house does not smell. There is no
plumbing in his room or gas outlet. The only thing in there is
the diaper genie (which we don't think is the culprit). Has
anyone heard of anything like this?
Thanks
anon
Never heard of this, but a very good air purifier would work.
We have one that you have to buy through a distributor and was able to
find another on e-bay for our children who had a serious
mold problem and the mold problem is gone. It's an Ecoquest
Flair. It's great for the whole house.
km
I have noticed a similar smell in our bathroom while showering and was
able to trace it to a specific plastic bath toy in our toy hammock. But
for awhile I really thought I was smelling smoke. I imagine it's some
kind of off-gassing and probably not a good thing to have in your baby's
bedroom. Try to track down the source of the smell and get it out of
the room (or house, even!) anon
Please call an electrician to check your light fixture! We had a
similar problem with a strange, sort of smoky smell that we noticed in
our child's room a few times, but it seemed to fade. Then one day it
got noticably worse and we searched and searched for the problem to no
avail. Finally we realized that it had to be the overhead light
fixture. Sure enough, when the electrician removed the fixture the
insulation on the very old wires inside the ceiling had overheated and
started to crack/burn off, exposing the wires. We had all of our lights
checked and a couple were in similar shape. The electrician was able to
slip new insulation over the wires so it wasn't too expensive, since he
didn't have to replace the wires all the way back to the box. We're so
glad we figured it out - don't know if you have the same problem but
it's definitely worth a look Anon
Sept 2006
We recently bought a used car that smells heavily of cigarette
smoke. Any suggestions or testimonials about how or what will
take the oder out would be great. We prefer a product that
doesn't have a strong chemical oder (ie Fabreeze). Thanks
I once heard on Car Talk that one should use an open can of coffee to
deodorize a car.
(You might check their web site for other ideas:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/
columns/) I think you just leave the open can in there for awhile. This
obviously wouldn't work if you hate the smell of coffee.
-Kara
July 2005
We just bought a house where the previous occupants
smoked, apparently a lot. Has anyone had any success
getting rid of the smoke smell?
Any recommendations for companies that specialize in
carpet cleaning to remove smoke smell?
In fact, any recommendations for companies that specialize
in all aspects of removing the smoke smell?
I've read a lot of different ideas on the internet for getting rid
of the smell, but it would be great to hear from someone
who has actually gone through the experience, and what
worked.
louis
Hi. We dealt with the same issue when we bought our house, the smell
was awful, the owner had lived in the house for something like 50 years
and must have smoked like a carton a day, when we got the house we
washed down all the surfaces with water and bleach using a floor mop,
even the ceilings. Then we got the huge drums of Kilz oil based primer
and put two coats on every surface, ceiling, wall, trim, closets, doors,
kitchen cabinets, windows, I mean everything. Be sure to ventilate your
house well while you use this type of paint as it is really stinky.
The good thing about the oil based primer is that it will seal in any
lead paint that may be in the house as well as seal in the smell, it
also dries very fast so keep that in mind when painting with it, you'll
go through rollers pretty fast as they get gummed up. Then we painted
over with latex. No more smoke smell, just keep windows open and run a
fan after you finish to help the paint smell get out of the house. You
can find Kilz at Home Depot.
amber
SCRUB! scrub ALL of the walls and the ceilings, and every other surface
in the house really really well. Smoke (and tar, and nicotine, etc)
builds up on the walls. We had to do this after my mother (who was a
very heavy smoker) died in preperation to sell her house. Use any type
of cleaner (can't remember what we used) and just scrub the heck out of
every surface (also any floors that aren't carpet.) You may then want to
go ahead and repaint everything, just to get a clean top layer. (This is
a big pain, I know. You may want to hire a cleaning service to do it.)
Get all carpets and drapes, etc, professionally cleaned. Also - if you
have central heating there may be a coating of smoke,etc in the
vents/air ducts/etc, so you may want to get those cleaned too??
Good luck
Been There, Cleaned That
Dec 2002
I bought a house a few months ago and used a fireplace a few
times with no residual effect. When I used my fireplace last time
a lot of smoke came into the house. Since that time my house
smells like a fireplace itself. Is there any way to get rid off
smell? Does anyone know why this happened? Is it a problem with
the chimney? Can the wind or the rain outside reverse the way the
smoke goes? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Julia
We had some trouble with our chimney when we first moved into our
house. We had several chimney companies come over and give us
estimates and explanations of the various problems and possible
solutions. I can't remember how the ratio of fire box to chimney
diameter works or even if that may be the cause of smoke entry for
you, but in our case lengthening the chimney solved the problem
for us and was fairly cheap.
The smoke smell was a bit of work to get out but not difficult. We
washed the walls, woodwork, ceiling and miniblinds with a solution
of Simple green and water. (Simple green is fabulous for greasy
smokey fire damaged stuff.) The curtains had to be laundered. The
smoke had stayed high in the room so the upholstery, carpets and
floor were fine. (Now I know why youare supposed to crawl out of a
building in a fire). Follow your nose to see what soft surfaces
need to be cleaned. If there is residual smoke/soot on hard
surfaces, they'll be grey/dirty and greasy looking esp easy to
spot on light colors.
Good luck, e-mail if you want more particulars.
Natalie
If you haven't tried already, the walls may need deodorizing :
1 Tbs baking soda + 1 tsp lemon juice to 2 cups hot tap water in
a spray bottle. Keep on as long as the paint/wall paper doesn't
get ruined (test in a hidden area).
You can also deodorize with 1/4 cup baking soda (Arm & Hammer is
o.k. - I get them in a large 10+ lb box)in hot tap water in a 2-
gallon bucket and sponge on lightly. This much will clog a
nozzle in a bottle.
I assume you've steam-cleaned & shampooed the carpet and
upholstery. If not, or you can't afford it, you could sprinkle
baking soda all over the carpets and leave overnight. Next,
shampoo carpets and upholstry with: a 1/4 cup of a vegetable-oil-
based liquid soap (i.e from Trader Joe's or any natural grocery
store), and 5 gallons of water. Adjust depending on the volume
taken by the shampooing machine you rent. If you decide to add
some essence in the water (usually oil-based), beware not to add
more than a 1/4 tsp. to 5 gallons of water, since oil will bind
with the soap, making the soap less effective in solubilizing
other oily substances in the carpet and removing it. Depending
on the hardness of your water, if you get too much foam,
decrease the amount of liquid soap or add a bit more of the
essence based in oil. Next load of hot water, add less soap. If
you want the convenience of a prepared bottle, you can purchase
from Grany's at 818-577-1825 orAFM at 1-909-781-6860. Both in CA
For air deodorizing, try bowls of baking soda in several areas
of the room or bowls of vinegar, or bags or zeolite, a natural
mineral found near volcanoes. Get it from Dasun Company 1-800-
433-8929.
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agencies to educate schools and parents about safer alternatives
to unnecessary environmental hazards in schools and in our local
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