Effective Tips to Remove Smoke Smell from Your Home

If you discover that there is smoke smell within your home, or you have just bought a place that reeks of marijuana or cigarette smoke, is there any way you can remove the odor? Smoke smell can stick around on household linens, carpets, window screens and interior walls, creating a horrid smell throughout your home.

Nevertheless, by applying the tips presented in this article, you can get rid of the obnoxious odor for good.

Getting Started

The first thing you need to do is clean up the air within your home. Make sure your home is properly ventilated by opening up all the doors and windows in your house.

While fresh air will not remove the smell completely, it will certainly help. You should also place bowls containing white vinegar all around your home. It is recommended that you place a bowl within each room.

Placing bowls of vinegar all around your home will further help to eliminate the smoke odor because vinegar is effective at removing unwanted odors.

For best results, the vinegar bowls should be replaced with fresh vinegar on a regular basis. If you own an air purifier, you can use it to reduce the smoke smell. If you do not own one, consider borrowing one from a friend. It will take some time to clean up the air, thus it is a good idea to place the air purifier within the room you utilize the most.

That might be your bedroom during the night or your home office during the day. Aside from vinegar and the best air purifier for smoke, other supplies you will require are:

Bucket
Baking soda
Clean towels and rags
Rug cleaner

Clean Up Your Carpets

Cleaning your entire home is vital when you need to eliminate smoke odor in your home. Carpets retain a lot of smoke odor. If your home has carpet coverings, you should try cleaning it yourself first. Get a good rug cleaner and spread it around your room liberally.

Make sure you cover floor edges and corners. Be sure to utilize the manufacturer’s instructions when using the rug cleaner. After you have thoroughly vacuumed your carpet, let it dry and then check to see if the smell is still there. If the obnoxious odor has not been removed, it may be time to call in the experts.

When getting quotes from professional cleaning firms, be sure to

let them know that you want to remove smoke odor.

Clean Up Your Ceilings and Walls

Ceiling can also retain a lot of smoke. Thus, cleaning only the walls of your home is not enough to remove the obnoxious smoke smell. It is essential that you clean both your walls as well as your ceilings.

To wash your walls and ceilings, mix up ammonia (half cup), vinegar (one-quarter cup), washing soda (one-quarter cup) and water (one gallon). Start from the baseboards and advance gradually to the ceiling while cleaning, and be sure to change the cleaning solution often.

If you prefer to use commercially available cleaning products, it is recommended you buy ones which contain glycol and ammonia. Ammonia and glycol are the smoke ingredients to neutralize the offensive smoke smell.

Nevertheless, bear in mind that these substances are harsh thus they should be kept away from kids and pets. After you have cleaned your walls and ceilings and they have dried up, check to see if the smoke smell has been eliminated. You can do this by smelling the walls. If the smell is no longer there, perform the check once more a day or two after.

This is because the odor of the cleaning solution might be masking the smoke smell. If the smoke smell is still there, you may need to repaint your ceilings and walls.

Other Areas of your house you need to clean include:

Windows and Mirrors – Make a solution of water and vinegar and use it clean your mirrors and windows. Remember to clean the window frames and sills as well.
Blinds and Drapes – Wash your drapes using a solution of hot water and vinegar.
Floors and Doors – Doors and floors should be mopped thoroughly ensuring that the water is changed often.

Use an Ozone Generator or Machine

If you have done all of the above and the obnoxious smell is still there, it may be time to try more powerful techniques. You may need to engage the services of a cleaning company for this. Cleaning companies specialize in eliminating odors from people’s homes and they commonly utilize an equipment known as an ozone generator.

Get in touch with a reliable cleaning firm and find out if they can let you rent their ozone machine for one day. You can also purchase this device from a dependable online retailer.

If you decide to rent or purchase an ozone machine, it is vital to select a reliable service provider or good quality product. These devices help to remove odors and refresh the air by discharging ozone molecules which attach themselves to surfaces within the room.

Nevertheless, bear in mind that ozone can be harmful to pets and humans, thus these machines should be operated in empty rooms.

Get Rid of Strong Odors by Replacing Your Carpet

Another effective way to eliminate smoke odor from your house is by replacing the flooring and repainting the entire interior. If you have cleaned every part of your house and the smoke smell lingers, you can remove the offensive odor from your ceiling and walls by utilizing an odor and stain blocking primer.

Furthermore, if the carpet in your home has been severely damaged by smoke due to years of indoor smoking, it may be best to remove the damaged carpet and pad and replace them with new ones. This is a drastic measure, but it will certainly give you the result you desire.

Getting rid of smoke odor in your home is certainly not an easy task but it is achievable. Start with the simple techniques such as opening up your doors and windows, utilizing the best air purifier for smoke, and cleaning up different parts of your home.

If all of these techniques fail, you can achieve the result you desire by means of an ozone generator or replacing your carpeting.

About the Author Kevin Smith:

Hi! I’m Kevin, voice of LuxuryHomeStuff.com, blog author, and passionate manufacturing engineer. This space is where I share D.I.Y tips, smart home appliances, stories of home-improvement and home-decor, and resources to help you explore an informed and compassionate relationship with luxury home stuffs.