Remove the Smell of Smoke with Essential Oils
The smell of smoke is one of those odors that is powerfully strong and can linger for an extended amount of time. When trying to remedy the problem and rid yourself of any smoky smells, you will find that you first have to remove the source of the problem to begin dealing with a permanent solution.
When you choose to light candles, use incense, or air fresheners you are only masking the problem and not actually eliminating the odor at all. Ventilation may be an option, but you will quickly find it diluting the smoke odor rather than eliminating it.
Depending on just how strong the odor is, there may be many methods you need to use to clean it up. If the smell is in the home, you must determine if it has permeated into your carpets, rugs, and other soft areas.
Essential Oils Help Remove Odors from Smoke
Essential oils are extracted from the leaves, stems, roots, and flowers of plants. They are highly concentrated oils. Which means a few drops can go a long way when you are trying to get the full fragrance of the plant or flower.
They are also an eco-friendly way to remove smoke odors from your car, your home, your clothes, the carpet, and even the air itself. The following outlines a few ways in which you can use essential oils to remove the smell of smoke.
Removing Smoke from Your Clothing
Smoke is easily absorbed into our clothes and the first step to remedying this situation is cleaning the clothing in the washing machine. Once the washing machine has filled with water, you can then add a few drops of citrus essential oil to the laundry detergent you are going to be using.
Removing Smoke from your Carpet or Rug
If the smoke smell has permeated your carpets, you will need to fill a container with two cups of baking soda then add a few drops of citrus essential oil and shake it up to mix it together.
You can then use the mixture as you would any other carpet deodorizer. Sprinkle it on the floors that smell of smoke and let it permeate the carpet for several hours. Once the time has passed, simply vacuum the carpet to remove all traces of the baking soda.
Removing Smoke from the Air
To clean and deodorize the air in the home, place 15-20 drops of essential oil into your nebulizing diffuser and let the scent fill the air. Lemon essential oil can purify the air while providing you with an uplifting and refreshing scent. Tea tree oil is another essential oil commonly used to deodorize and purify the air.
Additionally, you can place a few drops of essential oils on your air filters. When you change out your filters, add a couple drops of your favorite essential oil(s) directly to the filter. This will help kill any microbes and leave a pleasant scent in the air while at the same time eliminating the smell of smoke.
Essential Oils to Remove Smoky Odors
Let’s take a closer look at the citrus essential oils you can use:
Bergamot – A less common citrus oil which has an aroma reminiscent of orange with floral characteristics.
Lemongrass – Is a powerful lemon aroma that is fresh and invigorating. It can be blended with other essential oils and may easily overpower other oils in the blend so it should be used in minimal quantities when combining with other oils.
Lime – This essential oil has been known to purify the air as well as your mind and spirit. It has a concentrated aroma and blends well with other essential oils. It is the perfect oil to use for diffusing in the home.
Other essential oils you can use to help with smoke odors are lavender, rosemary, sage, and peppermint oil.
Other Household Solutions for Smoke Damage
In addition to all of the essential oils above to help remove the smell of smoke, there are other household remedies you can use as well. White vinegar is good for neutralizing stubborn odors and can also be used on fabrics or linens.
It is also a good idea to clean all the surfaces in the home, car or wherever the stubborn smoke smell is located. Opening up windows to air things out is never enough.
Using a nebulizing diffusers is the most popular solution as the tiny microscopic particles of essential oils spreads throughout the home in a similar way to smoke effectively finding its way into all of the places damaged by the smoke.
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Thank you for the help. My son smoked in our rental home and really need to remove the smell. This will help so much. We used Febreze in our car, but did not remove fully. This has helped perfectly to remove the smell.
Smoke stinks! Good tips, thank you.
I hate the smell of smoke, so thanks for the tips!
Thank you for the information.
Coming from a family of smokers, this is really helpful. The lingering smell is awful. We have oil diffusers, but I would have never thought to use it for getting rid of the smell of smoke.
Great advice! Thank you!
This is really great information for me. I have 2 friends who smoke and have this lingering odor when they have been visiting,
That’s a very good idea. Kind of like Febreeze but with essential oils.
I wish I knew this when we inherited my mother in laws car
Great information! Thanks for sharing!
This article is handy!
Awesome information !
Great tips! I love Bergamot and lime for air purifying!
Well written article with practical common sense advice. Thanks!
Great ideas. thanks!
Great ideas. thanks!
It’s good to know
Essential oils are awesome! There is some very useful info here. Natural ingredients are absolutely the way to go
I enjoy mixing natural cleaners very much and may be the main reason I started are the essential oils 🙂
Thank you very much. This information is very useful for me because I don’t like the smell of smoke so much!
I can use this my husband smokes inside much to my unhappiness mainly with the smell that lingers. I have citrus & lemon grass oil interesting thank you!
Thanks for the tips!
Thank you for the great info and tips for removing smoke odors. I bet these essential oils ould also work great for cooking odors!
Thanks for sharing this useful information. I did not know that.
This is great! I did not know you can use oils to get rid of smoke. Love the idea of using natural ingredients.
We camp almost every weekend and always come home smelling like smoke, I recently started putting citrus essential oil in with the laundry and it makes all the difference in the world! I also diffuse lemongrass in the camper too!
Good to know I still have a few friends that smoke
Great tips! I have a coat that has lingering campfire odor that I will try lemon and tea tree EOs with!
Interesting, never knew how hard it can be to remove the smoke.. It’s helpful if you live near forest fires too
Thanks for sharing this great article! My hubby and I used to be hard core smokers. EVERYTHING we owned smelled like smoke! No matter how many times we washed our clothes and other items, they STILL smelled like smoke! it wasn’t until we started using essential oils did the smell of smoke start to dissipate. I used a blend and made Thieve’s Oil, which as I am sure you know, has A LOT of lemon in it! It is my go to fragrance for essential oils. But FINALLY, about 3 years ago, we quit smoking! We read somewhere that it takes five YEARS for your house to no longer smell like smoke after you quit. Well, our home always smells great now, and it is mostly because we have 3 diffusers going in the den, bedroom, and extra room, so our house smells fantastic! I love using Sage to not only get rid of bad smells, but it also gets rid of bad energy. Anytime you’re feeling frustrated or blocked, or like everything in your life is just going WRONG, use a Sage rub stick and get rid of that bad juju! It works for me, and I know it’ll work for you! Thx again for all the great articles you share with us! xoxoJJ
Thank you for this wonderful article. I’m a non-smoker and sometimes just walking by a smoker in front of a store is enough to leave you smelling like smoke. It’s great to have all natural solutions to pesty problems!
The odor of stale cigarette smoke in a home can be so offensive and uninviting to guests. Thank you for these tips. Better yet: may the reader consider eliminating the habit of smoking from his/her life to restore wellness and protect health!
Baking soda and citrus essential oils are the best for home cleaning