How to Get Rid of the Cigarette Smell In Your House

Smoking isn’t just damaging to your overall health and the health of others around you, it can also have a big effect on indoor air quality and the look and the smell of your own home. Whether you’re currently a smoker or have just broken the habit, learning how to get rid of the cigarette smell in your house will not only help minimize many of the secondhand smoke risks, but it will also provide a much cleaner and more comfortable environment for friends and family that come to visit.

The Problem with Secondhand Smoke in the Home

Secondhand smoke is a term that refers to the effects of bringing in the smoke that comes off the end of a cigarette, not the act of smoking itself. Smoking indoors causes that smoke to linger, enhancing the effects of others in the space, including children, friends, and family.  

Regular exposure to secondhand smoke can contribute to lung cancer, emphysema, and many other illnesses, for both the smoker and everyone else. The reason secondhand smoke is so damaging is that that smoke contains nearly 4,000 different chemical compounds that can clog the airways, trigger asthma attacks, and contribute to chronic illnesses.  

Smoking inside the home doesn’t just leave behind a thick cigarette smell, it can also be incredibly damaging to the home itself, as well as any furnishings in the space. The compounds released in the smoke include a thick cigarette tar that clings to walls, gets underneath wallpaper, and can even cause permanent discoloration of walls, baseboards and ceilings.  

The best option is always not to smoke indoors, but when indoor smoking does occur, there are some things you can do to learn how to get rid of the cigarette smell in the home, as well as many of those chemical compounds.

Air Out the House by Opening Windows 

One of the first steps to take to remove the smoke smell from your house is to open all the windows and allow nature to air out your house. Cross ventilation will help get rid of the stale air in your home and bring in fresh air from outside. Although this simple and free act can get rid of a good portion of the smell in a hurry, it won’t be the only step required to truly remove all of the residual cigarette odors from the home.

Run an Air Purifier

While airing out your home is helpful, it will not in itself remove all the harmful particles present in cigarette smoke. If you or someone else in your home smokes, it’s it very beneficial to invest in a good air purifier. Not only will it help to mitigate the smell and effects of secondhand smoke in your home, but it will actually work to help provide cleaner air.  

These purification systems work by pulling indoor air into them, scrubbing it through filters, and then recirculating the fresh air back into the room. An air purifier can minimize the effects of secondhand smoke in your household, help control the odors that are often pervasive in the homes of smokers, and help minimize the harmful effects of cigarette smoke on your furnishings and walls. This is by far the most effective solution on how to remove the smoke smell from your house.

Running an air purifier won’t just help with cigarette smoke removal, it will also help to remove common allergens from the air, including pet dander, dust, pollen, and more. There are many simple things you can do to improve the air quality in any home. Running a humidifier in dry climates or a dehumidifier in humid climates helps to maintain proper moisture levels in the home. Indoor air quality shouldn’t just be a concern because of smoking.

Clean All Home Fabrics

One of the reasons it can be so difficult to learn how to get rid of the cigarette smell in your home is that those odors really seep into the soft surfaces of your home. Those woven materials can act as a trap for all those chemical compounds. Look around the space at all the fabrics and textiles. All of those surfaces will need a good deep cleaning according to manufacturer instructions to help with cigarette smoke removal.  

Start with the things you can machine wash and dry. Consider running them through a double washing cycle and then drying them with scent beads or dryer sheets featuring a clean and neutralizing aroma, such as a citrus.  

Sofas and rugs may require the professionals. Call in a professional steam cleaner and talk to them specifically about your cigarette smell concerns. They have had to learn how to remove smoke smells from houses over the course of many years and may even have some specialized cleaners designed for the task. 

Finally, cigarette smoke removal may require taking down any curtains to either wash them at home (if appropriate) or send them off to the dry cleaners for a professional wash, dry, and press. If they are extremely discolored, and if no future smoking will occur in the home, you may want to consider replacing these items instead of cleaning them.

Clean & Refresh the Hard Surfaces Too

The soft surfaces aren’t the only place residual cigarette tar and smoke can reside. With all the soft surfaces taken care of, it’s important to give the entire home a really deep clean. From floor to ceiling, no surface should be overlooked. In fact, you should even pay attention to some often-overlooked areas of the home for total cigarette smoke removal, including: 

• Thoroughly scrubbing ceilings and floors. 
• Dusting and cleaning ceiling fans. 
• Cleaning crown moulding, baseboards, and trim. 
• Cleaning the tops of kitchen cabinets. 
• Clean and sanitize all hard surfaces throughout the home, including furniture and countertops.

Removing Visual Signs of Smoking 

The smell in the home isn’t the only sign that a smoker has visited or lived in the space. In fact, learning how to get rid of the cigarette smell can be only the beginning. Over time, smoking indoors can cause discoloration to ceilings, walls, and furnishings. After you’ve learned how to get rid of the cigarette smell, tackle these visual signs by washing, repainting, staining, or replacing furniture and fixtures throughout the home.

Cleaning Duct Systems

When someone has spent years and years smoking indoors, the residue can infiltrate more than just the items you can see. When you’ve tried everything else and you still get that occasional whiff of tobacco, learning how to get rid of the cigarette smell yourself may not be enough.  

You may have to go to the step of cleaning out the ductwork itself. Call in an HVAC professional, telling them your needs, and have them do a deep ductwork cleaning. This may also require removing all the return vents and intake grates from the wall and taking them outside to be deep cleaned or pressure washed.

Ongoing Maintenance

Learning how to remove the smoke smell from the house will help you refresh a space that no longer has a smoker, but if indoor smoking is a recurring habit, ongoing maintenance is also required. Make maintaining a smoke-free home a goal by instituting daily, weekly and monthly cleaning tasks to your routine.  

Open the windows for a few hours every day to air it out, run an air purifier as part of your daily routine, make sure to wipe down surfaces regularly, and when at all possible, take the smoking outdoors. Not only can you use these tips to learn how to get rid of the cigarette smell from your home, but you can also apply it when you’re trying to learn how to get cigarette smells out of your car and even clothes.