Whether it’s cigarette smoke or neighbors cooking with too much garlic, smoke coming through your door can not only be annoying, but it could make your entire home and furniture hold the smell for the foreseeable future.
Despite how pesky it can be, there are a variety of ways to combat this problem, whether the origin of the smoke is from the outside or inside your home—and it is a relatively easy problem to solve.
So how do you stop smoke from going through the door?
Creating a tight seal around the edges of your door using rubberized weatherstripping is the best way to prevent smoke from coming through gaps in your door.
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Block the Underside of Your Door
This may be the first idea you have when you first decide to do something about a smoke problem.
Most doors have a gap—sometimes so small you didn’t even know it had one—between the floor and the bottom of the door frame. This is normally the culprit for letting smoke in.
Installing a door sweep or a draft guard under your door is effective at keeping not only smoke, but cold air and other smells from entering your home, or a particular room.
There are various products on the market in varying types of fabric. This is typically called a draft guard.
If buying a draft guard is too much of a hassle, you can have the same effect with a rolled-up towel, blanket, or old rags.
However, you can also construct your own. A door sweep is made of rubber that is nailed to the bottom of your door and can be a great way to block airflow. You can find a rubber door sweep at most home goods or hardware stores.
If you’re not the owner of your home, make sure to ask your landlord before attaching anything to the door. Your landlord could even chip in or even install it for you if you ask with a smile. 😊
How to reinforce your windows from smoke
It goes without saying that you should keep your windows closed if the smoke you’re trying to get rid of is coming from the outdoors.
However, smoke can easily come in through even closed windows, especially if you have neighbors who smoke outdoors or a kitchen or barbecue nearby.
Much like a door sweep, window weather stripping blocks any air or smoke that can easily enter your home through the small gap between your window and the sill.
Weatherstripping can also easily be found at any hardware store.
Again, you’ll need to ask your landlord if they’re OK with this kind of project if you’re not an owner.
Because you’re making improvements to your home, I’m sure your landlord would be OK with it.
If your landlord says no, you can easily use towels, blankets, and old rags at the window sill as well.
Block Electrical Sockets
Even the smallest holes, such as electrical sockets, can let smoke into a room, especially if you live in an apartment building with a lot of other residents.
Effectively sealing them with electrical seal plugs will help in keeping the air clean.
Electrical seal plugs can be found at all hardware stores.
This is a totally non-invasive procedure, so you won’t need to get the OK from your landlord.
Seal the gaps in your ductwork
Smoke can be pesky and tends to find the smallest of openings to sneak into.
Even if the smoke isn’t coming directly from your air or heating vents, the smoke can seep through the space around it.
Buy some painter’s tape or insulation padding to keep any air from coming out of those small spaces around your vents.
Block the cracks in your walls
Yep, that too.
Using caulk to cover and seal the cracks and/or holes in your walls will give the smoke another place to redirect from.
If you’re uncomfortable or unable to use caulk, you can try using painter’s tape. It doesn’t work as well, but it’s better than leaving cracks and holes open.
Tricks to get the smoke out once it’s inside
If the smoke is coming from your home or a section of your home, whatever the cause, here are our tips for getting the smoke out effectively before it enters the rest of your home:
(be advised that the above steps for sealing in your home can be applied to keeping smoke contained within one or multiple rooms of your home—seal the entire house to keep certain zones smoke-free)
Use a fan to direct the smoke back out
If the smoke is coming from your home, you can use a fan next to an open window to help filter the smoke out of the room. Of course, if the smoke is coming from outside, it’s probably a better idea to keep your window shut and sealed up.
A large box fan posed a few feet from the open window, diagonally facing it, so it’s blowing the fresh air outdoors, works best.
This isn’t the end-all solution, but it does help.
Use an air purifier to remove noxious elements
An air purifier will filter out the noxious elements in your air, rendering the quality higher and healthier for you to breathe.
The air filter works to restore the natural chemical properties of “pure” air, i.e., natural air. It takes out any chemicals or pollutants that aren’t found in the air, typically in nature.
This could be especially interesting if you’re worried about secondhand tobacco smoke if someone in your home or building is a smoker.
However, it’s not the best solution, as it isn’t 100% effective. Secondhand smoke particles are often found on clothing, furniture, and other surfaces, and when touched and pushed back into the air, they can easily be inhaled before reaching the air purifier.
As well, it is essential to note that air purifiers do little to nothing about the smell. So, if the smell of the smoke is what’s bothering you most, it may not be a great investment.
Talk to the person causing the smoke
Though often the last step, it is arguably the most effective: talk to the person who is causing the smoke—whether it’s your neighbor, a roommate, or a family member.
If you mention that the smoke is bothering you and getting into your home, most of the time, they will be understanding and be more considerate in the future. Hey, maybe they had no idea that this was happening.
If it’s secondhand tobacco smoke, this may give you a good opportunity to explain to them the dangers of secondhand smoke that they maybe didn’t know before.
This is especially a good option if you’re experiencing any health complications related to smoke.
However, if this person isn’t listening to you in the most helpful way, you can always contact your landlord or your Homeowners Association.
Generally, if there are any kind of rules in the community about smoking or smoking indoors, this will nip the problem right in the bud.
