Cigarette smoke is more stubborn than a cranky toddler. The odor from a single cigarette can linger in a room for days. In a bedroom where someone smokes frequently, the smell can remain in the walls, flooring, and other materials for years. There's no magical fix that will undo all the results of prolonged smoking in a bedroom. Smoke can turn walls yellow, which may require repainting, and some fabrics may never lose the smoke odor and will have to be thrown away. However, there are some easy strategies that should help exhaust lingering smoke from the bedroom.
Start With Ventilation
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Airing out the room is the obvious first step for getting smoke smells out of your bedroom. Open windows and set up fans throughout the room; point the fans toward the window. Better yet, install a twin window fan with reversible blades. This kind of unit has two fans that can be adjusted depending on your needs. On a warm day, you might use one fan to bring in fresh air from outside and the other fan to exhaust hot air out of the room. While clearing smoke from a bedroom, set both fans to exhaust and let them run for as long as you can.
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If the bedroom's windows are painted shut or otherwise can't be opened, use fans to force air through the room and out the door. Open all the windows in rooms outside the bedroom. Set up at least one large box fan or tower fan that's pointed toward the middle of the room and another pointed up toward the ceiling to create maximum airflow.
Clean Both Hard and Soft Surfaces
Microscopic smoke particles cling to surfaces in your bedroom. You'll always smell smoke when you walk into the room if you don't thoroughly clean these surfaces. Clean walls using a spray bottle filled with a half-and-half mixture of water and white vinegar and a cleaning cloth. If the walls have visible stains, pour 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup vinegar in the spray bottle and fill it the rest of the way with water. You might also clean wooden furniture damaged by smoke using vinegar.
It tends to be harder to remove smoke odors from soft surfaces, but it's not impossible. Sprinkle carpet deodorizer on any rugs and use baking soda to clean mattresses, bed linens, and fabrics.
Set Up Air Purifiers and Deodorizers
Most people don't want to run a window fan 24 hours a day. Using air purifiers controls smoke odors even when windows are closed. Set up at least one HEPA air purifier in the bedroom. Some filters allow users to add a few drops of essential oils to scent the air, which can help mask the lingering smell of cigarette smoke.
Setting out one or more open bowls of kitty litter, baking soda, or coffee grounds throughout the bedroom and other rooms may also absorb smoke molecules. If smoke smells aren't confined to the bedroom, deodorize your entire home using these bowls, assuming you don't have curious pets or kids who will eat anything they find.
Minimize Future Smoke Smells
If you plan to smoke in the bedroom in the future, it's a good idea to keep a cigarette fan/smoking fan with reversible blades installed in the window all the time. Smoke near the window with both fans set to exhaust mode to draw the smoke outdoors before it can take hold in your walls, rug, bed linens, clothing, and the like. Use a smokeless lidded ashtray to help contain odors too.