How to Remove Smoke Smell From Clothes, Step by Step

Most smoke smell comes out of washable clothes with a routine you can do at home: air them out, soak them with baking soda, wash with a full dose of detergent, add white vinegar to the rinse, and dry on the line until the smell is gone. Cigarette, campfire and kitchen smoke all cling the same way, so the same steps apply. If the smell survives the first wash, you usually repeat the routine rather than switch to something harsher.

Below you’ll find the order that works, what to do for wool, silk and dry-clean-only pieces, how to treat clothes that you can’t wash right away, and the mistakes that lock the smell in.

TL;DR

• Wash smoky clothes as soon as you can. The longer they sit, the harder the smell is to remove.
• Pre-soak in cold or warm water with baking soda, wash with a full dose of detergent, and add diluted white vinegar to the final rinse.
• Skip fabric softener and the dryer until the smell is gone. Heat can set odors into the fabric.
• If it lingers after two washes, repeat the routine and check your washer for buildup.
• Delicate and dry-clean-only items need the care label first, and sometimes a professional.

Table of Contents

• Why smoke smell sticks to fabric
• Before you wash: the first 24 hours
• The wash routine that works for most clothes
• Step-by-step: the routine at a glance
• When the smell won’t go away
• Smoke smell without washing
• Match the method to the fabric
• Hand washing and travel situations
• Our perspective: why dosing matters for smoke smell
• A simple way to keep smoke-smell laundry easy
• Mistakes that keep the smell in
• FAQ
• Sources

Why smoke smell sticks to fabric

Smoke is not just a scent in the air. It is made of tiny particles and chemicals that settle into fabric. Real Simple notes that fibers such as cotton and wool are porous, which lets smoke particles work deep into the material, and that the chemicals in smoke bond to clothing. A 2023 study on tobacco odor adsorbed by cotton, wool and other fabrics describes odor release from fabric as a dynamic process shaped by the odor molecules, the fiber, the fabric structure and the surrounding environment.

In plain terms: a loosely knit wool sweater and a tightly woven polyester shirt will not behave the same way, and a jacket that sat in a smoky room for hours will take more effort than a shirt that spent twenty minutes near a fire pit.

The good news is that the smell is not permanent. Smoke and cigarette odors can be washed out of clothing, though you may need to repeat the process or add an odor-fighting booster to get there.

Before you wash: the first 24 hours

What you do right after exposure matters more than most people expect.

1. Get the clothes out of the closet or bedroom. Smoky clothes spread odor to everything they touch. Put them in a bag or a hamper by themselves.
2. Wash soon. Real Simple advises washing smoke-exposed clothing as soon as possible, because the longer it sits, the more the scent embeds in the garments.
3. Shake and air them outside. For a mild smell, hanging a garment in a well-ventilated spot or in moving air for a few hours can take the edge off. Airing is a first step, not a fix, for clothes that were heavily exposed.
4. Read the care label. This decides everything that follows: water temperature, whether bleach is allowed, whether it can be washed at all.

The wash routine that works for most clothes

This is the routine for washable cottons, polyester and blends. It takes one extra step or two compared with a normal load, and most of the extra time is soaking.

Step 1: Soak with baking soda

Baking soda is mildly alkaline, and it is a common first move for odor. The American Cleaning Institute’s Jessica Ek, quoted by Real Simple, says it can go into a presoak or into the washer at about ½ cup because it acts as a pH neutralizer and deodorizer.

Two tested ways to use it:

• Overnight soak: The Spruce suggests soaking washable clothing overnight in warm water with 1 cup of baking soda before washing.
• Cold-water pretreatment: The Los Angeles Times lists 1 cup of baking soda for cotton and polyester, and ½ cup of white vinegar instead for delicate wool, silk and rayon.

If you don’t have time to soak, put ½ cup of baking soda straight into the drum with the clothes.

A lighter version of the same idea: leave clothes in a sealed bag or bin with baking soda nearby. The principle is the same one covered in this guide to absorbing lingering odors with baking soda before washing, which is handy for items that can’t go in the washer right away.

Step 2: Wash with a full dose of detergent

Don’t skimp on detergent for smoky clothes, and don’t load the drum to the brim either. Clothes need room to move so water can reach every part of the fabric.

With Toss & Go sheets, one pre-measured sheet is a full dose for a regular load. For a large or heavily soiled load, use two sheets. Place the sheet in the drum on top of the clothes, never in the dispenser drawer. The sheets are designed to dissolve in cold water and are made for HE and standard machines, front-load and top-load, so you can match the water temperature to the fabric instead of to the detergent.

What temperature should that be? Here the research points in two directions, and your care label breaks the tie:

• Cotton, polyester and polyester-cotton blends: A University of Nebraska extension publication on removing smoke odors from clothing found these fabrics are most effectively renewed with a warm-water wash using liquid detergent or low-phosphate powder detergent plus liquid chlorine bleach. It cautions that bleach may harm fabric color and fiber content, so use it only where the label allows.
• Wool, silk, rayon and anything labeled delicate: Stay with the temperature on the label, usually cool or cold, and skip bleach.

If the clothes have smoke plus visible soil, such as ash or a food spill, pretreat the spot first. A dab of liquid detergent or dish soap worked in with your fingers, then a cold-water rinse, is a good start. Oxygen bleach in a soak is another option for colorfast, washable fabrics, and the Los Angeles Times notes that oxygen-based bleach may help break down smoke particles in warm water. Test a hidden seam first.

Step 3: Add white vinegar to the rinse

White vinegar is mildly acidic, and it is the second pillar of most smoke-odor routines. Two reputable approaches:

• In the rinse: Real Simple’s expert says diluted white vinegar before the final rinse can neutralize smoke odor. The Spruce describes adding 1 cup of distilled white vinegar to the rinse cycle, letting the laundry soak for an hour in the vinegar-and-water solution, then completing the rinse.
• In the wash: Oklahoma State University Extension recommends adding 1 cup of vinegar to the wash cycle along with your regular detergent for smoky clothing.

Pour the vinegar into your washer’s rinse or softener compartment as your manual directs. Don’t put it in the drum with the sheet, and never use the same compartment to hold a detergent sheet.

One firm warning: never mix vinegar and bleach. The Los Angeles Times cautions that the combination can create a nauseating gas. If you use chlorine bleach in one load, run vinegar in a separate load, and rinse the machine between.

Step 4: Skip softener and the dryer

Two habits quietly ruin the whole routine:

• Fabric softener. The University of Georgia Extension says not to use fabric softener on smoke-affected items until the smoke damage or odor is removed.
• Machine drying. Oklahoma State advises against tumble-drying smoky clothes if the odor remains, because heat can lock odors into the material.

Hang the clothes outdoors or in a well-ventilated room. Then do the sniff test, ideally in the morning when your nose is fresh. If it’s gone while the fabric is dry, you’re done. If you still catch it, wash again before any heat touches the garment.

Step-by-step: the routine at a glance

When the smell won’t go away

If you’ve washed a thrifted sweater or a jacket several times and the smell keeps coming back, you are not doing anything wrong. Heavily exposed clothes and items stored in smoky places for a long time can need more than one pass. Maytag’s guidance, cited in the research, puts it this way: the odor is not permanent but can persist, and in rare cases multiple treatments or professional cleaning may be needed.

Work through this checklist:

1. Repeat the full routine. Oklahoma State suggests repeating the wash if the smell remains. A second soak plus a vinegar rinse often finishes the job.
2. Check the washer itself. Real Simple says several cycles may be needed for heavily affected clothing, and that if the smell remains after two washes, you should check for hard-water buildup in the machine. A grimy drum can also hold odors of its own. Our guide to cleaning a washing machine in 6 steps walks you through it.
3. Look for detergent buildup on the clothes. Too much soap leaves a film that traps smells. Our post on stopping detergent residue on clothes explains why a pre-measured dose helps.
4. Rule out a second smell. Smoke plus damp storage can smell a bit like a closed basement. If that sounds familiar, see how to remove a musty smell from clothes or, if you see spots, get mold and mildew out of clothes.
5. Consider a dry cleaner. The Nebraska publication notes that some dry cleaners use ozone treatment to break up smoke molecules, and that clothing should be deodorized before it is cleaned. Ask a cleaner what they offer for smoke.

Smoke smell without washing

Sometimes the item can’t go in the machine: a structured blazer, a leather jacket, a wool coat. Here is what the research supports.

• Air it. Hang the garment in moving air, outside if the weather allows, for a few hours to several days depending on how strong the smell is.
• Steam it. The Spruce describes steaming a garment for 15 to 30 minutes, then letting it air-dry. A garment steamer works, or you can hang the piece in a bathroom with a hot shower running. Keep it away from direct water spray.
• Seal it with baking soda. Put the clothing in a sealed bag or bin with an open box of baking soda and leave it for at least a day. For a stronger smell, leave it up to about a week.
• Lightly spritz with diluted vinegar. An equal mix of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle is a popular method for a mild smell. Test it on an inside seam first, because vinegar can affect some dyes and finishes.

Be realistic about the limits. Airing reduces a mild odor, but heavily smoke-exposed clothing generally still needs proper cleaning. Dry-clean-only items should follow their care labels, and some will need a professional.

Match the method to the fabric

Not every garment tolerates the same treatment, and the care label is the tiebreaker. A useful way to think about it is by fabric, color and instructions together, a point also covered in this piece on choosing odor removal methods by fabric and care label.

Hand washing and travel situations

Smoky clothes on a trip, in a dorm, an RV or a small apartment with shared laundry are common. For hand washing, dissolve half a Toss & Go sheet in a sink or basin of water, soak the item with a spoonful or two of baking soda, rinse with a splash of diluted white vinegar, and hang it to dry somewhere with airflow. It’s a quick way to deal with one shirt before it contaminates a suitcase.

If you’re doing a bag of laundry in a coin-operated room, a few sheets in a zip bag are lighter than a jug and don’t spill. Our laundry hacks list has more ideas like that.

Our perspective: why dosing matters for smoke smell

We make pre-measured detergent sheets, so we see the same pattern in laundry questions again and again: people try an extra additive when the real issue is the basics. With smoke, the basics are a correct dose, enough room in the drum and the right order of steps.

A pre-measured sheet takes the guessing out of the dose. One sheet is a full dose for a regular load, two for a large or heavily soiled load. That keeps you from overpouring from a jug, which can leave a film on fabric, or underdosing a smoky load because you were trying to stretch the bottle. Because the sheets are designed to dissolve in cold water, you can choose the temperature your fabric’s label asks for.

We also like routines that don’t depend on mixing something new every time. Baking soda and white vinegar are pantry staples, and the sequence is easy to repeat: soak, wash, rinse with vinegar, line-dry. Our sheets handle the detergent step, and the pantry items handle the odor boost.

A few things we don’t suggest: stacking several additives into one load, adding softener to cover a smell, or machine-drying to see if the smell is gone. Heat is a final step, not a test.

— Purecise

A simple way to keep smoke-smell laundry easy

If smoky laundry is a regular thing for you (a campfire season, a smoker in the family, a shift at a kitchen or bar), keep a routine stocked and ready. The Box of 50 is $19.95 and covers up to 100 loads, in plastic-free cardboard packaging. The Travel 3-Pack is $15.95, with three envelopes of 5 sheets for up to 30 loads, which fits a duffel, a glove box or a dorm drawer. Fragrance Free has no added fragrance or dyes, which is handy when you want to judge whether the smoke smell is really gone. Fresh Meadow is lightly scented, and its fragrance includes Linalool. Every intentionally added ingredient is listed on our ingredients page. You can subscribe and save 15%, and every order comes with our 30-day Keep It or Toss It Guarantee: a refund or a replacement, with nothing to send back.

Mistakes that keep the smell in

• Waiting to wash. The smell embeds more deeply over time.
• Using the dryer too early. Heat can set odors into the fibers.
• Adding fabric softener. It can coat fibers and trap odor.
• Masking with fragrance. A heavy scent over smoke often just creates a mixed smell. Fix the odor first, then scent if you like.
• Mixing vinegar and bleach. Never combine them.
• Washing smoky items with clean laundry. Give them their own load until the smell is gone.
• Ignoring the care label. The label should always win over any home tip.

FAQ

How long does smoke smell take to go away from clothes?

For washable clothes, often one proper wash with the right additives does it, though heavy exposure can take two or more rounds. Airing clothes without washing can take anywhere from a few hours to several days for a mild smell. Heavily smoked items may never fully clear without washing or professional cleaning.

What neutralizes smoke smell in clothes?

Baking soda and white vinegar are the two most-cited options. Use baking soda in a presoak or at about ½ cup in the washer, and add diluted white vinegar before the final rinse, as the American Cleaning Institute’s expert advises in Real Simple. Never combine vinegar with bleach.

Does smoke smell come out in the wash?

Usually yes. Smoke and cigarette smells can be washed out, but you may need to repeat the wash or use boosters like baking soda and vinegar. If the smell is still there after two washes, check your washing machine for buildup and wash again before using any heat.

Does oxygen bleach remove smoke smell?

It may help. Oxygen-based bleach can help break down smoke particles in a warm-water soak, according to the Los Angeles Times. Use it only on washable, colorfast fabrics, test a hidden spot first, and follow the product directions.

Can I remove smoke smell from dry-clean-only clothes?

Air and light steaming can reduce a mild smell, but follow the care label. For a stronger smell, take the item to a dry cleaner and ask whether they offer smoke-odor treatment such as ozone.

Sources

• How to Get the Smoke Smell out of Your Clothes, Real Simple
• How to Remove Cigarette Smells From Clothes & Carpet, The Spruce
• Removing Smoke Odor Following A Fire, Oklahoma State University Extension
• Removing Smoke Odors from Clothing, University of Nebraska extension publication
• Remove Stains From Smoke, Soot, University of Georgia Extension
• Washing Smoke Damaged Clothes, Los Angeles Times
• Tobacco and Hot Pot Odor Adsorbed by Cotton, Wool, and Other Fabrics (2023 study)

Recommended

• How to Remove Musty Smell From Clothes for Good
• How to Get Mold and Mildew Out of Clothes