Cigarette smoke odors can linger in a home for hours after someone puts out a cigarette. Over time, the smell of cigarette smoke can become so pervasive that your clothing and belongings carry the odor wherever you go. Smoke smell removal can prove difficult, especially if someone smokes in your home regularly, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible to eliminate. In this post, we'll teach you how to get rid of a smoke smell in a house using effective, natural solutions.
Understanding Cigarette Smoke Odors
Before we get into how to get rid of smoke smell in a house, it's important to understand what causes cigarette smoke odors and what risks are associated with tobacco smoke.
When someone lights up a cigarette, more than 7,000 chemicals are released from it in the form of smoke. These chemicals fill the air, causing the cigarette smell. Eventually, their particles settle on surfaces throughout your home. They can form a coating on walls, counters and tables and become absorbed by soft fibers in upholstery, bedding, draperies, carpeting, rugs and clothing. When someone smokes on a regular basis, the problem gradually worsens until a home smells like cigarettes even when no one is actively smoking.
Cigarette smoke odors aren't just unpleasant. They can also be hazardous to your health. Tobacco smoke contains a variety of cancer-causing chemicals, toxic metals and poisonous gases, including:
- Ammonia
- Arsenic
- Benzene
- Butane
- Cadmium
- Carbon monoxide
- Chromium
- Formaldehyde
- Hydrogen cyanide
- Lead
- Polonium 210
- Toluene
- Vinyl chloride
The presence of these chemicals is why non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for some of the same health problems as smokers, such as lung cancer, stroke and heart disease. When particles from these chemicals settle out of the air, surfaces in your home become contaminated with the dangerous substances.
The Benefits of Natural Odor Removal Techniques
When trying to decide how to get a cigarette smell out of a house, you have two main options: synthetic products and natural products. The difference between these two cigarette smoke eliminators is their ingredients.
Synthetic odor removers contain chemicals like man-made fragrances, dichlorobenzene, acetone and phthalates. Some of these chemicals are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause headaches, eye and throat irritation and a worsening of allergy and asthma symptoms.
Natural odor eliminators substitute plant-based ingredients for harsh chemicals. Since part of the goal of learning how to get rid of cigarette smell is to cut back on the number of dangerous synthetics in your home, they're often the better option.
While protecting you from the chemicals found in synthetic products, natural odor removers also offer a more effective solution for cigarette smoke smells. Synthetic air fresheners often work by covering up smells with fragrances and allow the particles causing the odors to remain present in your home environment.
On the other hand, natural odor removers from Fresh Wave actually neutralize the odor molecules with Fresh Air Technology. Fresh Wave products release a blend of natural plant oils that attract cigarette smoke molecules. When they encounter them, the plant oils surround the smoke molecules and cause a chemical reaction that eliminates them. As a result, levels of cigarette smoke odor molecules are reduced, and your home smells fresher.
Natural Home Odor Removal Products
Fresh Wave offers a variety of plant-powered cigarette smoke odor eliminators. For rooms and vehicles, you can light Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Candles or spritz Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Sprays. The sprays also work great for refreshing fabrics.
Our Odor-Removing Gels and Packs continuously fight odors by gradually releasing natural plant oils into a room. We also offer an odor-fighting Laundry Booster that you can add to the washing machine to eliminate smoke smells from clothing, bedding and draperies.
The smoke odor-eliminating power of Fresh Wave products comes only from water and plant-derived ingredients like lime, pine, clove, anise and cedarwood oil. All our smoke odor eliminators are free of alcohol, phthalates, toxins, parabens and VOCs, making them a safer choice for fighting cigarette smoke smells.
Additional Natural Techniques for Odor Removal
In addition to using natural products for smoke smell removal, there are some other things you can do to freshen up your home, including:
- Increasing ventilation: Use fans and open windows to promote air circulation throughout your home. Smoke odors will generally be more intense in areas that lack ample airflow.
- Purifying the air: Place air purifiers in rooms where people usually smoke. A high quality air purifier that is adequately sized for your space can remove particles from the air you breathe to cut down on smoke smells.
- Introducing potted plants: Live house plants help to improve indoor air quality by taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.
- Using essential oils: Highly concentrated oils from plants called essential oils can complement odor eliminators. You can use them in a diffuser or create room sprays by diluting them with water.
Maintaining a Fresh Home Environment
If you or someone in your family regularly smokes at home, it will take ongoing effort to keep your home smelling fresh. Follow these tips to maintain a fresh home environment going forward:
- Go outside to smoke: Make your home a smoke-free zone by requiring anyone who smokes to head outdoors before they light up.
- Smoke in a designated area: If smoking outside isn't possible, keep smoking confined to one place in your home, so you can concentrate your smoke odor removal areas to a single location.
- Adopt a regular cleaning routine: To lessen the amount of cigarette smoke chemicals in your home, wipe down hard surfaces at least once per week. Vacuum all floors two to three times weekly and mop hard floors weekly. Also, launder bedding and other soft furnishings frequently.
In addition to following the above tips, quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do both to freshen your home and protect your health. No matter how long you've smoked, quitting now can make a difference and lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, lung disease and other conditions. There are now medications and nicotine replacement therapy products to help make quitting easier. Talk to your healthcare provider about which ones are right for you.
Find the Right Natural Cigarettes Smoke Eliminators for Your Needs
Natural odor remover techniques make it possible to neutralize cigarette smoke smells without introducing more harmful chemicals to your home. Shop our line of natural odor-eliminating products to discover natural sprays, gels, candles and other solutions for freshening your home and start incorporating the other strategies outlined above to get and keep your home smelling clean.
