Cigarettes: Dealing with the Smell

The number one thing I hear from non-smokers about indoor smoking bans is that non-smokers hate going to a bar and coming home smelling like stale cigarettes. Who can blame them? Even we smokers are impressed by the musty persistence of smoke.

If you’re a smoker you’ve come to terms with smelling bad to non-smokers, even if your ever-stuffed nose prevents you from smelling your own reek. Here are a few tips for mitigating the smell—you’ll never be able to make it go away completely, but you can at least make an effort for the sake of others.

• It’s in your hair, dude – Smoke travels up from your mouth, over your face, and into your hair, no matter how forcefully you may expel it from your pursed lips. While most of us won’t be able to take a shower after every cigarette, be sure you’re washing your hair at least once a day, preferably before you go to bed, saving your pillows and sheets.

• Wash your clothes after every wear – This is doubly true after spending time smoking indoors, as even your pants will slurp up every greasy particle, remaining skanked until the next wash. You might be able to get away with wearing your jeans a couple of times if you smoked only outside, but shirts are right out. Your coat, scarfs, and hats are no exception to the smell, but you’re probably just going to have to accept that they’re going to smell since washing or dry-cleaning them after every wear is impractical.

• If you don’t want to smell like smoke, don’t smoke – It’s tempting to try to sneak a smoke before an occasion that makes you nervous, like a job interview or a date. Whether you choose to or not is up to you, but be aware that even just a few short toots are enough to put the smell on your body, clothes, and breath. Try to resist.

• Don’t compensate with cologne – Cologne should be subtle anyway, so you’ve ruined much of its mojo by smoking in the first place. Even worse, though, is trying to pour on so much that it covers up the smell; it won’t work and you’ll just end up smelling twice as obnoxious.

• Wash your hands – A lot of the smell of cigarettes stays on your hands. If you want to try to minimize the olfactory assault, take a short detour to the washroom after a smoke to clean your hands and face. The smell will still linger in your hair, clothes, and lungs, but you can at least take the edge off. (And nicotine on the face is rumored to cause wrinkles, should you care.)

• Febreeze works – It’s no replacement for soap or detergent, but if you’ve got no other options, a few blasts of Febreeze (or generic equivalent) will lock in the smell for a while. This is a good option for those coats and hats we couldn’t wash before. As you should with any new cleaning solution on fabric, test a little bit in an non-critical bit of cloth first to make sure it won’t stain, like the underside of a collar or your friend’s back.

Image via Notes from Spain’s photostream.