Buy a hepa filter... a big one. Bigger than neccessary. Buy two. Make sure its an Energy Star rated.

Put a premium filter on your a/c_heat.

Maybe you could get a sign painter to make some no smoking signs.
Make your husband smoke outdoors in the fresh air.. fresh air is healthy for him - tell him so,,, healthy for you too when he smokes outside. Healthy for your TV, clock radio, etc. when he smokes outdoors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clean Air Assessment

The best thing would be for your husband to stop smoking for his own health and perhaps to avoid a very painful death when it comes his time to meet his maker.

My sister died last night after a battle of lung cancer in both lungs. This was a horrible painful 6-8 months and finally death. In spite of heavy drugs for pain, there was no relief, she screamed and begged for help. She was a smoker from age 15 until about 3 years ago. She was 76 years young.

Please encourage your husband to stop smoking for his own good, not just for others.

Others are right, everything that comes out of a house where someone smokes smells like smoke, even wife and children.

My thought is that if I got something that was sprayed and after the perfume wore off it smelled like smoke I'd be very annoyed. So I don't think a coverup is a good idea. I think you need to eliminate it one way or another. Ionizers work very well. Back 15 years ago when I smoked, I used ionizers in my home and vehicles and nobody could tell I smoked. One other alternative as mentioned is him quitting, but I doubt that's likely. Nagging someone to quit won't do it, they have to decide they want to quit. Then it's no problem. Another suggested is a designated smoking area and a designated non-smoking area. And they need to be separated.

I'd suggest a sit-down and lay it out. I don't think you'll be successful unless there's something changed. If he wants it to succeed and works with you, it'll work out. If he doesn't, well, it won't.

Good luck.

If my husband was willing to quit or smoke outside, I wouldn't even ask here. He had heart surgery, and he still smokes. He's gone to classes, tried patches and pills and he's still smoking. He doesn't care about his health enough to quit. He's been informed several times it will kill him.

I will try getting an ionizer for that one room I am discussing.

I have been in smokers homes that used an ionizer and thought no one knew they smoked. They were fooling themselves.
Maybe if you can keep one room smoke free and use an ionizer. But the problem is the smoke gets into the forced air system and gets into every room.

Linda C

I have to agree with Linda and take it a step further. If you do have a room you can use only for storing, making and packaging your crafts you are going to have to de-smell it before hand. It sounds like a lot but it's the only thing that will work. All paintable and hard surfaces need to be wiped down with a good degreaser. Walls, woodwork & celings need to be painted with Kilz to seal the smoke in, then painted any color you like. If you have carpet on the floors it needs to be removed along with the padding. The sub-flooring needs to be painted with Kilz also. Then you can recarpet with new padding and carpet. All cloth items have to be removed permanently. This means upholstered furniture, curtains, cushions, pillows, lampshades etc.

I would consider closing the vents to your forced air system and using a window air conditioner & space heater as needed along with an air cleaner.

People who don't smoke can smell it a mile away.

My parents smoked heavily. When they moved I had to take all of the above measures just to be able to sell the house as "non-smoking". People don't realize how many thousands of dollars smoking takes off the value of a home.

I am not moralizing. I was a heavy smoker myself for many years and have been a non-smoker for 16 years. When I quit, the first thing to return was my sense of smell. I quickly found out how many smells, good & bad, I was missing. I went on sniff hunts for a long time trying to rout out all bad smelling things in my home.

Smoke is so pervasive that just being around a smoker briefly will make my hair and clothes smell like smoke. I have a friend that smokes and when they leave my house, I can smell smoke wherever their clothes were even though they smoked outside. It really sticks to everything.

Everytime I open a package from my sister, it smells like cigarettes. The ionizer she uses is caked with some nasty brown gunk. She has a room freshener which puts a puff of perfumed air out automatically every 15 minutes. That cigarette smoke/floral scent - what a combo!

I'm new here but just wanted to give my input. I know you are probably not wanting to spend a lot of money to totally "fumigate" the room by painting, stripping this and that, etc. So here is another easy alternative. It's not 100% fool proof by any means, but at least it is realistic.

As long as you keep the room smoke free, plus keep the items you're selling/craft supplies, packing supplies, etc. in a confined area in the room (such as an armoir, cabinet, drawer, etc.), AND as long as the items you are selling aren't cloth, mesh, or other materials that smoke smells cling to the worst, you should do fine. You can get an ionizer, as suggested. Keep the room totally smoke free and clean furniture, etc. often, and also, for good measure, get a can of air freshener designed to eliminate odors to spray a few times a day. Keep the room closed off away from where your spouse smokes. When it cools off, keep windows open when possible during the day.

As long as you keep your items and packing materials in this room in a closed space or cabinet in the room, clean and deodorize room often, get an ionizer and, again, as long as they are not cloth items, you should do just fine. Yes, there are some people who are extremely sensitive to smoke but it's a small risk if you take the easy-to-do measures listed.

Now, if you were selling clothes or purses/bags, it'd be a totally different story and I wouldn't do that. But for crafts or other non-cloth items, I say go for it. I'm sure you would do well selling your crafts on Ebay. Good luck!

Sorry, smalls - that just won't work. If you are in a house where smoking happens it will permeate the entire enclosed area.

I used to be a smoker. I kept my needlework finishing studio in a separate building, never smoked in the studio, and I even put on a smock when I went outside to smoke, and hung it outside. I used an ionizer. I was deluding myself. I can still, after 6 months, smell some smoke smell in my studio.

Marie99, get some impartial judge to tell you how that room smells. You might be shocked.

And you'll really be ticked if some Febreez scent wears off a craft item and it then smells like smoke, and someone returns it for a refund. These deodorizers really don't work all that well.

Yeah, you are probably right Mary C. I was trying to give an easy possible solution if she sells non-cloth items, but I am (UNFORTUNATELY) a smoker; so maybe it is wishful thinking. But I never realized just how much smoke smells are apparent (and lingering) until reading these posts from nonsmokers/former smokers. I've always just kept my home cleaned, febreezed, pine sol'd and Lysoled and try to keep the bedrooms smoke free thinking people couldn't smell smoke. Now I REALLY want to try to quit and hopefully my husband will quit if I quit. It's just a lot easier said than done but I'm gonna try.

Sorry to get off the subject. I guess what I'm saying is that the advice I gave may help some if you want to sell a few items but apparently nothing is 100% fool proof other than no smoke at all.

I quit smoking a little over a year ago and never smoked in my house due to the fact it permeates everything. When I smoked I wasn't able to smell smoke easily on other things or in other places. Now that i've quit I can smell it a mile away and it is very stinky. I don't think you are going to be able to make crafts within the home that will not smell of smoke- you have your products and packing materials to consider. If I were to buy something it would be returned immediately and i'm sure other non-smokers would do the same.

If you are seriously wanting to invest in making crafts to sell- how about an exterior storage building? My ex fil was a heavy smoker and my ex-mil was a crafter- he bought her a shed building- it had a window unit and a small space heater and was setup with extensions cords for her to use as her electrical source- she liked the space and her items were smoke free.
Best of luck to you!

Smoke smell settles on everything, not just fabrics. If I get anything at all from my smoking sisters home I have to bring it outside to air out as it will stink up my entire house. I use to smoke and couldn't smell it then, but do now. I would not try to sell anything from your house as long as your husband is still smaoking in the house. You said he doesn't care about his health, well you need to remind him about yours also and insist he go outside to smoke. Keep harrassing him till he submits to your demands. LOL It's your house too, isn't it?

Both me and my partner are smokers but when we moved into our new house a year ago now we mutually agreed that there would be NO smoking ever inside. Thankfully we have a heated garage not hooked up to the furnace vents for winter use and in the summer all smoking is outside. I never want to live in a smoky stinky house again. Tell you hubby he has to find somewhere else to smoke, if we can do it he can.

Tell him to check with his doctor about CHANTIX its new and after thirty years of smoking I have been quit for 6 mos. with little cravings except recently. Its well worth it and it took me 3 mos to get the smell out of my house and i had the ioniers.

Nanci

My close girlfriend has been dating a smoker. She has never smoked. My friend stinks now, and her house smells disgusting. It's in her car, and all over her. We met for dinner at a restaurant, and I smelled her as soon as she came in the door to the restaurant (non-smoking). I happen to have a very sensitive nose, but she has evidently gotten used to it and cannot smell it anymore. Worst thing is, she is putting her house on the market next week. The house smells like an ashtray. She wants/needs to get top dollar for this house, but cannot bring herself to tell this jerk (he is one), to stop smoking. I have tried to tell her that people like me and other non-smokers would never consider purchasing the house of a chain smoker. Even the realtor said something to her. People who smoke or are around smokers become used to the smell. The rest of us find it awful.

My Mother in law used to smoke in a small house for years. Every time I came back from her house I had to change all of my clothes and throw them in the washer. She was finally able to quit and had the entire house cleaned and repainted. Three years later the house stills retains a bad odor.