Trying to get rid of cigarette nicotine smell :(

Massy

Hi All,

I have just moved into a property that the previous owner had smoked in... a lot.

I have ripped out the carpets / curtains / nets and we have painted some walls and ceilings (not everywhere yet) but the smell still lingers.

Now i put some of the cif cream on a upvc window frame and the frame went from yellow to white! cannot believe they are caked in muck.


I have two main questions really please...

1. Can i use a steam cleaner to shoot a jet of steam to the upvc frames and get it all off that way as there are a lot of windows to do, i wont steam the seals?


2. What else would you do to try and get rid of the smell? someone mentioned getting rid of the light fittings as the bulbs probably cause a smell if they are also caked in nicotine.


Also someone said cut an onion in half and leave it in the room for a day?! are they winding me up or does this somehow help? :rotfl:



Thanks in advance for any of the help really appreciate it

skimper

You can try an air purifier?

Payless_2

When i quit smoking I just left the windows open after giving everything a good clean. I never noticed the smell of smoke after that, except when the lady downstairs was smoking in her yard

CathA

Massy wrote: »

Also someone said cut an onion in half and leave it in the room for a day?! are they winding me up or does this somehow help? :rotfl:



Thanks in advance for any of the help really appreciate it

I have heard that if you leave a cut onion in the room after painting, it gets rid of the paint smell, particularly if it's gloss paint, so might not be as daft as it sounds!

GwylimT

Have you washed all of the walls?

In our last home we had to replaster the living room and main bedroom and replace all wood based items to remove the smell of fags.

We changed all light fittings as well.

The person selling the house didn't smoke, the smell was left from the previous owner!

wishuponastar

Massy wrote: »

Hi All,

I have just moved into a property that the previous owner had smoked in... a lot.

I have two main questions really please...

1. Can i use a steam cleaner to shoot a jet of steam to the upvc frames and get it all off that way as there are a lot of windows to do, i wont steam the seals?


2. What else would you do to try and get rid of the smell? someone mentioned getting rid of the light fittings as the bulbs probably cause a smell if they are also caked in nicotine.


Also someone said cut an onion in half and leave it in the room for a day?! are they winding me up or does this somehow help? :rotfl:



Thanks in advance for any of the help really appreciate it

I'd advise not to use a steam cleaner on the upvc frames, as in my own experience I decided to use a steam cleaner on kitchen cupboard doors to tackle grease and it caused them to melt!! Not one of my brightest ideas. Fortunately I stopped before the damage was too bad.
If you've cleaned them already then just go over them again with warm soapy water and do as others have suggested re leaving windows open (when possible) etc.


In addition to trying the onion trick, you could try leaving quarter segments of lemon around to neutralise the smells, perhaps that might work? If doing so, place on a jam jar lid as sometimes the acid can affect certain surfaces.


Hope that helps.

always_sunny

Nothing worse than smell of smoke I usually get rid of it (not mine, others) with white vinegar.
Pour it in a cup and leave it in the room to evaporate few days. In winter I would diluite it with water on the radiators.
I do the same with the smell of eggs