How to Get Smoke Smell Out of Clothes: Guaranteed! [2022]

Need more than vinegar and baking soda to get the smoke smell out of clothes? Check out these super effective commercial products that go easy on your clothes and work every time!

Overview

Smoke particles are very tiny and sticky proteins that get everywhere. As they break down, they give off an odor.
The best odor removers attack the source of the odor, not the smell in the air.
Standard laundry detergents often work for lighter odors. Adding either baking soda, vinegar, or laundry boosters like Borax can help.
To remove heavy smoke smells, we recommend two great products that are safe, easy to use, and made especially for odor removal.

Related: How to get rid of bad smells in your home.

Table of Contents

How to get smoke smell out of clothes

If you’ve already tried hacks like baking soda, lemon juice, or vinegar to remove smoke odor, and none worked, then get one of these products. They are easy to use, safe for most fabrics, and importantly, they work!

Here are my top recommendations for products that can eliminate the most challenging smoke smells in clothes and fabrics.

Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator Laundry Solution

Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator is great for removing tough odors on many fabrics.

best laundry odor eliminator

Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator Laundry Solution

Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator is perfect for removing strong mildew odors in clothes. It is very easy to use. You simply drop one tablet into a mixing cup (provided); add water; and then pour into the bleach dispenser/detergent dispenser. Use it with your favorite detergent. This product is a true odor eliminator that works on all your clothes, plus any items you can stick into the washer cycle. You also get 12 tablets – enough for 24 odor-removing washes!

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Product Pros

Use it with regular detergent
Eliminates odors – no cover-ups
Non-allergenic
12 tablets are enough for 24 washes
Eco-friendly; no harsh chemicals
Will not bleach clothing
Use alongside your detergent

Product Cons

Tablets can be hard to break in half

Price: $19.95 for 12 tablets (24 treatment). Includes mixing cup

Bottom Line:

This is a great product that works wonders on odors. It’s simple to use, and it removes a more than just smoke odors.

One-half tablet is placed into the mixing cup, followed by water pouring into your washer’s bleach or softener dispenser half.

You put the half you don’t use away for your next odor removal job.

This is my go-to odor remover. It works well on every smelly thing I put in the washing machine.

It’s also an excellent way to clean a dirty washing machine.

If you want a simple solution to remove smoke and other smells in your clothes, this affordable product should be on your laundry room shelf!

Healthy Environs Odor and Allergen Remover Spray

Healthy Environments Odor and Allergy Remover Spray is an odor-removal solution. This product is ideal for removing smoke odors from non-washable fabrics.

best spray-on odor eliminator

Healthy-Environs-Odor-and-Allergen-Removal-Spray

Healthy Environs Odor and Allergen Remover Spray

Healthy Environs Odor and Allergy Remover Spray is a true odor eliminator. This spray product is excellent for removing smoke smells from items you can not place into a washer. The product works on both soft fabric and hard surfaces. It’s easy to use – just spray onto fabric and let dry – just like you would with Shout stain remover. A great product for removing odors and allergens from all your fabric items.

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What we like

True odor eliminator – not a cover-up
Eco-friendly; no harsh chemicals
No bleaching of fabrics
Easy to use
No cloying scent

What we don’t like

Mix at home, but it’s simple – fill the bottle with water and the chemical packet (also included)

Price: $14.95 for a 16 oz bottle

Bottom Line:

The Healthy Environments Odor and Allergy Remover Spray is a genuine odor remover, not a mask or air freshener that relies on a perfume to mask smells.

This product literally destroys smoke smells!

Natural DIY alternatives to remove light smoke odors

One of these treatments MAY work if you want to get rid of LIGHT smoke odors from your clothing fast.

Baking soda is an easy to try and inexpensive solution to remove the smoke from your clothing.

Add half a cup of baking soda to your wash cycle and regular detergent.
You can also pre-treat any smoke smells by pre-treating the fabric and letting it sit for a few minutes before starting the cleaning cycle.

Try white vinegar if you’re searching for a more powerful yet still natural product that’s easy to use.

Read your clothing labels carefully to make sure it’s ok to use a mild acid like vinegar on them.
Apply distilled white vinegar to the smoky garment. Allow at least 30 minutes for the fabric to soak in the vinegar before washing.
Add a cup of white vinegar to your wash cycle. Be sure to add regular detergent as well.

Another laundry-boosting detergent additive is borax, which may be found in the cleaning supplies section of your local grocery store. If baking soda and vinegar fail, I’d try borax.

Add one-half cup of borax to your laundry detergent and wash cycle. Add the borax to the detergent dispenser if you have a front-loading washing machine.
Borax will remove the smoke smell from your clothes, brighten your fabrics, and remove any leftover dirt or grime.

Frequently asked questions

If you have tried just airing your clothes out that didn’t work, try using an odor-eliminating spray.

This depends on how much exposure the garment has had to smoke particles. If you want into a smoky bar for an hour or so, you might be able to air out your clothes for a day, and the smell will dissipate.
The smoke particles are sticky and slowly break down, even in light exposure conditions. This is why it takes time for the smell to go away.

If you want a sure-fire method that works quickly, wash your clothes with a commercial odor eliminator. Or, for even faster results, use an actual odor-eliminating spray.

For faster results than washing, use a spray-on powerful odor remover. Avoid essential oils as they can damage certain fabrics. Clothes freshener spray often covers up rather than helps remove smoke odors from clothing.

Vinegar can often work on lighter scents.
Add white distilled vinegar to the laundry wash cycle. Use 1/2 to 1 cup to get the smoke smell out. This often works for most washable fabrics.

To remove smoke from your hair, use a clarifying shampoo. This will help eliminate any build-up in the hair trapping the smoke particles.

You can do the following if you want a smoky smell out of your clothes without washing them.

You can pay for dry cleaning.
Or use an actual odor-eliminating spray and DIY. Avoid spraying on fabric refresher as these products often cover up rather than targeting tough odors on clothing.

First, make sure you have removed all cigarette butts and cleaned the stale ashtray stink out of any ashtrays. At this point, don’t waste time with hacks that won’t work, like placing bowls of vinegar around the house. Follow this proven method to eradicate the smoke odor.

Putting clothes in the dryer without doing anything else can help speed up airing them out, but this is not a very effective way to eliminate the smoke smell. Here are a few tricks if you want to use your dryer. While these won’t target tough odors well enough to remove them, they may work on lighter scents.
Using a dryer sheet can help.
Better yet, you can use a home dry cleaning kit that can work for a lighter smoke

Yes, you can use a good-quality detergent and see if that works. Or you can add kitchen pantry white distilled vinegar or a cup of baking soda to the load, as this will help.
Avoid laundry scent boosters that only cover up smells by adding a different one. These often lead to worse-smelling clothes as the two scents combine and still leave an unmistakable smoke stench.
Bad smoke odor contamination on clothes requires an actual odor-eliminating laundry additive to eliminate the smoke.

While you can try a few drops of your favorite essential oil, we believe there are better alternatives, as outlined in this post.

Febreze is an air freshener and not a true odor eliminator. Although it can help mask light smoke odors, it mainly covers them up rather than eliminating them.

If a house fire has contaminated your clothes, you’ll need to launder them as soon as possible. Use warm or hot water if possible. Dry them in fresh air to further help remove the odors.
Use a proven laundry additive like Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator Laundry Solution to eliminate tough odors.
Once you’ve washed your clothes, hang them outside and allow fresh air to help finish the job if possible.

The best cigarette smoke eliminator for clothes is Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator Laundry Solution.

Cigarette smoke can linger in clothing, hair, carpeting, and upholstery.
Over time, the smell will dissipate, especially for clothes, but carpeting or upholstery may take weeks or months.
If you want to air them out, fresh air is best to help get the smoke smell out faster.
Homes where chronic smoking has occurred, will not air out independently but require cleaning with specialized products and methods to remove the smoke smell.

Vinegar does have properties that can break down the smoke proteins. Vinegar is best used for light smoke removal situations. Vinegar works well for removing smoke from clothes, but it is much less effective for removing smoke in a house, carpets, or furniture. Actual odor removers are required.

Rubbing alcohol can help remove the smoke smell, but it is safer and just as or more effective, to use products like distilled white vinegar or baking soda added to the laundry. When added to the laundry, lemon juice and cheap vodka alcohol can also help remove odors from smoky clothes.

How to Get Smoke Smell Out of Clothes: Guaranteed! [2022]

How to get smoke smell out of clothes