# Help with tobacco smoke tinged walls **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020 "2003-02-05T19:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohanDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@JohanDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohanDane)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/1 "2003-02-05T19:08:00Z")
I recently had a tenant move out of the house and he was a heavy smoker (in his bedroom only). The walls are tinged with a sort of off-yellow/brown color from the tobacco smoke. Does anyone know if it is okay to put fresh paint over this or do I need to scrub the walls first? If so what sort of cleansing agent should I use? My concern is that since this is drywall, cleaning the walls with an agent could have an adverse affect on the material. Any thoughts? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/2 "2003-02-05T19:11:40Z")
You may just want to clean the walls and ceiling with plain old Pine-Sol (or whatever mild utility soap) and hot water. I’ve done it before on smoky walls, and had no problem getting them whit again. It takes elbow grease, but wasn’t a problem for me… hrh ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/3 "2003-02-05T19:28:27Z")
I deal with this constantly as a property manager. Head out to the hardware store and buy a box or a bucket of TSP. Works wonders on tobacco smoke. Just mix with water to the concentrations printed on the box. It won’t do any harm to the drywall. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/4 "2003-02-05T19:30:34Z")
I guess I could have read your question more closely. I always use TSP as preparation for painting. You may find after cleaning you won’t even need to repaint. ---
**Author:** ![JohanDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@JohanDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohanDane)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/5 "2003-02-05T19:33:01Z")
Excellent…thanks for the advice. I will give it a shot! ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/6 "2003-02-05T20:33:13Z")
IAP Painter. Yup TSP is the best for any cleaning. But some folks have issues with the phospates it puts into the environment. Watch out how strong it is mixed. My skin gets red and itchy if the mix is too strong. We recently made the mistake of trying to use water based Killz trying to cover an entire house of a cigar smoker. The smoke came straight through. We ended up having to put 3 coats of finish paint on 3 of the rooms. There were places in the house that needed priming after it was scrubbed (Mostly woodwork), so don’t be suprised if you end up painting anyhow. Remember that semi-gloss covers smoke better than flat. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-tobacco-smoke-tinged-walls/153020/7 "2003-02-05T21:42:50Z")
I found just plain old store brand ammonia works fine for me. Pour straight on a rag and wipe the wall.