How to Get Rid Of Cigarette Smoke Odor In Your Home

Worse, if you've just moved into a new home or apartment and encounter the lingering stench of stale cigarette smoke, you may find it disgusting, even nauseating. Don't despair. Yes, it is difficult to get rid of, but it's not impossible.

1. Open the windows and let fresh air circulate throughout your home. If there's a lot of smoke, put a window fan in a window at one end of the house to draw fresh air in, and another fan in a window at the other end of the house to push air out. This works even on persistent smoke odors.

2. Place a smoker's candle in several rooms in your house. A smoker's candle is specially formulated with enzymes that help neutralize odors from smoking, cooking and pets. It burns for several hours, gradually removing odors from the air. Smoker's candles come in many different scents, and can be purchased at many different types of stores.

3. Fill smalls bowls of an odor-absorbing material, such as baking soda, kitty litter, activated charcoal or white vinegar, and place one in each room of the house to soak up leftover airborne smoke particles.

4. Spray odor-neutralizing products in the air and on drapes, furniture and carpeting -- any fabric on which smoke particle can attach themselves. These products don't just cover up odors with pleasant scent, they actually eliminate offensive smells. There are different forms of odor-neutralizers, such as sprays, candles, and powders.

5. Clean ceiling and walls with common household products such as bleach, ammonia or vinegar. Mix one part bleach and two parts water and wipe down your walls gently, being careful not to scrub off the paint. Ammonia mixed with hot water is an effective cleaner and odor eliminator, as is white vinegar and water. Be sure to open windows to ventilate the area while you work with these strong liquids.

6. Have all drapes, carpets and upholstered furniture professionally cleaned if you simply can't get the nasty odor out yourself. The tar and nicotine from cigarettes readily attach itself to fabrics and professional cleaning methods and chemicals may be the only way to get it out.