Help with old cigarette smoke smell!

[Melissa1873]

We purchased an older home to use as an Airbnb two years ago. We knew the owners had smoked inside, but figured after thoroughly cleaning and repainting everything, as well as getting rid of all carpet and fabric, it would mostly be gotten rid of. And that worked great for the first year, but now the stale smoke smell is steadily returning. The more warm and humid it gets outside, the worse it seems to be inside. 

Things we currently do:

-natural air freshener Azuna

-air purifier with cigarette smoke filter

-ozone generator

-activated charcoal

This house has original wood floors. We had them refinished when we bought the place, but is the smoke smell seeping out of the wood? What else can we do? 

We say in our description that there is a residual smoke smell so our guests are informed, but it is starting to affect our ratings anyway because it is getting worse. Help!

[Marie8425]

@Melissa1873 

Sorry my concoction husband isn't home yet, but I believe he uses a recipe he found on the internet for nontoxic bleach.  He buys the ingredients from Amazon  not  expensive  and not hard to  do  but I  think it  has to  sit like 3 hours until ready.   I  smoke but my kids don't and he used a mister on our house and  the non  smoking kids approved loll.  When   someone else smoked in one of my bedrooms he left a bowl full overnight and  nobody has  noticed a smell.  Most off my guests are non smokers so  I try to be careful.

[Marie8425]

@Melissa1873 

He said he basically uses chlorine dioxide solution for smells.  I think on the internet  I found it explained as an oxygentic bleach.  Something about mixing with water creates oxygen molecules that bind with odors.  

[Elaine701]

@Melissa1873 

If a house has been smoked in for years, there's really only one way to get rid of it. 

Wash and repaint everything.

Replace all furniture and fabrics such as curtains and carpets.

Scrub every surface with bleach or in the case of wood, use wood cleaning solutions.

Ozonators are great, but only for "not cooked in" smells. Years of smoking in-house deeply penetrates everything. It has to be made new (as much as your budget can afford). 

Sorry, but that's really what you're up against. 

Good luck with everything. 

[Daney0]

Is it on a slab or have a crawl space? If it’s a crawl space I would check there to see if that’s where the smell is coming from. 

[Paula]

Hello @Melissa1873, thank you for bringing this topic to our community 😊

There are many valuable suggestions in this thread. Have you considered washing and repainting everything or using chlorine dioxide?

We would love to hear your thoughts.