How To Combat The Smell of Smoke At Home
Image Source: Healthline
Nobody likes the smell of smoke in their home. Whether you’ve just bought a new place, or you’ve recently given up the habit, the smell of stale cigarettes is one that tends to linger for months, and in some cases, even years. Worse, if there are smoke odors in the air, chances are there are particles of cigarette smoke still in your home, compromising your family’s health. What can you do to properly scrub the leftover scent of cigarettes from your home, and your life for good? It turns out, there are steps to take that can properly purify your air, and clean your home, leaving it feeling like new. Follow these steps to get rid of cigarette smells in your home.
1. Buy an air purifier
The most effective way to get rid of a lingering bad smell is with a HEPA air filter. This will clean the air in your home, and protect you against not only lingering smoke smells, but dust particles, pollen, and other allergens. The best part is you don’t need an expensive whole-house model to get the full effect. You can choose anything from small, designed for rooms up to 300 square feet, to large, which can cover an area of 1900 square feet! Some of the best air purifiers for smoke can be operated digitally, or set on timers, and even moved from space to space, so you can have it where it’s needed. A high-quality HEPA air filter can catch up to 98% of particles in the air so that smoke smell will soon disappear!
2. Steam clean the carpets
Your carpets pick up a lot. From pet dander to cigarette smoke, carpets, rugs and upholstery are veritable Petri dishes of odors and dust particles. Get rid of stubborn odors by hiring a steam cleaner. You can hire a company to do the hard scrubbing yourself, or rent a steam cleaner on your own, and tackle the floors yourself. Don’t forget to scrub your upholstery too. For that extra step, consider reupholstering couches and favorite chairs to get rid of the smell for good.
3. Wash the walls
If you’re a non-smoker, or you haven’t touched a cigarette in a while, chances are you already know how much damage it’s done to your walls. Get rid of the smell, and brighten up your space, by scrubbing down the walls. It’s really easy to scrub the smoke out of your walls. Just take 2 cups of vinegar, mixed with a gallon of warm water. Soak a clean rag with the mixture, and scrub down the walls and ceiling, as well as any floors and countertops if you need to. You can also add half a cup of vinegar to your laundry if you’re having a hard time getting the smoke smell out of your clothes!
4. Clean with baking soda
If you’re in a pinch, and you can’t steam clean everything, or reupholster, try baking soda! Sprinkle it on your rugs, furniture, and carpets. Leave it on overnight. Vacuum thoroughly, to make sure you get it all, and you should see a change within a day. If you’ve got corners and windows where the smell seems to linger, setting out boxes of open baking soda can help neutralize the scent.
5. Use odor eliminators
For quick fixes and particularly stubborn trouble spots, keep it simple. Use odor eliminating sprays like Febreze to get rid of the smell. Unlike air fresheners, odor eliminators don’t mask the smell or mix with the unpleasant smell, so they’re great for people with perfume sensitivities. Instead, odor eliminators actually bind to the particles in the air that cause the smell, and prevent them from ever reaching your nose! It won’t clean your air or your home, but the air will definitely feel fresher and odor-free!
It may be that you have just kicked the habit recently. Or you have moved into a new place to find years of cigarette smoke had gotten into the walls and carpeting and is now settling on your furniture and belongings. Bad smells are always unwanted, but cigarette smoke, in particular, can be dangerous for your family, especially those with allergies and asthma. Get rid of it once and for all with these tips, and breathe easier in more ways than one.
