Painting over nicotine- HELP

Eriii_123x

Hello guys I'm new here, and would love some good advice!
Weve recently just brought a house from  a heavy smoker - by heavy, I'm mean chain smoking in the house since it was new built in the 70s! 😱
I have had suggestions to paint the walls with watered down gloss to stop the nicotine stains from returning. Then to wait till dry and paint with normal emulsion paint. 

After reading online I havent found this advice anywhere else! But the people who have told me have been painters and decorators for years. 
Has anyone done this before? 
Can anyone offer any other ways to solve this issue. 

Also, is the nicotine likely to have leaked  through the wallpaper? 

Many thanks!! 😁😁

floppydisk1

You can either wash it off with sugar soap and elbow grease ( messy and time consuming ) or stain block with  coat of proper stain block  or gloss paint ( nowhere near as good as decent stain block, cheaper but  price difference on one tin of paint isn't going to be massive ). Leave  it untreated and paint it with normal paint or wallpaper over, it will stain through and ruin you  finish with ugly yellowish stains  + it will stink for weeks....

bris

Steam it with a wall paper stripper and it wipes of with no scrubbing.  

tiggerbodhi

Use Zinsser B I N  primer sealer on it after washing with sugar soap, worked well on a house we purchased in similar condition and on the grease stained kitchen.

Ajmason42

B&q used to sell a paint cannot remember the name wasn't exactly stain block it was very thick like painting with treacle we used it to cover a very dark wall and it worked well

Mutton_Geoff

Wash it off first else even with stain block paint, the smell will still be there for years. I renovated a house of a chain smoker, everything had to be cleaned thoroughly. Zinsser BIN paint is great for covering up stains that can't be cleaned off. The wallpaper steamer idea works well too.

Wear a mask, you will feel sick doing it if you are a non smoker.

Johnstones have a new product called StainAway but I haven't tried it yet.

Netherspark

Sugar Soap will take it straight off, but it will be the most disgusting thing you've ever seen.  Or smelled.

It's not just nicotine but tar and all kinds of nasty stuff, and the best thing you can do is to get rid of it completely.

Lmc74

What tigerbhodie said. The sealer primer paint us expensive though. Sugar soap and rubber gloves first.

Mutton_Geoff

Although sugar soap is good, it's slightly abrasive. Nicotine just needs a gentle wash and I found supermarket own brand general purpose cleaner (eg yellow liquid like Flash) much cheaper and just as effective.

Use it with a foam scooter to remove scuff marks etc.

Carpets, curtains and any soft furnishings will need cleaning or replacing as they will harbour the smell.