Cigarette Stench

When we bought our cottage, the paneled walls were brown with cigarette "crud". Like Aunt Smurf - anything with ammonia in it - like Windex, will cut that crud and have it running down the walls. I washed the entire cottage in Windex...LOL!

Regarding ozonators: yes, they will kill odors, but remember: ozone is an oxidizer. It works exactly like Chlorine or Bromine; which means it fades fabrics; can make the plastic insulation around wires brittle, rusts steel like crazy, and makes rubber disintegrate. And it's really hard on your lungs.

AuntSmurf wrote:
While working in a motel I discovered that Windex with a little bit of rubbing alcohol works great at taking the cig residue and smell off of hard surfaces.

Yes, this is a good method.

I repair vintage electronics and if they were operated in a smoking environment the components and circuit boards are a magnet for cigarette tar. I smoke but am gagged by some of the gear I have to deal with, it reeks.

If dealing with the smoking residue on a hard surface that won't be harmed by water, I wash it with Dawn or other surfactant and follow up with Isopropyl alcohol. I then place it outdoors in the sun or under a lamp to dry.

After a couple of days of airing, if it still smells, I repeat the process. The most repetitions I've repeated is three.

Removing residue from porous surfaces like painted wallboard, curtains, wood, etc. is a whole different thing. I've done fire abatement and we used a lot of "bubble-gum" spray to eliminate the odors in porous surfaces after washing. Ozone is the best odor eliminator but it can get costly as the scale of or size increases (like a room, so to speak). Some of the molecular based odor sprays can work pretty well on hard to freshen items.

Since this is an RV forum, I'd caution others against using an ozinator in a vehicle like an RV. It does work good at neutralizing smells, but it also degrades rubber. I ran an ozinator in my motorhome. Several weeks later, my fabric ceiling started to develop as sag in different areas. The foam rubber backing had become brittle and let the fabric drop. I installed white thumb tacks to counteract the sagging as it happened. Within a year, I had to install thumb tacks on the whole ceiling.

I was not suggesting using one in an Ozone generator in a coach for an extended period. Personally it should be left to professionals to remove the smells. Ozone can kill if you are exposed to it too much and too long. Pros use a sealed chamber for up to 72 hours max, as I remember. It will degrade a lot of things from finish to fabric if used too long. The chamber we used cost over #1,000 to build, and was a little scarey to run, it does smell like fresh lightening, and cannot be filtered with a respirator. Caution first, but very effective.

The only thing it did not clear was mouse pee, and we used other products for that.

westend wrote:

AuntSmurf wrote:
While working in a motel I discovered that Windex with a little bit of rubbing alcohol works great at taking the cig residue and smell off of hard surfaces.

Yes, this is a good method.

I repair vintage electronics and if they were operated in a smoking environment the components and circuit boards are a magnet for cigarette tar. I smoke but am gagged by some of the gear I have to deal with, it reeks.

LOL! My friend has similar stories...he's a guitarist, and collects & repairs old amps. He got an old Fender amp a while back, opened it up, and almost threw up. Turns out it was the dude's "practice amp"...it stayed in the band's rehearsal space. For ten years. All six of the band members smoked, one chain-smoked. YUCK!

the first thing I would do away with is the carpet and the fabric anything! cushions.. curtains,, shades,,, all that stuff... course this should go w/o saying!

please LET US HEAR HOW IT COMES OUT!

GOOD LUCK!