Removing cigarette smell from house?

[minigoat]

What is a good way to remove cigarette smell from a house?

My mother left us her house and we need to sell it. She smoked in it up until the day she died (cancer) so obviously there is alot of accumulation. We have already painted and installed new carpet but out of the 15 showings we have had they all complain about the cigarette smell. The house is empty now so there is none of her furniture either.

hints and advice welcome...

 

[vicflo]

depending on how bad it is you wash down the wall, prime paint, steam clean the carpet. get the vents cleaned. if its that bad in there in some cases the company i worked for would actually tear down the walls and replace in bad areas and get new carpet and padding in others. things like febreeze will NOT work.

 

[Vapeman12]

what was it painted with? unless you use Kilz good luck, if you did use kilz then they make something that makes Kilz look like a toy paint, but don't know name of it, I only know they make something stronger cause my neighbor had a kitchen fire and they used that to re do there house, it worked no smoke smell at all after they primered with it.

good luck

 

[Zipp]

As vicflo said, a top to bottom cleaning is about all you can do besides tearing out walls and carpet. A little trick that we used to use when I cleaned houses for a real estate company years ago was to pour pine-sol on a rag and then go around the house wiping it on things the day before showing the house - especially near the entryway. Makes it smell nice and clean, so people stop looking for dirt and offensive odors. The smell will fade over time, but you're probably not going to completely get rid of it before selling the house.

 

[peakcomm]

Definitely have a pro come in and clean the furnace/AC vents, filters and registers. And if you haven't already, clean and repaint the ceilings, too.

 

[Angiebubs]

Scrubbing the walls down with tsp then painting with Kiltz should work. You can also get a fragerance packet that you add to the paint that lasts a month or so. Also would agree with cleaning the vents, and air the house out as much as possible. Murphys oil soap on all woodwork, and dont forget to wash off all light fixtures, when they turn on, the little bit of heat warms up and gives off smoke smell. Lemon juice and vinegar also can help neutralize smells.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Definitely have a pro come in and clean the furnace/AC vents, filters and registers. And if you haven't already, clean and repaint the ceilings, too.

Bingo. There's at least as much old tar left in the vents and ducts as there was on the walls and flooring. Probably more.

Murphys oil soap on all woodwork, and dont forget to wash off all light fixtures, when they turn on, the little bit of heat warms up and gives off smoke smell. Lemon juice and vinegar also can help neutralize smells.

Agree with cleaning the light fixtures, plus replacing switches and receptacles, washing windows and sills, doors, doorknobs, window blinds and the whole kitchen probably needs an overhaul.

 

[spartanstew]

I've seen great success with an Ozone Generator. Of course, you would probably want to also repaint and clean/replace the carpet.

Generator Pack for MaxBlaster ozone generators

 

[SissySpike]

a good scrub down ceiling to floor with Murphys oil soap and lots of chain vaping is what worked for me.

 

[Shadav]

yep as stated unfortunately the walls, ceilings, floors, cabinets, counters, window/doors seals/ledges, caulking around tub, paddings possibly insulations....pretty much everything porous absorbed all the secondhand smoke so it's going to take a lot of deep cleaning and airing out to get rid of the smell.

Definitely need to have someone come clean all duct work, flitters, vents, ac/heat unit to remove the build up in those. They have a febreze air filter that will at least help make the whole home smell nicer as well.

good deep cleaning article: The Best Way to Get Smoke Odor Out of a House | eHow which is pretty much what my grandmother had to do when she bought a house and later realized she was allergic to the home due to previous smoker, my grandmother has no sense of smell so didn't know there was a smoke smell to the home until she had her housewarming party.

something to try for a cheaper fix that might work or to do after all the other cleaning as a second round of battling the smell: How to Get Smoke Out of a House | eHow

I'd personally try to spray everything down with euclyptus oil Bet you didn't know all the wonderful uses of eucalyptus oil

 

[Signal30]

We went through the EXACT same thing with my grandmothers condo when she passed away. In order to completely remove all odors the following had to be done....

1) All furniture had to be removed, scrubbed, and left to air out for two weeks.

2) carpet and pad removed.

3) walls and ceiling sealed with a acrylic primer, then painted.

4) all tile, cabinets, grout, everything scrubbed.

5) windows open to air out constantly, monthly replacement of furnace filters.

 

[Signal30]

6) I almost forgot, have the ducts cleaned.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

something to try for a cheaper fix that might work or to do after all the other cleaning as a second round of battling the smell: How to Get Smoke Out of a House | eHow

I know you're trying to help, but No. 2 in that list is snake oil. Mixing vinegar with baking soda just creates an two-stage chemical reaction, the result of which is CO2, water and a precipitated salt called sodium acetate. The "foaming" is just the CO2 escaping.

Sodium acetate is used in the food industry to create salt and vinegar flavorings on tater chips.

 

[FloydianSlip]

Signal30 nailed it. I did the same with my last place before I sold it. I figured it would sell easier not smelling like an old ashtray.

 

[mare ze dotes]

What type of air conditoning or heating? Are they blowing vent like things. I havent smoked for 8 or so month and because this is a rental and they dont care to change the air filter it still smells like smoke on a humid day.

 

[mare ze dotes]

ToAdd. I read somthing only a few days ago about geting the smell out of a car. something about a can of Ozone? If some one in the know can help. I would like to know allso.

 

[Signal30]

We had to learn it through process of elimination. The duct cleaning was the last thing we did and it worked.

 

[patkin]

If, after you've also cleaned and deordorized all the woods in the house (cupboards inside and out) and you've already done all rest you have, and it still doesen't work, tell the realtors to quit showing to ANTZ.

 

[Signal30]

Oh and to help remove smoke smell from cabinets. Take a dryer sheet, fold it into a pouch, staple the three ends, pour a Tbls of baking soda in it, then staple the top closed.

The baking soda pouches will absorb the odor and the dryer sheet will give off a pleasant smell.

 

[Gerick]

Last resort is to get an ozone machine.

My friend is a broker and uses ozone gen to rid homes of smoke and other odors.

This guy here is legit and has very good prices...don't pay crazy prices for any ozone machine. I paid $ 150 (which is way cheaper than other models ,but it works) before my friend told me about this guy. His stuff is way better than the one I have for many reasons and much cheaper.

Also , be sure to read the "Shock treatment info" link on the left side.It's important so I provided the link.


Ozone Generator | ForeverOzone | Wholesale to Public

Ozone Shock Treatment Information

Read the "compare to other's " It will explain a lot about how it works.Not all technologies produce the same amount of ozone which
is crucial to get the job done once and for all.

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