Can You Completely Eliminate Cigarette Smoke Odor from a Home?

We’re on the phone a lot these days with Real Estate Agents and Home Buyers, evidence that the Twin Cities housing market is still going strong.

The number one thing buyers and sellers wonder about in warm humid months is whether it’s possible to completely eliminate and remove cigarette smoke odor from a home.

As a Real Estate Agent, you know how much a home’s smell influences selling price. Call us before you suggest to your clients that they paint!

The most common myth about covering up cigarette smoke odor is that painting will eliminate it. In some cases, it will “seal the deal” that you will never get rid of it.

As a buyer who has fallen in love with a property, it’s distressing when cigarette smoke odor is the only thing standing between you and your dream home. You don’t want to risk aggravating allergy and asthma symptoms in your children or yourself. You want to make a sound investment that will grow.

Cigarette smoke odor lingers long after the butt is extinguished because it’s sticky, and it permeates everything. You may be as shocked as we were to discover the ingredients cigarettes contain, things you’d expect to find only in food and candy like corn syrup and oil.

Here are the options for either removing or managing it:

1. A guaranteed removal of lingering cigarette odor can only be accomplished with the use of chemicals and a full smoke odor restoration process. Even then, there are conditions that must first be met, especially in a home that has been heavily smoked in for years. We quote each case individually to ensure that we can legitimately guarantee our work. If we can’t, we’ll let you know.
2. We offer chemical-free “green” alternatives. Unfortunately, in this case, we can not guarantee they will work. We continue the search but have not yet found green cleaning products that will do the same job as the chemicals we so dearly love to avoid using. How heavy the smoking was and how long it it occurred dictates how quickly you will notice the odor returning.
3. If you decide to tackle the job yourself, you can temporarily remove a lot of the odor by washing everything down, including ceilings and woodwork. Ceilings may need to be scraped. Remember to clean both the interior and exterior of all cabinetry. You will also need to clean carpet, upholstery, and window treatments. All clothing, bedding, and linens must also be washed. Our Green Clean technicians are IICRC certified in remediating Smoke and Odor Removal.

Green Clean understands the challenge of removing cigarette smoke odor. We would like to help you restore a fresh-smelling and clean home environment with either our smoke odor restoration process or carpet- and upholstery-cleaning services.

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