When somebody smokes in my car or a room of my home, the smell lasts for days to weeks. How can I quickly remove that smell?
I've tried using basic air fresheners, but they only put a bandaid on the problem; after they wear off, the smoke smell remains.
Baking Soda
If this is just an occasional smoke, most of the smell left over is from smoke trapped in fabrics, such as carpets, curtains, etc. Sprinkling/rubbing baking soda into them can help neutralize the odor.
For carpets (which will eliminate basically all the smell in most rooms), just sprinkle it over the carpet lightly. I typically then walk over it a bit to distribute it further into the pile. Wait a while (10 minutes to a few hours), and then vacuum the carpets as usual.
For a more noticeable immediate effect, you can get products made specifically for this. Where I'm at they're very inexpensive, as they're mostly baking soda with an additional scent added in.
As I said, this is best for an occasional smoke. For rooms that are smoked in constantly over time, there will be a smoke/soot buildup on most surfaces, which requires a deeper cleaning.
Using an air freshener will mask the smell. The interesting thing about most air fresheners is that they are composed of large molecules that actually block your olfactory receptors so you can actually buy scentless air fresheners.
First thing would be to open all the windows, of course.
But just ventilating the room wouldn't help you; it is a known fact that smoke settles on the walls, ceiling, floor; carpets also detain it a lot (what else?) that will prevent disappearing of this annoying smell. So cleaning them should speed up removing the smoke smell.
(it is filtered information from moving.about.com)
I have had great success using Febreeze to get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke. Especially in things like a couch or carpet. Works good for the car as well.
Also, after I quit smoking I never let my smoking friend smoke in my car or home. They respected that and I never had to worry about it. Maybe you can ask you friends to not smoke in your place or car? It's not really fair of them to stink up your space if you think about it.
Air Ionizers that generate a lot of ozone are great at eliminating smoke smells. Or skip the guessing and buy a small (cheap) ozone generator.
(Warning 1: make sure it's not a fake. See, e.g. photo of eBay item 193723350092 which shows a real and a fake. I have one of each.)
Warning 2: Air Ionizers often generate a lot of ozone, which is hazardous. So you want to leave them on only while the area is NOT inhabited.
When folks seek to eat foods high in anti-oxidants, it's because the anti-oxidants reduce the cell damage caused by free radicals like ozone.
If you want simple affordable solution answer is very simple and effective: just light several candles, preferably while person is still smoking. Use "plain" normal candles and this should solve your problem.
Coffee beans help, though I can't say exactly how fast. I used them before for removing (smoke) smell in used furniture. Just put some coffee beans in a bowl, and let them sit in the room with the smell.
Other than Baking Soda, you can actually use activated charcoal or carbon.
As normal charcoal wouldn't work due to the fact that odors are chemicals and absorbing them is a chemical process, that is why you'd need the activated charcoal.
Activated charcoal is charcoal that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms.
It is freely available to purchase at a rather reasonable price. It isn't at all hard to find.
Another alternative, that I've personally used (When my car stank of rotting fish) was crushed up coffee beans that seemed to absorb the odor quickly. After that, I used an air freshener to remove the coffee smell, and voila, it was gone.
most of these answers assume that someone else is doing the smoking. in that case assertiveness will serve you better than covering the smell. that said, this seems like a teenager classic question...How do i hide the fact that I'm smoking in my parents' car or in my room. *wink *wink.
Answer: stuff dryer sheets in a paper towel tube and exhale through the tube.
