Remember how I said I was going to paint the headboard for Leah’s big girl bedroom? That sneak peek was two weeks ago already, and it still isn’t done… sigh. We bought this headboard used on kijiji from a home that had smokers and it smelled terrible! I have every intention of painting it, and I think the paint will cover it up, but I don’t know for sure. I want to do everything I can to get as much of the smell out of that wooden headboard as possible before I refinish it.
It was one of those purchases where I had forgotten to ask the sellers if they were smokers, I had already driven all the way across town, and the townhouses were a little shady, so I just wanted to get out of there. It didn’t even occur to me that it smelled until I got it in the back of my station wagon (yes, I drive a station wagon!) and the whole car started smelling like cigarette smoke.
When I got home, I offloaded it into the garage and it stayed there for a couple weeks. I don’t have any experience with smoky furniture so I was really hoping that airing it out in the garage would help, but it didn’t.
So I brought it inside, and I started wiping it down with Lysol wipes, just to be sure any germs from the sellers were gone. It didn’t get rid of the smell, but at least it felt more sanitized. Lots of dirt was still coming off of it, so I decided to move on to dish soap and warm water. So I scrubbed with a cloth and got even more dirt off, but the smell was still there… and getting the wood wet just made it worse!
At this point I had no idea what to do, so I had to Google it. One recommendation was to try a mixture of half water and half vinegar and to scrub it down. So I used a bathroom brush scrubber to scrub it down. Now it was wet, it smelled like vinegar AND smoke. It was really awful.
I knew I couldn’t paint it if it was wet, so I set it aside to let it dry in my sewing room and it smelled up the ENTIRE room, to the point that it gave me a headache when I was sewing the tulle bedskirt!
Seeing that the vinegar didn’t work, I tried something else recommended on Google – baking soda. I’m happy to report that this seemed to work really well!
Get the smell of cigarette smoke out of wooden furniture
I sprinkled about a box and a half of baking soda onto the headboard.
I tried moving it around with a paint brush, but it was better to just sprinkle tons of it on to make sure it was fully covered.
I read that you can remove the baking soda after letting it sit overnight, but I didn’t think that sounded like it would be long enough. So I was on the cautious side and let it sit for a whole week.
I also read that you should use your vacuum to clean it up, but I’m pretty sure that would have majorly clogged up my vacuum and gone right through the filter and back into the air. So I used a mini brush and dustpan to sweep as much of it up as I could, and then I vacuumed up whatever dust was left.
See how much baking soda I used!?
After all the baking soda was off of it, I smelled it and I was super impressed! You really couldn’t smell the cigarette smoke at all on the side that had the baking soda! The front still smelled awful though. So here is where it stands right now (or rather where it lies on my basement floor):
I had to flip over the headboard and start again on the front of it. Rather than opening a new box, I just sprinkled the used baking soda onto this side. It’s sitting in the basement as we speak, so I still have to wait a few days for it to absorb the smoke smell. It’s still going to be awhile before I can get it painted.
It took a few tries, but I figured out how to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of wooden furniture and I am relieved to know that painted or not, the awful cigarette smoke smell will be gone from Leah’s headboard!
Kenney D says
Thank you, everything that I have tried just made it worse. I will now try to baking soda
Lori J Smith says
With something like a headboard you can give it a thin coat of shellac and it will seal the smell in. Then paint as desired. I recommend Annie Sloan chalk paint, Cheers.
greenkarma says
I am so thankful I found this post. We got a great deal on an Ethan Allen King bed frame and same thing happened to me….after I got it home in my wagon I noticed the smell!! I tried the vinegar and Howard’s Orange Oil but it only got slightly better. I was about to give up and resell it until I came across your baking soda recommendation! I am SO going to try this as soon as I get home!!
Heidi C says
Four years later, thank you for this information. My father and stepmother (a dedicated chain smoker) both passed away and I’m responsible for the estate. They have some beautiful wood furniture — expensive Danish teak cabinets, desks, dressers, etc. A part of me really wants to have it, but I’m sensitive to smells and allergic to smoke. It sounds like the chances of completely getting the smell out are low, especially since I live in a warm climate. It’s a shame to let that stuff go, but at least I can quit obsessing over it.
Fiona says
I have just arrived home with a stunning drinks cabinet for my husband and I am in the same boat. I didn’t realise until I was enclosed in my car with it that the stench was so bad. I now feel like I want to throw up! I have no idea how I would get baking soda on all the sides and in the books and crannies. I am fairly devastated, I must admit!!!
yogamom says
I have some things I inherited from my parents. They were both smokers for 40 plus years. It’s really hard to let things go. But, the smell of smoke just doesn’t come out. When you bring it into a nonsmoker’s home the odor really stands out. It would take a lot of baking soda and tons of physical work. I took some pictures of the pieces and hope to find a place willing to take them for donation. I can’t bring myself to just throw them away.
Erin says
Hi,
Just wanted to leave a comment here since there is surprisingly little info online about how to remove cigarette smoke smell. I didn’t do the baking soda technique because of the many surfaces on the furniture I have. Murphy oil soap, vinegar, regular soap, airing it out, and sun did not work for me. Using an ozone generator was very effective at quickly removing the smoke smell. You can buy them online for under $100. I would recommend people try that out for very bad smoke smells. In my case, the furniture came from a chain smoker’s home where it was for at least 30+ years. As a non-smoker, the smell was a total non-starter. Thanks for this post – it was helpful in my odyssey to deal with this problem.
– Erin
Vicky Paschke says
You know that ozone generators are hazardous to your health, right? Not necessarily a great idea for everyone depending on their health status.
JL says
Call a fire restoration service. They have special process including Ozone Generator to remove the smoke smell.
Kara Martin says
I just bought a dresser and it smells awful like cigarette smoke didn’t realize it till I got my clothes in it now my clothes stink didn’t realize it till I got my clothes in it now my clothes stink! So going to try the baking soda
Cathy says
I used OdoBan deodorizer, and it not only cleaned the nicotine off my antique desk I purchased,but also deodorized it and I don’t smell any nicotine at all. I have been using this for years to clean my home with weekly, it’s wonderful!
Jackie says
Just bought a coffee table and small unit with a drawer and never thought to ask if it was from a smokers house – it is and it stinks I can’t stand it .
I’ve sprinkled bicarbonate of soda on the top of the table and as much as i could around the legs and on the drawer sprinkled it too . They’re going in the garden tomorrow in the sun if there is any and see if that gets rid o f the smell if not with burn them .
Julien Dufour says
Thanks very much for your article. It came in very handy for getting the cigarette smell out of a set of otherwise wonderful speakers. I’m enjoying the music and fresh air!
John Sasso says
That does not work except in the most trivial cases. You know it, we know it. Just stop. This is why they sell commercial cleaning products. Just stop with this “stuff from around the house” lies. It must be like a placebo. Enough people convince themselves that it works that there are a couple of testimonials, and the rest of us are left scratching our heads why it doesn’t work. Just go to your local home goods outlet and buy the chemicals. That is all that really works.
Debbie Chapman says
John – It actually worked reasonably well for us. It removed the bulk of the smell, with only a hint of the smoke smell coming out in the hot humid summer months.
Are there commercial cleaning products that remove smoke smell from wood? If there are, we’d love to have the names of those products!
JLMAHURIN says
I have spoken with fire restoration services and only two said they would guarantee smoke removal from wood. The process of removal is time consuming but all four steps are required or they would give no guarantees.
1) Surface clean the wood with TSP (a degreaser to remove the layers of nicotine, tar and dirt)
2) Deep clean the wood with a thermal fogger (clean the fibrous layers within the wood – Tabac‑Attack)
3) A commercial grade ozone shock treatment (this step is to oxidize any remaining molecules not reached by the thermal fogger)… a very dangerous step as this can oxidize some plastics and certain rubber/latex combinations causing a chemical reaction making the smell even worse and potentially permanent)
4) Shellac to seal anything that might be trapped deep in the wood (if you don’t do this step the right mix of heat and humidity will cause the wood to expand and off-gas any deeply embedded foul odors)
If you want to know the why read on.
So a pointless exercise to use the DIY methods described by others. I tried every one of them and none were permanent and at best most simply masked the issue.
After speaking to a chemical engineer I discovered why everything failed (smoke is one of the smallest of molecules. It carries the molecules that cause foul smells. Because wood is made of very fine super fibrous chains of cellulite that expands with temperatures — opening and closing as temperatures change. So depending on how much exposure (smoke), humidity, and temperature the wood has been exposed to will determine how deep the molecules have been able to bury themselves into the wood. This is why all four steps are critical.
So I followed the chemical engineers recommendation and hired a fire restoration service that would guarantee the smoke removal… You can try the steps outlined above, but I wouldn’t recommend it, as most of them can cause physical harm to people, pets and plants.
Beth says
What kind of chemicals John?