How to Cover up the Smell of Cigarette Smoke

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 4, 2023 References

There are a number of reasons that you may want to cover up the smell of smoke. Your friends and family may not like the smell, you may be going to a job interview, or you may have a neighbor or family member who smokes a lot. To fully cover up the smell of smoke, you should deodorize and clean yourself, your house, and your car.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Deodorizing Yourself

1
Brush your teeth. To help get rid of the smell of smoke on your breath, brush your teeth often. Keep a travel toothbrush and toothpaste on you when you're out so you can brush your teeth before you spend time around others that might have a problem with the smell of smoke.
- You can buy travel toothbrushes at any drugstore or general store.
- You can also chew gum or carry mouthwash. Anything that will spread clean, fresh scent through your mouth.^{[1]
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2
Wash your hands after you smoke. The smell of smoke will remain on your hands long after you smoke. The nicotine and tar from the smoke will cling to the surface of your hands, making them smell. Wash your hands with a strong, pleasant smelling soap to rid your hands of the smell.
- You can also use a scented lotion after washing your hands to make your hands smell better. This may help absorb smoky smells the next time you have a cigarette. Just remember to reapply after you've smoked a few times to keep the smell down.
- If you can't wash your hands, try a scented hand sanitizer to remove the smell of smoke from your hands.^{[2]
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3
Wash your clothes. You may not think your clothes smell like smoke, but that is because you are used to the smell. Others will be able to smell it as soon as they see you. Wash your clothes after every use to ensure you get the smoke smell out. You should also avoid smoking around your clothes because they will get the smell in them before you wear them.
- If the smells are stubborn, try adding a cup of vinegar to your wash to help remove the smell.^{[3]
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- Thick materials like wool are particularly absorbent to smell, so make sure these are washed well.
- The sleeves of your shirts are more susceptible to smoky odors than other parts of your clothes. Roll up your sleeves while you smoke to help keep the smell of the smoke off your clothes while you are out.
- If it is cold, wear a jacket when you smoke. You can take the jacket off when you are done and hang it up. This way, you leave the scent of smoke on the jacket. Make sure to wash your jackets if you do this.
4
Tie your hair back. Cigarette smoke clings to your hair after you smoke. To help avoid this, pull your hair out of your face with a clip or hair tie. This will make your hair less exposed to the smoke. Make sure you wash your hair every night to remove any smell that got in it during the day.
- Avoid using too many hair products. Gels and mousses will cause your hair to absorb scents.
- Try citrus scented shampoos, which can help keep the smell away.^{[4]
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5
Smoke near moving air. If you smoke inside a room or building, the smoke can build up all over your body. When you smoke inside, try to smoke near an exhaust fan, under a ceiling fan, or near an open window. This will blow the smoke away from you instead of letting it stick around your body.
- You can point a box fan out of the window of the room you are smoking to help suck the smoke out of the room.
- When you smoke outside, stand with your back to the breeze so that the smoke blows away from you.
6
Carry cologne or perfume. If you don't have time to wash your clothes before you see the people don't like the smell, try using cologne or perfume to cover it up. A spritz or two of cologne or perfume may not completely mask the smell of smoke, but it will help cover up the scent for a little while.
- You can easily put on too much if you are eager to cover up the smell. Refrain from using more than one or two sprays at a time.^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Deodorizing the Home

1
Scrub all the surfaces. The reason that a smoker's home has smells like smoke is because of the layer of tar that collects on all the surfaces over time. To get the smell out, scrub all your inside surfaces to get off the tar. Use a rag soaked with mild soapy water or vinegar and water to clean your walls, hardwood floors, cabinets, drawers, or any other hard surfaces in your home.^{[6]
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- Do not forget to clean your ceilings and high areas on your walls. Tar tends to collect in these areas as well as near doors and windows. This is because air flows in those areas. Make sure you pay special attention to these areas.
2
Clean your furniture. Smoke smells get absorbed by the materials in your home. In order to pull these smells out, you need to disinfect the upholstery on furniture, mattresses, window treatments, or any other material that cannot be easily cleaned in a washing machine.
- You can do this with [[[Clean-Upholstery-with-a-Steam-Cleaner|steam treatments]], deodorizing spray, or other products that remove smells.
- Make sure you do not buy sprays that just cover up the smells. This will not help remove the smells from your home.^{[7]
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3
Deodorize your carpet. Your carpet will also hold the smell of smoke well. Use carpet cleaning machines to completely wash and deodorize your carpet. Before you clean your carpet, you can try to pull some of the smell out by sprinkling baking soda on your carpet. Leave it overnight before you vacuum the carpet.^{[8]
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- Make sure you do this to carpet in all areas on your house, even closets and small rooms.
4
Place bowls of vinegar in each room. White vinegar cuts through strong odors naturally. In order to pull the smell of smoke from a room, place bowls of white vinegar in each room. Leave these in the room for several days to help pull the scent out of the air and objects in the room.
- If the smell of vinegar is too strong for you, try adding lavender oil or any other essential oil that you like the smell of.
- You can also mix baking soda with water to help pull the scent out of the room.^{[9]
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5
Open your windows. A good way to cover up any residual smoke smell in your house is to let fresh air in. On a nice day, open your windows and doors to let fresh air circulate through your house. Open windows or doors on multiple sides of your house so the air can make a circuit through your house.^{[10]
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- This also helps to reduce the smell of smoke if you need to do so quickly.
6
Clean your heating and air units. When you smoke, the smell and the tar are sucked into your heating and air units every day. To remove the smell of the smoke from the air, have your units professionally cleaned to get rid of the residue. This will help your house smell better. Make sure you change the filters in the units as well.
- You should also change your filters once a month so the smoke smell does not recycle through the house as your heat and air circulate.^{[11]
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7
Use air fresheners. If you are trying to cover up smoke scents in your home on short notice, you can use scented candles to cover up the smell. You can also use scented wall plug-ins or deodorizing sprays such as Febreeze, which will help pull the smoke scent from the air and the fabrics for a short time.
- You can buy a type of candle called a smokers candle that has enzymes to help remove the smoke smell and neutralize odors.^{[12]
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- Lavender, vanilla, and citrus scents are good for covering up odors.
8
Try charcoal. Charcoal is a cheap substance that helps attack the scent of smoke. Leave pieces of wrapped charcoal around your house or lay a few coals out to help pull the smell of smoke out of the air. You can even make little pouches to hold the coals.
- You can make decorative covers for these so they don't mess up the decor of your house.^{[13]
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9
Put plants around your house. Plants help reduce pollutants in the air by 80%. Putting them in rooms that smell like smoke will help improve the air quality in these rooms. There isn't one type of plant that is better than others, so just pick those you like.
- Hanging plants are easy to take care of. You can often get these at grocery or home improvement stores.^{[14]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Deodorizing Your Car

1
Scrub areas that collect tar. There are areas of your car that collect more tar than others. Since you are mostly in the front of the car, your dashboard, the tops of the front windows, and the surface of the windows will collect more tar than others. To cover up the smell of the smoke, wash and deodorize these areas often.
- If any other part of your car is discolored or sticky, wash these areas as well.
- You can keep deodorizing wipes in your car so you can clean these common areas quickly to hide the smell.
2
Clean your floor mats. Cleaning your floor mats will remove any smoke smells that have been by absorbed the carpet fibers. To clean them, sprinkle baking soda on your mats and let the mixture sit for one hour before vacuuming. You can also shampoo the mats to help cover the smell.
- If the mats smell to strongly, you can replace them instead.
- You should provide the same treatment to the carpet in your car as well.^{[15]
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3
Use citrus to deodorize. Citrus is a natural deodorizer that will help cover up and remove smoke smells from your car. Place piles of citrus peels around your car to cover the scent of smoke. ^{[16]
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- Try opening and peeling the fruit inside your car to provide a quick fix for the smoke smell.
- Try cleansers with citrus oils in them to make a larger impact on the scent.
4
Deodorize your air ducts. Your air system in your car will retain the smoke smell, which will cause the smell to come out when you use the heat or air conditioning. To help cover up these odors, turn your air conditioning on full blast. Locate your air intake vent, which is typically found under the front fender on the passenger’s side. Spray an air deodorizer into the intake vent. Switch to the heat setting and repeat.
- Be sure to air out the car after doing this. If not, the smell of air deodorizer may be too strong or cause breathing problems.
- Make sure you use deodorizing spray and not just air freshener. This won't help eliminate the odor.
5
Smoke with the window open. One way to help make the smell of smoke in your car less obvious is to smoke with your windows open. The smoke will still get int he car, but this will make the smell less obvious and strong than in you smoked with it closed or cracked.
- Make sure you blow your smoke out the window as well, so you limit the smoke exposure to the inside of your car.^{[17]
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6
Clean out your ashtray. Ashtrays can keep the smoke smell in your car long after you have finished smoking. If you have an ashtray in your car, you need to empty it every time you get out of the car. This will help cover up any strong smoke smell in your car.
- You should also clean out the ashtray with a deodorizing cleanser to get rid of the smell as well.^{[18]
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