Quick & Easy Nicotine Clean-up (Smoking in general)

Member Name: chezza99

Product:	Smoking in general
Date:	06/04/09 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, effective, mostly natural

Disadvantages: Somebody's got to do it!

I'm a chain-smoker. Yes, I know: it's grotty, gruesome, smelly, mucky and so on. I'm an addict. When I started smoking, in the Seventies, everybody smoked everywhere. Everything got coated in that slightly sticky, golden film of nicotine. Now and again, we cleaned it up. It's nothing like as hard as people think!

I've noticed that, the more unpopular smoking becomes, the more fuss is made about cleaning up the debris. In fact it's cheap, easy and can mostly be done using natural products. So here are my Great Nicotine Clean-Up Tips from the Seventies :)

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* Fingers and fingernails *

Forget about lemon juice, you want baking soda. Rub some into the stained areas, then scrub it off with a nail brush and soap. Takes less than a minute.

Incidentally, if your fingertips are discoloured for any reason, you can make them salon-sparkling by swilling them around for a few minutes in a weak sloution of bleach & cold water. This also works for nicotine, but baking soda is much quicker.

Another good cleans-everything tip for hands is the old mechanic's trick of rubbing them over with sugar and washing-up liquid (together), then washing. This removes oily stains, including nicotine.

* Teeth *

Rub a little baking soda over your teeth before brushing them :)
Pearl Drops Smokers' toothpaste is the best commercial product I've found for de-staining my teeth.

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* Household surfaces, ornaments, your computer, etc *

Few people realise what a fantastic grease-cutter window cleaner is! Use the spray type. On small or delicate surfaces, like your computer bits, dampen your cloth with it rather than the surface itself - I have sprayed it directly onto my monitor screen with no ill effects, but you're not supposed to do that.

Window cleaner shifts any amount of nicotine build-up (I've just removed six months' worth from my office area!) and it smells nice. Another great product for this is distilled vinegar, but acids aren't safe to use on plastic or semi-porous surfaces so stick with your trusty green spray if unsure.

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* Hard and Painted surfaces *

This where vinegar really comes into its own. Actually, pure alcohol is an even better cleaner but you can't buy it anymore in the UK. If you happen to be a perfumer or a surgeon, you may have access to it. For the rest of us: you want distilled vinegar - the clear type. It's sometimes called white vinegar, not to be confused with white wine vinegar!

Large areas, like windows & floors, can usually be cleaned in one go with a solution of vinegar in hot water - about one part vinegar to three of water. If you're as smoky as me, wring out a car sponge in neat vinegar. It will wipe off a heavy build-up like magic.

Vinegar also removes smells - they evaporate along with the vinegar itself.
The smell evaporates as soon as your surface is dry, leaving behind a slightly 'sterilised' aroma. It's not a bad pong at all - if you don't like it, you can always follow up with a quick wipe of window cleaner.

Other good products for getting nicotine off hard surfaces are sugar soap, Flash, kitchen cleaners like Mr Muscle and the fantastic OzKleen range of products, which are both natural and effective.

* Wallpaper *

Sugar soap. You can also use a strong baking soda solution - in my opinion, this is better but it can work out expensive for large areas. Test on a small area first, to make sure the pattern doesn't smudge.

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* Fabrics *

Most in-wash stain removers, like Vanish, work fine for nicotine stains. You can also soak the stain for a little while in clear vinegar, in a cold-water bleach solution, or rub it with baking soda before washing. I have successfully soaked delicate silk garments in soda solution ... try this one at your own risk.

To clean general, all-over tobacco staining, tip about a cupful of washing soda into your washing machine drum then run your normal wash. Washing soda's incredibly cheap; I buy it at Somerfield. It completely removes the smell, too.

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* Smells *

To reduce the smell of tobacco smoke in a room where someone's smoking, put a shallow bowl of baking soda near the ashtray. This really works. If you add a drop of fragrance oil too, it will both absorb the smoke and diffuse the fragrance.

Burning candles or having an open fire gets rid of cigarette smoke. You don't need special candles for this, though it's always nice to have scented ones!

Wash ashtrays after use, never leave them full of butts. If the air has become full of stale smoke, you can get rid of it with any fine-mist spray. I make one with water, grapefruit essence and vodka! You can simply use clear vinegar in hot water - the spray will knock the smoke out of the air, and the vinegar neutralises the odour. You could use a baking soda solution, too - a friend's Mum used to use soda water (the drink) for this. I haven't tried it, but it should work.

For smelly carpets, curtains and soft funishings: sprinkle them with baking soda. Leave the soda for an hour or longer, then vacuum it off.

Clothing: put washing soda in with your laundry.

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Resources:

* The Carbolic Soap Company, baking soda, £1.99 for 500g.
http://www.carbolicsoap.com/bicarbonate-of-soda-5 00g-p-978.html

* Summer Naturals, white 'spirit' vinegar, £4.19 for 5 litres.
http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/index.php?main_pa ge=product_info&products_id=341

* Ozkleen website: http://www.ozkleen.co.uk/

* Washing soda: from the laundry products aisle. About £1.30 kg.

* Sugar soap: DIY stores and large supermarkets. About £3.50 for 1.5kg.

Hope some of this makes your life easier, pleasanter & less smoky!

Summary: Window-cleaning spray, baking soda and vinegar ...