Cough, cough, cough...

July 19, 2011 8:17 PM

Help Mefites! Stupid fireplace question. I was burning some papers in the fireplace this evening and forgot to open the chimney flue. By the time I realized what happened and I got it opened, the room had filled with smoke. How to best get the smoke smell out?

To any of you who have done this, how did you get the smell out? And more importantly, how long did it take for it to dissipate (I've got guests coming this week. Dammit.). I've got every door and window open and several fans going. You can't see the smoke anymore, but it smells like a campfire gone wrong in here. What can I do?? I don't think I've reached smoke restoration company territory here, but I've never done this before. Will time alone take care of this?

It was about 20 pieces of paper (who knew that could make this much smoke), I have hardwood floors, no carpet, no drapes, several pieces of upholstery. The whole house stinks and I feel like a complete idiot.

posted by cecic to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

I have a woodburning stove and have several times done this...with drapes, carpet, the whole bit. It takes a day or so, but it will dissipate. Fresh air can't hurt, but keep in mind the smell in my house went away in November, when it was 10 degrees out.
posted by nevercalm at 8:26 PM on July 19, 2011

It might help to clean the upholstery, which is the most likely thing to accumulate the smell. If you can't do that, febreeze may help. The active ingredient in febreeze is cyclodextrin, which absorbs odors. Your house may smell like febreeze for a little while, but that goes away too.
posted by nasayre at 8:39 PM on July 19, 2011

Have you tried something like Febreeze? I've had good luck with it when in similar circumstances.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:54 PM on July 19, 2011

Vent the whole house. I had a bad kitchen smell that lingered for weeks, until I left enough windows open to get some good cross breezes going. The smell was gone in a couple of hours.
posted by Etrigan at 9:16 PM on July 19, 2011

Wash and clean everything you can (if it's really bad, also shampoo carpets and wash walls/ceilings), air as much as possible, and use an air freshener with orange peel oil in it.
posted by Ahab at 9:31 PM on July 19, 2011

Time is going to help. Also, at this point, your clothes probably smell so strongly that even if the smell dissipated, you'd still be smelling the smoke in your nose and from your clothing.

If you did this tonight, I wouldn't bust out the Febreeze or anything like that til tomorrow. Give it a bit.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:07 PM on July 19, 2011

What everyone else said and try an uncovered shallow bowl of white vinegar in each room, as well. (Assuming, of course, that you don't have pets that will drink it.)
posted by Lynsey at 10:54 PM on July 19, 2011

Open every window and place as many fans as you have facing outside.
posted by R2WeTwo at 4:55 AM on July 20, 2011

Clean all the glass.
posted by theora55 at 8:52 AM on July 20, 2011

Just to close this item up, the smell took about 48 hours to fully go away. I washed the floors and wiped down all the furniture and mantel and left the windows open with the ceiling fans on non-stop. I didn't use Febreeze, but was open to it if the smell hadn't gone away on its own.

Thanks all!!
posted by cecic at 3:05 PM on July 22, 2011