Cigarette smoke odour solutions

June 9, 2022 9:14 AM

My neighbours are chain smokers and their smoke drifts into and gets trapped in my apartment. They have a habit of smoking in a closed room right under my bedroom throughout the night (literally until 6-7am), which wakes me up repeatedly and makes me ill. They have started using something to cover up the odour, which I appreciate, but whatever they're using makes me dizzy, nauseated, and short of breath.

What can I suggest they use instead? I suspect they're using an ozone generator or an aerosol like Ozium, because it has that odd ozone-y scent. It's so effective that when it's thick in the air I can't even smell my own food cooking. However, ozone generators and aerosol odor removers like Ozium are dangerous to use indoors, and whatever it is makes me ill. It was so bad last night that I woke up unable to breathe and had a panic attack (that it mirrors COVID symptoms is not helping). I'm sitting here right now very lightheaded with burning eyes, nose and throat. As soon as the deodorizer dissipates I feel fine. Unfortunately they smoke constantly and use the deodorizer constantly so I can never get it out of my apartment for long.

They are hostile so any discussions go through the superintendent. I'd like to suggest alternatives for them to try. Does vaping have to have a smell? I'm only familiar with the ones scented with grape etc. Is vaping very different from smoking cigarettes/not as satisfying?

I've purchased a large air purifier w/ VOC filters and it does very little to clear up the smoke, and has no impact at all on the deodorizer. Some workmen came and put caulking along a couple of my walls, but it didn't help. I have my apartment vents covered, because when they're uncovered smoke just pours in (there is no filter or anything in the vents - old building). However that also means my unit isn't appropriately ventilated and holds onto odors. I can't afford to move.

posted by Stoof to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

There is no way they are going to switch to vaping to accommodate you, so I wouldn't bother asking. If they are hostile to working with you on this and building management doesn't have a problem with them smoking in their apartment, there's really not much you can do besides move. I wish there was a better solution.
posted by cakelite at 9:25 AM on June 9, 2022 [5 favorites]

Could you get them an always-on HEPA filter, like this (expensive) one?

There are filter things you can get to put on your vents - look at an allergy products catalog/web site for them. They probably won't solve things 100%, but they're not expensive; it's basically a fluffy filter material that goes just under the vent cover.

Lots of aerosol spray contain [allergen of the year for 2018] propylene glycol, and a lot of people are sensitive to it.

If I were you, I'd probably block the vents entirely and heat/cool with a separate unit.
posted by amtho at 9:42 AM on June 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

This sounds awful.

Could something like an industrial gas mask work?
posted by 10ch at 9:43 AM on June 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

I don't think it's a perfect solution, but if you can convince the superintendent/management company to install a high-MERV filter in the smokers' apartment--specifically in the RETURN (which is where the air is drawn out from their space)--that should help the situation.

When they install that filter, they should also reseal that return vent as well.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:54 AM on June 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

I would point a fan right into your vent to blow air OUT of your unit towards theirs, instead of letting air passively rise / suck into your unit.

Also, I have this Coway air filter and it moves a huge amount of air and makes it smell cleaner and feel less allergenic quite quickly. I haven't used it for cigarette smoke but there are lots of reviews online.
I use it with the knockoff filters to save money. You can get it in white, too.

That filter pulls in a fair bit of air and makes the room quite breezy, so don't place it near the vent or it will suck in even more air. I would put it across the room from the vent, and also put a small fan pointing straight down into the vent and running constantly, as I mentioned.

I would offer to buy them a small box fan to put in their window to blow smoke outside.

Just to validate you- this sounds absolutely unliveable. Breathing is really important.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:31 PM on June 9, 2022 [4 favorites]

Depending on how leaky your apartment is, I would try to trace where the smoke is entering your area, and try to block that off. If you got gap between the floors, then at the minimum cover that area up to keep the air downstairs, or circulate to other areas.
posted by kschang at 12:47 PM on June 9, 2022

I'm with novelle-personne. There's no way to completely seal your apartment off from theirs, so you need to find a way to make the air pressure in your apartment higher than theirs.

You can find a way to draw clean air from outside and pump it into your place, forcing the smoke and odor back down into the neighbors' space. Or they can blow air from their unit out the window which has a similar effect but I fear might recirculate smoke right back up into your windows.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:07 PM on June 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

I went thru this some years ago. It was awful.

Seconding the recommendation to try to have a fan going to draw clean air into your apartment, 24/7. Increasing the air pressure in your unit will make it harder for smoke from their unit to get in.

I spent months trying to find and fill cracks in my apartment. Some unexpected places I found big gaps:

- The backs of my kitchen and bathroom cabinets
- Behind my bathroom mirrors (I found enormous holes where medicine cabinets had formerly been embedded in the walls)
- Around the insides of my closet doorframes (the plasterers had done a very slapdash job, and left huge gaps)

Good luck. This is a tough problem to fix. Ultimately, I had to sell the apartment and move out.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:46 PM on June 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

Since it's smoke, you should consider an ionizer or a purifier that integrates ionization with filtration. If you just get a plain ol' ionizer, though, you must be aware that it creates ozone, which is bad to be breathing all the time.

My friend, a cigar smoker, used one in his apartment when he was away; when he was home, he used a basic smoke eater (multilayer air filter) to reduce the cigar smoke while he was smoking. However, the ionizer really did the trick; it worked so well that when he sold the place, the realtor told him that she was glad he never smoked at home, a fact she judged with her nose.

Looking at Consumer reports, though, their top picks are all "primarily filter-based" and they did test for smoke, so perhaps ionization isn't necessary.

You can also get a cheap (<$50) air quality monitoring gadget. Putting it in various locations may help you hunt down the source of the leak, and also you can use it to gather data as to how much smoke is coming in.
posted by Sunburnt at 9:52 PM on June 9, 2022