# Best way to drive away cigarette smoke



## Esperanza (Jun 3, 2007)

Yesterday night we were invited by some friends to do another Poker party (it has become quite an institution since a few weeks!) and I was thinking, as nearly all of us were smokers, about the best solution to drive away the smoke.

Although I smoke myself, I just can't stand the smell the next day when I wake up... When we have friends to dinner at our flat, I use lots of perfume candles (special tobacco ones), perfume burners (the Green Tea home fragrance oil made by The Body Shop is a really nice one but not strong enough imo) and I try to let the windows open as long as possible but when it comes to winter, it becomes difficult...!! 

So what personal tricks do you use at your own house? Have you find THE way to get rid of tobacco/cigarette smoke? Thanks for sharing your tips


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## Shimmer (Jun 3, 2007)

febreeze. 
And, Oust air sanitizer.


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## MarniMac (Jun 3, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_febreeze. 
And, Oust air sanitizer._

 
I agree. It also helps to wipe down hard surfaces and vaccum...then spray your febreeze and open up your windows and air the places out! I smoke too (its my very guilty pleasure, lol) but I ONLY smoke outside. 
Its hard to get the smell out even doing all you can to get rid of it.


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## Esperanza (Jun 3, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_febreeze. 
And, Oust air sanitizer._

 
I bought Febreeze & a bottle of Oust when they were brought out at the very beginning and at the time, their formulas were like...:eek2: It was worse than before because the smell of smoke was still here and there was the chemical smell of the products over it!! But I imagine the new ones are better now! 
Anyway I'd prefer more "natural" ways, like essential oils and stuff. We  have enough pollution with smoking to avoid other chemical products!!

 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *MarniMac* 

 
_I smoke too (its my very guilty pleasure, lol) but I ONLY smoke outside. 
Its hard to get the smell out even doing all you can to get rid of it._

 
Yeah, smoking outside surely is the best solution when you have a garden or a little balcony... aaah wish I have those... but in an appartment with only windows and a bunch of friends who smoke a lot, it's not that easy


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## triccc (Jun 3, 2007)

smoke outside! you guys can take smoke breaks during the game?
I would rather smoke outside than have my place smell icky.


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## Esperanza (Jun 3, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *triccc* 

 
_smoke outside! you guys can take smoke breaks during the game?
I would rather smoke outside than have my place smell icky._

 
The thing is, we both live in buildings so going outside is not very practical. Of course it can be done, but as everyone enjoy smoking a cigarette, have a glass of wine while playing, I just try to find a good trick 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



It's funny because when my boyfriend & I are alone together, we practically don't smoke at all. And as I'm a house-cleaning psycho (a nice one though lol!), I'm opening the windows as often as possible and use some aromatherapy spays to freshen the air. Very conflicting isn't it?!!


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## Shawna (Jun 3, 2007)

Check out Lamp Berger.com and you will find the best thing ever for removing any unwanted smells from your home 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  I got one for my birthday and it removed all traces of stinky wet dog.  You can read about them on the website, but they were created by a chemist to help remove smells without harming the people around in the late 19th century.  I wouldn't be without one ever.


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## MisStarrlight (Jun 3, 2007)

A fan blowing out of the window can help the smoke from staying too long & therefore stinking everything up...or one of those double sided fans.


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## redambition (Jun 4, 2007)

a fan near an open window should work quite well.

bergamot essential oil used in an air spray formulation (20 drops of oil + 30mL vodka + 200mL water in a spray bottle, then shake it up then spritz), or in an oil vaporiser also works really well. bergamot is the most deodorising of the essential oils, but lavender is another alternative.

a few points to note if you are going to use bergamot oil though: do not spray the air spray mixture onto any people or pets. bergamot is a photosensitiser and will cause skin discolouration/burns if that person or pet goes out in the sun after the spray has hit their skin. the effect lasts for several days. if you're worried about this happening, an oil vaporiser (or oil burner) might be a better idea.

The other point - if you use a metal or plastic spray bottle for the air spray, don't keep the air spray mixture in there for long periods of time - essential oils react with plastics and metals. put the mix in, shake, spray then store it in a dark glass bottle.


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## Ms. Z (Jun 4, 2007)

My boss told me he wipes/mops the walls.


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## Shimmer (Jun 4, 2007)

The thing about using oils is that they make the air 'sticky'. :/
 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *My friend Jes* 
_SUBTLETY MAKES THE MOST OF SCENTS 
By Jes Alexander (originally published in THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE) 
© 2005 Jes Alexander 

Home fragrances probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but I fear the industry has run amok. This is my soapbox. 

I always thought that the idea was for your home to smell fresh and clean. My idea of a good-smelling house is one that smells mostly of nothing, but with hints of floral scents and Clorox. If your house is clean, it will smell clean. So if you do the cleaning, you're already halfway there. 

Floral scents are easy to achieve in your house - with flowers. I prefer to have living flowering plants and not cut flowers because cut flowers die, and when they do, that's it - dead is dead. 

Besides, dead flowers smell bad. Small rosebushes, gardenia, even potted bulbs keep coming back, so you can have a pretty, floral-scented home, provided you take care of your plants. Another good way to add both greenery and subtle aroma to your home is by planting potted herbs. Rosemary, for example, is wonderfully fragrant. In any case, the intent with home fragrances should be subtlety. 

Have you ever heard of subtlety in a spray can? Or in a gelatin-filled mason jar? The idea with home fragrances is to enhance the cleanliness of your home, not to cover up the odor of the cat box (why not just change the litter?), last night's garlic saute or your nasty bathroom. 

Another natural way to freshen your home is to open your windows. Yes, they open. Try it, especially in a rainstorm. No, I am not suggesting that you get the inside of your home wet, but rain produces negative ions, and negative ions are a natural air purifier. Do you know those high-priced air purifiers everyone is selling? HEPA schmepa, they are actually little negative ion machines that produce a more balanced ecosystem in your home. And a healthier home equals less skank. Did your grandmother ever put her rugs out on the porch in the dewy morning air to "freshen" them? Same principle. 

So let's review: Clean your home, use flowering plants and herbs that bloom regularly, and open your windows in the rain. So far I am not spending too much of your money, am I? 

Here is my biggest problem with home fragrances: They can be bad for your home. Before I get nasty letters from the industry, let me explain. How many of you have a lamp oil ring (or 12) in your house? Do you know what makes a greasy-spoon diner greasy? Grease (see: oil). Grease gets into the air and sticks to everything. Haven't you wondered why the lamps in your house are fuzzy with sticky lint? It's because your lamp oil ring is burning oils that get into the air and then stick to your lamps, your lampshades, your tables, the walls - everything. 

Why do you want to make it harder for yourself to clean your house? So, despite the alluring names on the scented-oil bottles, remove thy lamp oil ring from around thy lightbulb and dispose of it in thy trash receptacle. Chances are, if you really clean your house, you won't need to cover up the odors with lamp oil anyway. 

Do you have a cat? A dog? A ferret? A boyfriend? Use Febreze on your sofa, your chairs, your curtains, as all these things trap odors. After a heated debate on the subject of what makes Febreze work, my friend Tinka (no, not her real name, but that's what we call her) asked a chemist friend about Febreze and was told it is made of some kind of sugar molecules that are cylindrical. Bad smells get trapped inside the molecules, which is why it stops smelling bad where you spray it. The sugar molecules with the trapped odor stay put on your curtains, furniture or carpet till you wash them or vacuum them up. 

Now, if you have wall-to-wall carpeting or rugs or anything covering your floors, get a steam cleaner immediately. You have no idea how disgusting the floors in your house are. 

Sure, rugs are soft and they absorb sound, but they also absorb odors. And you walk on them in the same filthy shoes you walked in the street with, and you drop food in the carpets and … just steam-clean your house, please. I have been on the steam-clean soapbox before, and if you haven't seen black water come out of your family-room carpet for yourself, it's about time you did. You can even put Febreze laundry freshener in your steam cleaner's rinse water and infuse your carpets with super-fresh goodness. 

So what should our homes smell like? Clean and subtly fragrant like nature (and OK, if you are weird like me, a little Cloroxish). This means your home scents should not be in the apple pie, cinnamon-vanilla, pastry, Ben & Jerry's family. If it sounds like a holiday dessert, it has no business being a home fragrance. 

Haven't you ever walked into someone's house and said, "That smells great - what flavor is that?" Of course you are always hungry; your lamp oil ring is making your stomach think that there is pie coming. Am I making the claim that dessert-y home fragrances clinically contribute to weight gain? Not precisely, though there are some articles on the Internet that allude to certain fragrant stimuli being a precursor to hunger. 

So, you cleaned your house, you have some nice plants growing, maybe you have some nice soaps in your bathroom that you can actually smell because you cleaned last week, maybe you have little scented drawer liners or the occasional sachet, and just maybe you have some dried-flower potpourri somewhere (if it looks like dried flower petals, OK; if it looks like wood chips, send it back to the lumber mill), and when it rains you let the ion-y goodness in. 

Your house smells better already. 
_


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## Esperanza (Jun 4, 2007)

That sounds interesting! I've never thought of leaving the window open while it's raining outside, actually I didn't know about the negative ions thing 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




That is so true about wall-to-wall carpet: my parents used to have it in some rooms of our appartment and I just freaked out everytime my mother used a steam cleaner 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Fortunately there's a wooden floor in my bf's flat!


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## silverblackened (Jun 4, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shawna* 

 
_Check out Lamp Berger.com and you will find the best thing ever for removing any unwanted smells from your home 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  I got one for my birthday and it removed all traces of stinky wet dog.  You can read about them on the website, but they were created by a chemist to help remove smells without harming the people around in the late 19th century.  I wouldn't be without one ever._

 
Second this. We have three in my house (one for the living room/kitchen, one for the bedrooms, and one extra that I sometimes take into the car with me!) and they're terrific. Zero negative side effects, smells great and makes the air feel so much cleaner, and works for hours after being snuffed out - apparently it's good for your health, too.


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## Raerae (Jun 4, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *triccc* 

 
_smoke outside! you guys can take smoke breaks during the game?
I would rather smoke outside than have my place smell icky._

 
Yup...

Back when I smoked, it was OUTSIDE only.  If you needed a cigarette that bad, you can sit on the porch and smoke it =p

Thats how we handled smoking anyways.  Didn't matter who it was, friends or roomates, smoking was NOT allowed inside.  I didn't allow smoking in my car eigther.  Eigther you smoked before, or you waiting until we got there.

But it's even easier now to keep the smell out, because I dont smoke =p


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## Ms. Z (Jun 15, 2007)

I went on the site for Lamp Berger.com but don't know what I'm looking for  .  Can someone please tell me what this product is that removes the odors?


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## MAC_Whore (Jun 15, 2007)

An ashtray.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sorry, couldn't help but make a joke.


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## Shawna (Jun 17, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *ZLoves2Shop* 

 
_I went on the site for Lamp Berger.com but don't know what I'm looking for  .  Can someone please tell me what this product is that removes the odors?_

 
It is a glass lamp (for lack of a better way to describe it) that has a wick that goes into the lamp.  You light the ceramic bit at the end of the wick, let it flame for  a couple of minutes and then blow it out.  The wick continues to smoulder and burn a scented alcohol or neutralizing alcohol.  It has some sort of ionization process that removes the stinky smells and leaves a nice fresh one.  I absolutely love mine and I don't think I would be without one anymore.  Apparently, there is a travel sized version too so people can take it with them


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## silverblackened (Jun 17, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shawna* 

 
_It is a glass lamp (for lack of a better way to describe it) that has a wick that goes into the lamp.  You light the ceramic bit at the end of the wick, let it flame for  a couple of minutes and then blow it out.  The wick continues to smoulder and burn a scented alcohol or neutralizing alcohol.  It has some sort of ionization process that removes the stinky smells and leaves a nice fresh one.  I absolutely love mine and I don't think I would be without one anymore.  Apparently, there is a travel sized version too so people can take it with them 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 
Just to clarify, you need to fill (although it doesn't need to be _full_) the lamp with your alcohol of choice before lighting it. Also, the right website address seems to be lampeberger.com since that's the correct way of spelling the name of the product, if anyone else has been trying to access it to have a peek. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




There's a travel-sized lamp? I need this!


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## user79 (Jun 18, 2007)

I also smoke, but we have a balcony so we don't smoke inside anymore. I also hate the smell, it's so gross. Those febreeze things and a neutrealising air freshner (not the ones loaded up with cheap perfumes) work decently, but they won't get the smell out 100%. Maybe what you can do is open a window very wide while smoking and get air circulating so that the air escapes outside before it can settle. If you have curtains or lots of cushions on sofas, wash those frequently.


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## PomPoko (Jun 18, 2007)

OK, I will sound like my grandma when I say this, but bicarb of soda. Its a LIFE saver. I don't smoke, but I do have a dog, who has had accidents...and the best way to neutralise the smell, cos carpet cleaner doesnt always work too well, was to sprinkle bicarb of soda over the area, then leave it for an hour or two then vacuum it up. 

In this instance I think the best way would be to put a pot of bicarb in the living room over night after you've had your friends over, or I think you can sprinkle it in the ashtray bottom and it will absorb the smell of the ash and the cigarette ends. I guess if theres no carpet as well, it wont take in the smoke smell, but if you have rugs or w/e I highly reccommend sprinkling it over and leaving it for a bit then vacuuming it out


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## Esperanza (Jun 23, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *MissChievous* 

 
_Maybe what you can do is open a window very wide while smoking and get air circulating so that the air escapes outside before it can settle. If you have curtains or lots of cushions on sofas, wash those frequently._

 
That's what I do, the window is open practically everyday & the smell slowly began to disappear. We have 4 big cushions that we put on the floor & biiiig thick curtains and it's crazy how they absorb the smell :crap: Unfortunately the cushions have to be dry-cleaned but I'm going to take them to a dry-cleaner's soon, I just can't stand the smell on it anymore! Yuck! Oh and I've found some Cedar & Rosemary candles, I believe that works because the cigarette smoke isn't as present as before...


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## Kelaia (Jun 26, 2007)

White vinegar is great for absorbing odours, and it is so cheap! Also, as someone has already mentioned...baking soda! I have heard that soaking a couple of slices of bread in white winegar and putting them around the house for a few hours absorbs any foul smells. I admit, the smell of the vinegar isn't the best, but it dissipates in about 30 mins.

This also works great at making you sinks and faucets lovely and shiny, as it cuts through limescale and soap scum 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 (And I much prefer using it over say, something like CLR, because that is just laden with chemicals that really are not good for you to inhale). HTH!


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## karinaf (Jun 26, 2007)

I use a ton of febreeze and have the windows open at all time.  lots of incense and stuff.  I try not to smoke in the house during the summer, and just go outside.  during the winter, i'll crack a window open during the day to air it out and let things circulate.  most people can't even tell im a smoker unless i light one up.


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## starraffy (Jan 15, 2014)

Better not smoke inside your house or if you can't avoid it lets say you have a visitor who's smoking? Keep running your air purifier it helps and tested to get away with bad odors, you might want to open windows as well or put a scented candle in the area


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