mobilehomerepair.com

Hi there,
We recently bought a mobile home with a strong cigarette odor-normally it would be a deal breaker because we are allergic to smoke but we got a great deal &loved the land etc.We plan to remove the carpets but the ceilings are even yellow from the staining.Any products I can use or should I have a company like Servpro do a major cleaning?

Thanks~
Allie

HI,

Unless you are unable to do the work yourselves then you can clean it on your own. For the ceilings you can prime, this will seal them and then paint.

Yanita

Hi

I had a similar situation with my current "home on wheels".

And I used to smoke until I couldn't hack it anymore.

The first thing I did was to start airing the MH out with a big fan.

Then I made several big pots of hobo coffee. The smell of the coffee helps over ride the ciggybutt smell.

Hobo Coffee - put a cup of coffee grounds in a big pot of boiling water.

Harry

We just removed the carpeting from our sunroom, and found many animal stains underneath. All smells disappeared throughout the house. Carpet really holds smell. Paint as much as possible and smells will disappear.

I was watching TV the other day and they were cleaning up an animal hoarders house. They used a product called Preprite. They said it would seal all smells from the animals. If it works for that, it should work for smoke.

I would imagine you could buy it from a paint store or maybe even from Lowes or Home Depot, or even on line.

Hi,

PrepRite is a Sherwin-Williams product. It is an alkyd primer similar to Zinsser 123 and Kilz orignal. Sherwin Williams make excellent paint products. I used to use them exclusively. But the service I was getting at the store was terrible so I switched to Kelley Moore. I also use Behr Premium on occasions. While there is a big difference between cheap paint and the best brands, I really don't see a big difference between the premium paints, with the exception of Sherwin-Williams Duration (exterior). That is probably the stretchiest, longest lasting paint I have used, but it is also expensive.

I have used Kilz Original several times to seal odors on burn/fire jobs and it has always worked well. I am sure PrepRite would work well also.

One thing that I have found is that severe yellowing from cigarettes and cooking grease, especially the stuff that gets on plastic splines on the ceiling panels will take extra coats. It is important to let each coat fully dry before recoating. I get much better results with the Kilz Original Spray Cans. So when doing a badly stained ceiling, I will spray a couple of coats on the splines and roof leak stains with the spray cans before priming the entire ceiling.

JMO
JD

Have the carpets and upholstry professionally steam cleaned. Along with the painting have you airducts serviced and make sure you change the filters...

When we were cleaning up crime scenes believe it or not all we used was a bleach mixture to wipe everything down with and febreeze to freshen the air...lol. I know dead bodies are different from smoke but it made a huge difference in the air quiality.

Dirty White Boy wrote:Have the carpets and upholstry professionally steam cleaned. Along with the painting have you airducts serviced and make sure you change the filters...

When we were cleaning up crime scenes believe it or not all we used was a bleach mixture to wipe everything down with and febreeze to freshen the air...lol. I know dead bodies are different from smoke but it made a huge difference in the air quiality.

LOL!
The good thing is we got rid of the furniture and we will be ripping out all of the carpeting...
Thanks to everyone for all of their suggestions!!

For my two cents' worth - - a friend of mine, a former airline stewardess, SWORE by coffee grounds. They were used extensively on airline trips if someone became sick (at 30,000 feet you can't stop the plane and steam clean the carpet). I have placed small bowls containing two cups of coffee grounds around my trailer, and it has absorbed a great deal of the odors. I also used it to kill animal odors (I'll spare you the details) in the back of my daughter's Jeep. I sprinkled it liberally in the back, waited a day, then vacuumed. Voila, no more funk!

Keep fresh coffee grounds sitting about in small bowls for a few days. It will help!

Hi,

Be very careful having your duct work professionally cleaned. Our ducts are smaller and thinner than traditional homes. Alot of damage can happen if the wrong workers are employed. If you have a carpet cleaner you can do them yourself.

You would be amazed at what washing the walls with a simple cleaner and painting the ceilings will accomplish in your home.

Yanita

My home is a 1987 and the previous owners obviously smoked heavily and never bothered to clean much. I hate the smell of smoke. I painted all the ceilings and the smell was almost all gone. I elected to paint most of the walls too but the ceilings are where most of the smells were.

This paint will work in one coat! It still took me two coats over VOG but it worked very well and the paint really spreads well. It also comes in plastic 126 fl oz containers for easy pouring. Also this paint doesn't have the stinky, run you out of the house, odor!!!

Walmart sells Kilz Casual Color - Interior Flat - Acrylic Latex for Walls & Ceilings. It is advertised as "Our Very Best One-Coat Paint"

I do agree on the coffee grounds. I'm an espresso nut and a big no-no is putting coffee in the refrigerator or freezer because it will absorb ANY scent/moisture and then be ruined.

For any that need to know, beans should only be ground right before use and should always be stored at room temp. in an airtight container. Later!