One of the more stressful clean-up jobs is getting rid of the smell of cigarette smoke in a Ballard rental home. Whether you allow your tenants to smoke, didn’t bring to mind to include your smoking policy in the lease, or if you did and had a strict no-smoking policy, you may often still be left to deal with the smelly burden of cleaning up the lousy odors left behind. And it’s not just about the smell; cigarette smoke leaves residual contamination on walls, fabrics, and other surfaces. Known as “thirdhand smoke,” this residue could give rise to a health risk to future tenants and must be taken very seriously.
To help make your clean-up job as good as possible, here are some cleaning tips prescribed by the pros.
Air it Out
The best place to start when you’re getting ready to clean up after cigarette smoke is to air out every room in your rental house. Open all windows and doors to let in the fresh air, and employ fans or an air purifier to circulate the air. There are air purifiers exactly made to eradicate the smell of cigarette smoke from the air. If your budget allows, this is quite possibly a safe option. Still, though, you may need to leave the fans running for as long as possible – presumably even for several days – to be effective enough to alleviate the smell.
Wipe Everything Down
In the meantime, as you’re airing out your rental, your next step is to wipe down every surface in every room – starting with the ceilings. Employing the cleaning product of your choice, wipe down smooth ceilings with a wet cloth. For popcorn ceilings, put your cleaning solution in a spray bottle and mildly spray the entire surface.
Likewise, while working on the ceilings, call to mind to clean the light fixtures and ceiling fans up there, too! Wipe the tops and bottoms of ceiling fan blades to see to it that the odor isn’t being recirculated back into the house.
Working your way downward, clean walls with the same cleaning product and a cloth. Determine to clean the tops of the door trim, baseboard, and other nooks and crannies.
But be that as it may, it’s important to mention that just cleaning the walls quite often won’t get rid of the smell. And paint will help, but it won’t erase the smell, either. To rightly remove the cigarette smoke smell, you will need to employ an odor-sealing primer, then a good quality paint over the top.
Wash the Windows
Along with the walls, it’s integral to do all of the windows and window coverings in your rental property a deep clean. If you have blinds, that entails wiping down each piece of the blinds on both sides. Clean the windows with your most liked glass cleaner, then wipe down the frames and sills.
If your rental has fabric shades or curtains, find out and see if you can wash them in a washing machine. If not, you may want to consider replacing them entirely. Cigarette smoke is very stressful to get out of fabric.
Sanitize Cabinets and Counters
Bring to mind cleaning the inside and outside of kitchen and bathroom cabinets, closets, and drawers. Go through each one, get out any debris, and then wipe down both inside and out with a cleaning solution. For countertops and islands, use a sanitizing cleaner to rid them of smoke residue. If the smoke smell persists, try putting a bowl of dry coffee grounds or white vinegar inside the smelly cabinet or drawer and leaving it there for many days. This may help purge the cigarette smell.
Deodorize Floors
Once you’ve cleaned everything above floor level, it’s time to deal with your carpets and hard surface floors. One way to help remove the smoke smell from carpets is to sprinkle baking soda over the whole area of the carpet, let it sit for at least an hour, and then vacuum. A vast number of Ballard property managers are determined to hire professional carpet cleaners when they are preparing a rental for a new tenant. They may be able to clear away the odor from the carpet. In many situations, however, the best option is to replace the carpets and pad.
For hard surface floors, clean thoroughly by mopping with a safe disinfectant. If you’ve got a pile of floors to clean, change your mop water often to always guarantee that the smoke smell isn’t just getting spread back around.
Although labor-intensive and time-consuming, by taking these steps, you can resolve the smell of cigarette smoke and get it back to a clean, fresh-smelling rental.
Still, if in case deep cleaning your rental property is something other than what you’d hope to spend your time on, try giving the professionals at Real Property Management Uintah a call. We can help with everything from cleaning services to finding a great new tenant for you – and much more! Contact us online today to see what we can do for you.
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