Where There’s Smoke...There’s Getting the Smell Out

For young professionals, owning your first home is an exciting prospect, but it can also be an exhausting process, especially when you are trying to find a home that’s both in your price range and your desired fit. In a constantly heated real-estate market, a young professional—especially a single one—often has to settle for a previously-owned home.

There are a few risks involved in this decision, since the previous owner may have been a heavy smoker for years and the smell may have permeated the house. This is hardly a problem that is restricted to freshly sold houses, either. Inheriting used furniture can also bring with it the remnants of a past family member’s old habits.

The Health Hazards of Untreated Smoke Odors

A lingering smell of smoke isn’t just an unpleasant inconvenience; it’s also a hazard to you and your family’s health. Constant exposure to even the leftover smells can still cause throat irritation, headaches, chronic diseases, and even cancer.

So naturally, you need to make alleviating the toxic smell a priority, but with smoke having permeated the walls, ceilings, and crevices of your house, what is an effective means of dealing with the smell? If you are faced with the prospect of removing lingering acrid smoke odors, there are a few options available to you.

Smoke Smell Remediation - The Most Effective Methods

Vinegar: If the odious smells are localized to a single area or room in your house, this might be a viable do-it-yourself solution. Hard surfaces of your house can accrue tar and resin, which are tenaciously resistant to common soaps. They are prone to breaking down with vinegar, however. Removing smoke smell with vinegar is fairly simple: mix the vinegar 1:1 with water, fill a spray bottle, and go!

Charcoal: This is another cheap and easy solution if the smell is restricted to a small area. Ordinary barbecue charcoal, in large enough quantities, is highly absorbent, and it works as a surprisingly effective deodorizer. This is the reason many air purifiers use charcoal filters.

Steam Cleaning: As bad as smoke smells on hard surfaces are to clean, it is many times worse when those smells get absorbed in fabrics like furniture, linens, or carpeting. In these instances, vinegar and charcoal won’t be enough to do the trick. The affected fabrics may need a thorough steam cleaning. Heat and vapor work very well at breaking down and removing the residual tar and resin left over from smoke exposure.

Air Purifier: This is an appliance that is dedicated to facilitating clean air. Powered air purifiers work on a vacuum-and-filter system, cycling the offending air and depositing the residue into a charcoal filter. If you have a green thumb, there are also plants that naturally purify ambience in its proximity.

Professional Smoke Remediation: If you’re faced with an extreme case of smoke permeation that won’t respond to DIY remedies or even air purifiers, it may be time to call a professional for a consultation, inspection, and quote. Having professionals survey your home for odor deposits guarantees that all affected areas will be thoroughly cleaned with commercial-grade appliances and substances by experienced professionals.

Conclusion

There are many hazards that can afflict your home, like mold or water damage, but smoke remediation isn’t impossible. With enough effort and the right materials, you can banish both the smell and the memory of odious smoke from your home for good.

AirTek Indoor Air Solutions offers residential and commercial air duct cleaning, HVAC cleaning, smoke odor removal, fire and smoke remediation, smoke smell remediation services in Azusa ( air-tek.net/smoke-smell-remediation ), Anaheim, Fresno, Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Simi Valley, Aptos, San Jose, and Fairfield. To know more, visit https://www.air-tek.net/who-we-are/.

I'm a freelance copywriter and I write on a variety of topics.