The downside of living in apartments outside of Utah means the possibility of inheriting a home from a smoker is significantly greater.
When I first moved in, my home smelled horrible. Granted, it wasn't as bad as say, my mother's home, but it still made my head throb.
The first thing I did was to run over to the Dollar General to purchase Febreeze and Glade Plug Ins.
I sprayed Febreeze on everything except the ceiling. It cut the majority of the smell, but I could still feel the stinging in my lungs after about an hour of sitting in my home.
Frustrated, I turned to the Interwebs. There are tons of home remedies, and I decided to try the inexpensive suggestions.
I purchased the best air filter money could by. Thankfully, it was only $9. I bought cotton vent covers for the air vents. I purchased a vanilla saturated special square to put on my expensive new air filter. I even bought charcoal briquettes and put three in the bottom of each vent. Well, that's a lie... Brandy put them in the vents.
After two days of not smelling an improvement, I went a little more drastic last night: I put charcoal briquettes on four of the six vents in the house. The ones I didn't treat were the ones in the kitchen and bathroom. This is because there are doors which open up over them.
They have been in place for over 12 hours now, and I believe this has done the trick. However, this means the problem lies in the air ducts.
The cleaning of air ducts can become very expensive, and I doubt the management company would be willing to pay for this.
There are some inexpensive things I can try to eliminate the smell in the vents, which I might try at the end of the month.
I'll need to have a final solution (that's for you, Abby) before the fall. I don't feel it's a good idea to keep the briquettes in and on the vents when the heat is being used.
Anyone out there have any recommendations for eliminating cigarette smoke odor?
UPDATE:
Sunday night I emptied an entire CAN of Lysol Odor Neutralizer into the vents, hoping it would kill whatever nastiness lived in there. I'll be able to tell when I get home Monday evening.
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