No matter whether you’re a landlord who had a tenant who smoked and you now need to rid the apartment of the smell before you can release it or you’re a homeowner who recently had a smoker in the family or used to smoke yourself, there’s no doubt that getting rid of the smell of cigarettes can be a challenging debacle to undertake. Cigarette smell removal is probably one of the most difficult cleaning tasks, and part of this is because the nicotine in cigarettes tends to seep into everything that it’s exposed to. Fortunately, though, you’re not stuck with the smell forever because there are, in fact, cigarette smell removal techniques that you can employ to get your space smelling clean and fresh again.
1. The first step is to neutralize the odor. One way to do this is to fix small bowls with a mixture of ammonia and vinegar, and then place them in places where the cigarette smell is the most potent. This alone won’t get rid of the odor, though. It will only serve to neutralize them and prepare you for the next step.
2. The next step in cigarette smell removal consists of thoroughly cleaning any carpeting. Carpets tend to trap more smoke than any other areas in the house, so make sure to use a granulated carpet cleaner as well as carpet shampoo with a steam cleaner to thoroughly clean them.
3. Next, wash the walls with a gentle, all-purpose detergent. Believe it or not, the smell of smoke can get onto the walls, but make sure you only wash the walls with a thin layer of water and detergent so that you don’t saturate the paint and damage the drywall underneath.
4. If washing the walls alone isn’t enough to rid the walls of the smells, then apply a fresh coat of paint. If nicotine has seeped so far into the existing paint that washing cannot fully rid it of the smell, the best solutions is to apply a fresh coat that will trap any odors beneath it.
5. Finally, wash or dry any linens, draperies, rugs, throw pillows and any other items that contain cloth. Even after all steps 1 through 4 have been completed, if any of these cloth-like or other porous accessories are left unwashed, they too can contribute to a smoky smell.
By following the cigarette smell removal steps above, you can help rid your home or apartment of the distasteful smell of cigarettes.
