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My room smells like cigarettes!

Regicid3Regicid3 Registered User regular
edited June 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
and so do I!

I don't smoke, nobody smokes in my room. My Dad however is a smoker and he smokes a lot. I try so hard to keep the smell of smoke out of my room and my clothes. I avoid walking in the living room, I keep my door shut (like that matters) and constantly spray air fresheners. WHAT MORE CAN I DO? I'm sick of smelling like cigarettes when I haven't ever smoked one.

D:

Regicid3 on

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    AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Your options are:

    1) Get your dad to smoke outside/some other place the smoke won't reach you.
    2) Leave a lot of windows open.
    3) Move out.
    4) Convince him to stop smoking.

    Aldo on
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    Bliss 101Bliss 101 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Yeah smoking indoors is gross anyway and can lower the value of the house. I suggest you start a campaign to make your dad smoke outside, because there's very little you can do about the smell.

    Bliss 101 on
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    RookRook Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Draft excluder can usually help if there's any sort of gap between your door and the floor.

    Rook on
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    Regina FongRegina Fong Allons-y, Alonso Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Positive pressure. Set up a box fan in your bedroom window to suck air in. If possible, block the rest of the open portion of the window so the fan is sucking in more air than is escaping back our through the window. The very slight positive pressure in your room might help keep air from the rest of the house from coming into your room through the door (or under it).

    Regina Fong on
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    mimizumimizu Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    My dad smokes too, but his room is ajecent to his. Try opening windows, haveing hardy plants (spider plant, violet, ect., but not slow growers like cacti).

    mimizu on
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    blanknogoblanknogo Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Try Febreeze instead of air fresheners. It kills the bacteria that causes odors... maybe that will work a bit better?

    Per this website:

    "Of course, we’ve all heard of Febreze, and wonder why it works. Well, Febreze uses a chemical compound called cyclodextrin that has been used in household and custodial cleaning products for quite some time. The sugar-like substance doesn’t necessarily “clean” the odors out, but acts as an absorbent like baking soda or charcoal, to help soak the odor out. Yes, Febreze does work, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Spraying everything down with Febreze isn’t the answer to years and years of built up cigarette tars and resins. There is one thing I would suggest in an odor removal product and that is activated charcoal. Charcoal is used not only to filter water and other things, but is also used to soak up odors, just like baking soda. If you see charcoal in an odor removing product, it’s likely to succeed at removing odors."

    blanknogo on
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    BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    blanknogo wrote: »
    Try Febreeze instead of air fresheners. It kills the bacteria that causes odors

    With the possible exception of the anti-microbial kind, it doesn't. Per Wikipedia, the "active ingredient" in Febreze (cyclodextrin) simply traps hydrophobic molecules (those that don't like water). It doesn't do much of anything to bacteria.

    If you really wanted to get rid of the odors and had the money to spend you could use a commercial ozone generator. Caution should be taken when using it, because ozone is some toxic shit in the quantities necessary to kill microorganisms and deodorize an area. Ozone works really well and can eliminate virtually any odor, even those produced by a rotting corpse (just as an example).

    Barrakketh on
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    Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood My baby's in there someplace She crawled right inRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Glade makes an air freshener called Neutralizer that is specifically for removing the smell of tobacco and smoke. I smoke indoors quite a bit and that stuff pretty much axes the stench.

    Clint Eastwood on
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    mimizumimizu Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    er... May I ask why you are recommending bacteria killers? Last time I checked, cigarette smoke isn't caused by bacteria. Ozone and cyclodextrin won't do shit.

    Anywho... What kind of windows do you have in your room? Sometimes, just keeping the blinds open works. And haveing a window open does far more than any currently available chemicals would for smoke. Activated charcoal might help a little, but they don't last forever, and you need good airflow for them to do anything.

    In my room, I've actully compleatly blocked the vents, and I have a little weather-proofing-thingy on my door. When the temp outside is above 40 degrees, I have my window open. Below 40 (i like it cold), my big ass windows (79" x 48" south facing and 35" x 27"west facing) make a green house effect, keeping it around 62 druring the day. Even when the windows are open, I've never seen the temp go below 55 degrees.
    And It is the cleanest and freshest smelling room, and the brightest.

    mimizu on
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    firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Close all the HVAC vents.

    firewaterword on
    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
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    MovitzMovitz Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    blanknogo wrote: »
    Try Febreeze instead of air fresheners. It kills the bacteria that causes odors

    With the possible exception of the anti-microbial kind, it doesn't. Per Wikipedia, the "active ingredient" in Febreze (cyclodextrin) simply traps hydrophobic molecules (those that don't like water). It doesn't do much of anything to bacteria.

    If you really wanted to get rid of the odors and had the money to spend you could use a commercial ozone generator. Caution should be taken when using it, because ozone is some toxic shit in the quantities necessary to kill microorganisms and deodorize an area. Ozone works really well and can eliminate virtually any odor, even those produced by a rotting corpse (just as an example).

    Just to make this perfectly clear: There are no bacteria involved here whatsoever, cigarrettes smell because of the compunds that are produced during the slow burning of tobacco.

    Anyway. The best would probably be to man up and ask daddy to stop smoking in the house. Fucking himself up is his choice but force the rest of the family to smoke passively is not ok. If that is not an option I'd say that the overpressure-solution is pretty good. It's also quite effective to just block whatever gaps in the door you can find so that no smoke goes into your room. I did this for a couple of months with an old blanket that reeked afterwards but I did not, and a blanket is washable.

    Movitz on
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    Regicid3Regicid3 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    My Dad is too stubborn to ever be convinced to stop smoking. "Move out" would be his reply.

    So . . .

    Draft Excluder
    Box fan in window, sucking air in.
    Glade Neutralizer
    Windows Open

    If I were to put a Draft Excluder on my closet door, what could/should I spray on my clothes occasionally to keep them smelling fresh?

    What would a hardy plant do, mimizu?

    Regicid3 on
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    meatflowermeatflower Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Vent your room properly and use the products that have been suggested above. Now here's the kicker:

    Keep your door shut all the time with a draft excluder.

    Shouldn't have to worry about the clothes in your closet.

    meatflower on
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    Regicid3Regicid3 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Is it going to be annoying opening and closing the door?

    Regicid3 on
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    meatflowermeatflower Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I don't know. You tell me? I mean how often are you walking in and out of your room that it's going to be annoying taking an extra second or two to open it or close it?

    It's that or spraying shit in the air all the time and that's probably almost as bad as the second-hand smoke.

    meatflower on
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    Regicid3Regicid3 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I'm not saying "Well . . . it's going to be annoying to open and close my door so I'm not doing it!" - I was just wondering if it slides smoothly or not.

    I'll be able to tell you in the next few days, assuming I can find one of these at a store.

    Regicid3 on
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    mimizumimizu Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    The plants make the room smell fresher, and they look nice. If your room smells like smoke, it could use a little greenery, improves the atmosphere. :wink:

    mimizu on
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    meatflowermeatflower Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Regicid3 wrote: »
    I'm not saying "Well . . . it's going to be annoying to open and close my door so I'm not doing it!" - I was just wondering if it slides smoothly or not.

    I'll be able to tell you in the next few days, assuming I can find one of these at a store.

    Oh I guess that depends on the kind you get. My bad, didn't fully realize what you were saying.

    Unless there's a huge gap under your door it's probably not 100% necessary. With a box fan in the window pushing air in there's gonna be air going out under your door, not in. When you think about it that way you probably don't need one at all.

    meatflower on
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