Byline: Jeanne Huber
Q: I live in a second-floor condo unit. The woman who lived below me for around 10 years was a heavy smoker. I had a cigarette smell in my unit constantly, and although she moved away nearly 20 years ago, I can still smell it. It's worse in my closets, and it still seeps into clothes stored in drawers. If it is spring or fall when the heat pump fan is not running often, I smell the lingering cigarette odor when I walk in. How can I eradicate this?
A: Cigarette stink lingers long after the smoke has cleared because it penetrates into fabrics, water-based paint and other materials, but isn't locked in there. For many years, the smelly ingredients gradually seep back into the air or into other objects.
For years, the best advice was to clean or toss out everything absorbent and then to seal the walls, ceiling and floors. To get rid of any remaining odor, people could set out containers of charcoal or other odor-absorbing material. Then ozone treatment came along, and today it's the go-to solution offered by numerous companies that specialize in cleaning up after fires.
But there are...