My mom is buying a double wide in wonderful condition EXCEPT the previous occupants were heavy smokers (as in put one out, light one up). We didn't realize that the walls were coated in nicotine - how do you get it off? I had been wiping the walls with a cleaner thinking I was getting them clean - not so. Please help!
Depending on the color and texture of the walls, either "clorox clean-up" spray will make it come off on color fast walls, or vinegar on a cotton cloth should make it come right off. It's worked for me! Good luck, Lynda (01/15/2002)
Simple green and lots of elbow grease, and if that doesn't work try bleach - Mara (01/17/2002)
Here's a recipe for an extra strength household floor and wall cleaner that works good on nicotine. 1 gallon hot water 1/2 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish detergent (Dawn cuts grease and would work well for the stains) 1 tablespoon ammonia Use gloves because it will be a dirty job.
Rinse your sponge, mop or cloth often in clean water before dipping back into the cleaner so that you won't just be spreading the stuff back on. If you have a sponge or mop with a scrubbie attached all the better.
I found that Mr.Clean full strength will take it off quite quickly. I used rubber gloves and an old facecloth, lots of clear hot water to rinse with. Start at bottom and work up though, cause if it runs through the unclean portion,it will leave streaks that will be very hard to scrub off. I'm going back tomorrow with a sponge mop to see if I can clean up a larger area with less scrubbing. (05/17/2002)
By vlgilvear
I have found that Windex works great also. I use it all the time for my small clean ups as well as my big ones. It's a great grease cutter. For big jobs I buy the big jugs. Pour it into a bucket & use a rag or sponge. It's a good cleaner for the outside of the refrigerator also. (03/01/2003)
By Sharon
The best cleaner for nicotine is no scrubbing, just spray and watch it run.(mean green) sold at all dollar generals and dollar tree stores. (05/08/2004)
By shawn
I have found that bathroom cleaner works GREAT. I use it for everything. When my pets use to pee in the floor I would get the bathroom cleaner and spray some on it and then scrub. Works wonders. Gets finger prints and dirt off the wall also. (05/20/2004)
By Brit
Best solution: paint the walls. It is the easiest and produces the best results. Oh, and stop smoking in the room :) If painting is out of the question, laundry detergent, one scoop in a two gallon pail works well.
Regards. (01/29/2005)
By Rick
Mr. clean magic eraser with elbow grease works great. My daughter moved into a new place and the walls were awful. She tried everything and got out the trusty eraser and poof nicotine was gone (05/02/2005)
By merrie
We just bought our first home. It is 40 years old and filled with 40 years of nicotine covering the walls. I found that spraying fantastic cleaner directly on wall and using wall mop and bucket with water was the only way to break down the nicotine and draw it out of the walls. You will probably need to do this more than once (depending on how bad walls/ceiling are). (06/02/2005)
By Jada
Use 1 cup vinegar and 1 gallon warm water with a wash cloth. Vinegar cuts through just about anything.
(10/20/2005)
By shelley
TCP from most any paint store. Works wonders and safe to use.
Old Painter (10/31/2005)
By Skip
After cleaning the walls (I used Murphy's soap spray), then we called in Service Master. They fogged the house and it's guaranteed for ever. Ours also was a double wide with the furniture. Some way you need to get the smell out of furniture and carpeting. Servicemaster did that for us. We needed one return trip after about 6 weeks. Really works! (10/31/2005)
By Marylin
Hi Dab, let me say this first, my friend has a double wide and NO ONE smoked in her home, her walls still yellowed! She called the mobile home place where she bought the double wide and was asking them about what to do short of painting and they told her it was from the formaldehyde they spray on the walls, counters, etc. to keep the shine on them. When we bought our mobile home the smell from the formaldehyde was so strong we had to let it air for TWO WEEKS before we could move in.
By Michele
My friend smoked and never opened a window. We cleaned yellowed walls with cleaner called TSP found in Home Depot or store like that hardware stores carry it too. Also air it out after and use vinegar in cleaning carpets and floors
good luck. (10/31/2005)
Use TSP you get at hardware stores and hot water and gloves. I used this on walls in a very old home that was 60 yrs plus old and the walls hadn't been washed for 10 yrs. I washed them and then rinsed and it was just like a new paint job had been done. The walls were dark yellow almost brown when we were done they were beautiful white walls. Have used nothing else for years on a lot of other things Very inexpensive around $8 for a 7 lb box. use use 1/4 to 1/2 cup per gal water app. I adjusted to fit the stain on the walls. (11/01/2005)
By Louise
I bought a house that had less than desirable occupants in it, needless to say, there was a lot of illegal activity going on in it so they nailed blankets over the windows and then no less than ten people chained smoked in it. I started to rehab and found that paint will not stick to nicotine, it had stained the walls, the fridge and the oven hood. After several attempts to get the stuff off the walls, I found three things work.
Ammonia and water, but open the windows! TSP and a magic eraser for surfaces such as appliances. It worked and I can now say after the rehabbing my house is clear of nicotine.
I hope this helps! Sarah (11/02/2005)
By Sarah
Scrubbing bubbles. spray and watch the dirt run down the wall. (11/02/2005)
By Kelly
I use a mixture of hot water, vinegar, and simple green and it took it right off the interior of my work van. Open all doors because it will be hard to breathe real quick. God Bless You. (02/11/2006)
By scott
I have got and old dresser, chest, and head board. They are yellow from the Nicotine I have use all kinda things on it and BAM works the best but it is not getting it any help? (03/27/2006)
By crystal
I have tried, ammonia, vinegar, bleach, tsp. and the only thing that will take it off. Bleach and hot water is the only thing that I have found that will take off nicotine, cigarette smoke off walls. (03/31/2006)
By mary Olson
The best and cheapest thing to get nicotine off anything like wood, glass, walls etc. is rubbing alcohol. I hope you see this, it really really works! (05/02/2006)
By Shelley L. in CA
My husband and i bought a house where the original owners smoked for 40 years. So we did a bunch of research to find out what kind of paint primer, and cleaners to use. My husband was at the hardware store buying B-I-N ( a heavy duty paint primer) and he ran into a professional painter who told him not to bother cleaning the walls as it just spreads the nicotine around and makes it worse. So he recommended just using B-I-N to paint over it. Saved us a ton of work and it works like a charm. You can paint anything with it and the nicotine doesn't leak through, which is great considering we have to paint almost everything in the house :) We read plenty of reviews that also say B-I-N works better then Kilz. Please make sure to where a gas mask or that your house is very well ventilated before using it. (05/20/2006)
By Sara-Anne
As a landlord I have had two serious cases of houses occupied by hard smokers for years. I tried TSP but it still left a yellow stain. Now I use Tilex and it works very well. I don't know if it is cleaning better or cleaning and bleaching the stain but the results are very good. It might save you one coat of painting. Wear old clothes as the drips will bleach whatever you have on. (02/01/2007)
By Dan
I am testing everything. Seems to me that oxi-clean is doing the best job, thus far. (04/11/2007)
By cindi
I know this is an old post, but hopefully someone will find it of some help. I looked at this post earlier today to get some ideas and I took a shopping list of all the things mentioned here for removing nicotine stains. While at Dollar Tree, I came across "LA's Totally Awesome All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner" and figured I'd try it. It was only $1, so I wouldn't be out much if it didn't work. Plus it is concentrated, so if I generously cut it in half, I'd get twice as much. Wow! I was very impressed.
The bottles says to use full strength for nicotine, but I diluted it 2 parts cleaner to 1 part water in a spray bottle, sprayed it on and watched the nicotine gunk roll off the woodwork. (Turn on the vent and/or open the windows for ventilation, and make sure you don't get the mist in your eyes or nose. Just for safety) and wipe down with paper towels and then follow with a damp rag. (Put an old towel or something absorbent on the floor to catch the drips.)
I don't think I would try it on painted walls at 2:1 as I noticed that where the spray got on my semi-gloss paint it kinda took the gloss down (on the drywall, woodwork looks great), but this can probably be avoided by applying with a rag instead of a sprayer. Also worked great on my kitchen cabinets. I'll definitely keep this in stock under the kitchen sink and let this be my #1 cleaner. I haven't been this excited about a cleaning product since I bought my first Magic Eraser! (11/16/2007)By Guest
I heard that vanilla and water will take the smell of nicotine off walls. (02/14/2008)
By Lisa
Many years ago we moved into an apartment with tan walls in living room & a heavy smoke odor throughout. Kitchen was AWFUL. I bought every cleaner known to exist that I could find. Nothing worked. Then one day, I tried something my mother used to use.
I bought a small box of Arm & Hammer WASHING SODA and some vinegar. Just dumped about a cup of vinegar and a handful of the washing soda in a bucket and added hot water. (Later found some great recipes for these cleaning jobs in a book called "Mary Ellen's Helpful Hints." I then dampened a rag, and went into the living room, where I swiped the rag just above a heat register in the wall. It was MAGIC! And the wall was not tan, it was a pretty pale green.
My only problem was this one clean spot was in full view so I had to do the whole HUGE room. Took me a week, after working a job all day, but what a difference. The owner thought I had painted. (He had refused to do so.) You don't have to scrub hard but do have to change the water often, or rinse rag in another bucket before putting it back in the cleaning solution. That stuff turns the water black in no time! (03/20/2008)By gigi
If you paint over nicotine its just going to come threw it make your walls look dirty again. Better to wash them, the mean green is a good cleaner takes it off like magic, and if you have off white walls it's good. Bleach doesn't eat the paint away. Bleach just discolors the nicotine, not washes it off. Just use any purpose cleaner, hot water, and arm muscle will get your walls clean. (07/05/2008)
By bigmamma
Cleaning solution called awesome sold at dollar general stores work really well also. (08/28/2008)
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