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What is the smoke residue left in a room?

Written by
SmokeLess Team
Updated
Reading time
5 minutes
Sources
3 primary sources

Short answer

Smoke residue is what stays behind on curtains, sofas, mattresses, walls, hair and clothing after a cigarette is out. It is why a room still smells of smoke hours later. Ventilation dilutes the smoke in the air but does not remove what has already settled on surfaces.

Key points

  • Residue settles into fabric, walls, hair and clothing.
  • The lingering smell in a room is the clearest sign of it.
  • Ventilation does not remove what has settled on surfaces.
  • Small children contact surfaces more than adults do.

The smell you notice

Walk into a room hours after someone smoked and you can still smell it. That is not imagination, and it is not smoke still hanging in the air. It is residue that has settled onto surfaces.

Cigarette smoke leaves residue on curtains, sofas, mattresses, carpet, walls, ceilings, hair and clothing. It releases back into the air slowly over time.

Why ventilation does not fix it

Opening a window and running a fan deals with smoke currently in the air. Neither deals with what has already settled into fabric and walls.

That is why a thoroughly aired room still smells the next day, and why the smell comes back more strongly in humid weather.

Where residue concentrates most

Cars. A small sealed space with a lot of fabric and plastic in a very small volume. Smoking in a car produces far higher residue concentrations than the same smoke in a room.

Who contacts it most

Small children. They crawl on floors, touch surfaces and put their hands in their mouths more often than adults. In a household where someone smokes, children contact surfaces more than anyone else.

The only thing that stops it accumulating

No smoke indoors. Stopping is the only way to end residue continuing to settle. The quitline on 1800 6606 is free.

Common questions

Does washing curtains and bedding remove the smell?
Washing reduces it on the fabrics you can wash. Walls, ceilings, mattresses and upholstered chairs are much harder. In a home smoked in for years, the smell often returns as humidity rises.
Why do cars hold the smell longer?
A car is a small sealed space with a lot of fabric and plastic surface in a very small volume. Residue is far more concentrated than in a room.

Sources for this article