First get rid of the roommate - They're not gonna change their habits for you or anyone else.

Then open all the windows for a few days, use an ionic air purifier and Fabreeze the heck outta the entire place...
...and if it's still bad, you may have to repaint the apartment and get the upholstery, carpets and ductwork professionally cleaned.

Or just move.

Leave saucers of ammonia around the house in every room and refresh them everyday or every other day. It's an old 1950s house-party trick but it's cheap and it really does work!

Similar to saucers of vinegar/ammonia but I, an ex-smoker, find this technique very effective:

Use a fairly damp bath towel. (Try putting it on the floor of the shower, turning on water for few seconds, then pulling it out. You don't want soaking wet, but it should be fairly damp overall.) Sprinkle vinegar on it. Whip the towel overhead and around the room; the damp, vinegary towel will soak up smoke where it has passed through the air.

That should hold you off until you get a new roommate. :)

There is a product I buy from the pet shop called "Nature's Miracle". I discovered it when I took an art installation out of a bar that was destroyed by smells. This stuff is miraculous. I tried everything on the market and the problem with things like Fabreeze etc is the oils in them just trap the smells making it worse and even stain what they come in contact with. This stuff, N'sM, actually eats the odours away without damaging anything. It saved thousands of dollars worth of my paintings and it should do the same for your home. its good in the air too. I would avoid ammonia - its too toxic & vinegar is temporary & not strong enough. Washing things (that can be laundered/washed) in hot water with white vinegar and baking soda is a good strategy though. Good luck.

Lampe Berger. It's the only I've ever heard to actually get rid--not mask or hide--tobacco smoke. They're pricey though, and an eyesore. I don't have any experience with it, just acquaintances who swear by it.

A. Carbon filter
B. Ozone generator
C. Timed Ozium

I second Nature's Miracle as a miracle. I've never used it for smoke, but used it for its intended purpose - washing items with pet urine. My cat used to go up to old spots she'd "marked" (and I'd cleaned normally) and scratch at them as if to cover them up. She never once did it to anything I cleaned with NM - so even a cat's nose couldn't smell the stain anymore. You can pour some into a washing machine too to treat an entire load of smelly things. Try to find a really big jug of it - sounds like you'll need to treat a lot of things.

I'd also get an air purifier and insist there is no smoking indoors at all, ever, in any room. Smoke knows no bounds, so trying to contain it to one room just doesn't work.

Designated a smoking area in the house is like designating a peeing area in a pool. For the sake of your own health you really must insist on no smoking in the house. If you guys are renters, which since you are roommates I'm assuming you are, you should check your building/landlord's smoking policies. Most are no smoking I think. Good Luck!

I bought a couch from a heavy smoker once. Despite leaving it outside to air for a few days, steam cleaning the couch, and using copious amounts of vinegar and baking soda it took a few weeks to smell better. If you do not like the smell of smoke, loose the room-mate.

Smokers don't care about how their addiction affects other people. Kick them out or move.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm working on getting an air purifier--does anyone know if it would be better to put in in my roommates room (where he smokes) or in the house, outside his room?

Unfortunately, he probably won't move out until the lease is up, and my other roommate and I would like to stay in our place. Any other tips for bearing through this now and preventing permanent damage to our stuff is greatly appreciated!

Get rid of the roommate. All these methods of removing smells from a living space only really work if the source of the smell itself has been removed. Unless you're keen on scrubbing down all your walls and furniture every week and changing vinegar bowls every day, the smell will NEVER go away.

When I moved into my apartment last summer, I knew it had been smoked in because any time I left for a couple of hours, the stench would overwhelm me by the time I returned home. Keeping the windows open 24/7 helped, but up here in the north I knew it was only a matter of time before I and everything I own would be boxed in with that stench.

The smell finally subsided after I scrubbed down every inch of my walls with a solution of vinegar, ammonia, dish soap, and warm water, and washed the blinds and mopped the floor with soapy water. Thankfully the stench had not yet seeped into my furniture or pillows and blankets. As ohojodi explained, it may be impossible to get rid of the smell without getting rid of your things that have soaked up the smoke.

daracox, I like that analogy!

Good luck with that. I don't live with smokers, but the apartment has some that smoke under us in the garage. The smoke drifts right up to our open windows in the summer. I hate it.

i regularly have people over for dinner and drinks and more often than not people are smokers. I usually put a drop or two of essential oils on the edge of my radiators and the heat causes the fragrance to rise into the air in the room and pleasantly scent the room. i do this in the bathroom and in the utility room to get rid of any unwanted smells and it seems to work ok for me.

I also find that scented jar candles left burning in rooms when im at home gets rid of odours.

I'm sorry you're stuck with this situation. I've heard too that the air purifier works, I'd place it right outside his room so it catches most of the smoke that leaks under his door. Another thing you can try is to tell him to use a sheet taped (with painter's tape) on the wall over the window. This will create a cocoon in his room and most of the smoke will go out (trust me, I was an resourceful teenager once).

The pee analogy is right. The deadly stuff in 2nd hand smoke is odorless so even if you do get rid of the smell and yellowing tar stains (and you would have to be cleaning/ laundering constantly) you would still be inhaling/touching/wearing some of the 4000 chemicals in burning cigarettes. I have a few people close to me that still can't shake the addiction, it's the hardest one to kick for many, and for the sake of their friends, family, and their pets they smoke outside ALL the time, and it's helped them cut down as well.

An air purifier won't get rid of the smell. It will clean the air somewhat. If he smokes inside the smell is going to permeate everything. You can be such a shmuck that he stops smoking inside or just open some windows till the air feels a bit fresher. I know that's nutz since you'll be paying to heat the outside air, but it's your simplest way to clear the air. Once he moves out launder everything you can. Wash the walls and floors. What you can't launder or dry clean use Nature's Miracle to clean. If you clean it all now you'll just be doing it again later. If you have any soft furnishings of real value then you would do well to cover them with something as impermeable or move them as far from his room as possible cause the smell does get inside cushions and is near impossible to get rid of. A good long airing will help, but.... as an ex-smoker (30 puffing years) I always smoked outside no matter what the weather. It sux that he's so stubborn.

And tell him if he's gonna smoke inside he at the very least has to open a window to air his space out. And get a weather strip for the bottom of his door to keep the smoke from seeping in. Drastic measures. Cigarette smoke is just nasty.

I smoke ( cough.cough) but I HATE the smell. I did a ton of research and got a Whispure 510 on ebay for, like $150. It truly is a wonder. Every person who visits notes how exceptionally fresh my apartment smells, a little like cut grass, despite my two cats. And when they find out I smoke inside, they're stunned. Downside: you have to change the pre-filter about once a year ($20) and the more expensive HEPA filter eventually ( $70, but I've had it for a year and half and it's still registering "new") It takes care of 500 square feet.
http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/whirlpool-whispure-air-purifiers.html

If he is going to stay and you are going to let him smoke, raise his rent. He agreed not to smoke inside when he moved in and it is reducing your quality of life.

Personally, I would throw him out. Maybe do a craigslist search and see if there seems to be demand for sublets.

The smoker smoking in one room does not work. The smoke permeates everywhere - into other rooms, closets, everywhere! Air purifiers do not work! My sister lives with a smoker. The entire place smells horrible! Get rid of the roommate. Hopefully the odor removal remedies work, but none of this will work until the smoker is gone!

Give him a bill for the cost of replacing your furniture and clothing. If he gets a sense of the dollar damage he's doing, he might change his behavior. But don't hold your breath.

" But don't hold your breath."

Actually, maybe the OP should...

I don't know how effective it is against cigarette smoke, but a bit of vanilla in a bowl, saucer, etc. can de-stink a room quite effectively.

My sister is a smoker, about a million smokes a day, and always promises to smoke outside when she comes to stay but everything of hers and everything she touches literally drips with nicotine - gross... She no longer comes to stay. And anything she gifts us we leave outside in the very fresh air until we can stand it in our house. Seriously the smell is too pervasive, I say lose the house mate.

If you can get him to point the fan out of the window, as he sits near it to smoke, that always worked in my college days. You can see most of the smoke rushing out the window.

I am no longer a smoker, but now I use essential oils/diffusers and simmer pots of vanilla or cinnamon water for general fragrance needs.

Your roommate is a bit of an ass for breaking his promise, no? At the very least, tell him that you'll be withholding his share of the damage deposit when he moves out to take care of the cleaning and de-stinking.

Smoke doesn't just damage or stink up your stuff--it's also really bad for your health. Especially in your case, since the smoking is going on in an enclosed space with little ventilation. I would just move out or find some way to boot the guy out in order to avoid health problems later.

As a landlord, I had a smoker living in my place for about 4 years. Absolutely wrecked the place - I had to repaint at great cost.

Plus things like cupboards and floorboards absorbed the smell and stains. Moral of the story - no smoking indoors, EVER!

I had no idea how damaging smoke is until I bought a house for rental property. For three months, I kept a crockpot going w/vinegar and spices while I used 20 gallons of oil-base Kilz, sealing, then painting, every paintable surface. I pulled up the carpet and pad, scrubbing the concrete slab with bleach before having a new carpet laid, tore down wallpaper, and replaced smokey-yellow ceiling fans. I looked into having the HVAC system "bombed" and the ductwork cleaned, but no one would guarantee that the expensive process would work. Someone w/a sensitive nose could still smell the smoke residue that I couldn't get to. I say (gripe) all this to show how insidious that smoke really is. As mrsbigharv (what's a harv?) mentioned, that smoke has tar, plus other chemicals that I'd probably hate if I knew what they are. Short of tearing down sheetrock, pulling out insulation, and replacing wood studs, I tried almost everything. This is not a solution, I know. I don't know that there is a solution. Maybe you can chalk it up as one of those Life Lessons, like I've decided I'm never going to buy a smoked-in house again.

recnetly went through this; I evicted him and steamed the walls of the room and febreezed the hell out of the carpet (non-aresol), wool-lite carpet, and painted. It was gone. Get rid of your roommate or tell the landlord to add a no smoking rule and your roommate has I beleive, a month to comply.

@second hand: I'd recommend the air purifier in his room and on Turbo 24/7 so that you're getting as close to the source as possible, rather than drawing out his smokey air into the larger space. ( While the Whispure I recommended is Energy Star rated, I'd still ask him to pay whatever differential there is in the electric bill.) Oh and insist that he open his windows in his room when he is actively smoking.

i just received my xmas gifts from family members who smoke in the house and my wrapped presents smelled like cigarettes. truly disgusting to a non-smoker.

I moved in with a smoker, as she was terminally ill (yup, dying of lung cancer), I've tried most every tip available and here's what worked for me:

* ionic air cleaners (multiples)
* washing the walls of my separate room with TSP (splurge on the liquid version), priming with a stain killing primer, then re-painting it (and I added vanilla extract to the paint to give the room a pleasant smell from the start
* shampooing the carpets and washing the drapes (then keeping Febreze handy for touch-ups)
* adding rubber weather stripping around the door to my bedroom so that smoke elsewhere in the house didn't creep into my room (and then keeping the door closed most of the time)

Those did the trick because, when I left the house, noone could smell cigarette smoke on my clothes or me - and - the air cleaners/re-painting/cleaning did wonders for my asthma.

strong coffee, or coffee powder little burned usually take the smell away (And leave a nice one instead, unless you don't like coffe)

I have a problem with neighbors who smoke outside, and their smoke comes in my apartment winter and summer. I've tried everything. I spend hours every evening flinging around vinegar towels/which helps/but you can't keep ahead of the chain smokers who sit on their patios and get soused and chain smoke. One fellow told me he didn't want to smoke inside because it would expose his children to second hand smoke. Even my two little dogs fur smells like smoke. My next step is to get a lawyer. Wish me luck.

I have the same problem with a downstairs neighbor (I call him smokey), and I've discovered that the only true solution is for an air purifier to be in the room that's being smoked in. Smoke particles break down and get smaller the farther from the source they get, and the smaller particles are exponentially more difficult to filter from the air.

I did A LOT of research before choosing an air purifier. I recommend the rabbit air. It doesn't have the problem most air purifiers do of generating harmful ozone (ozone causes lung damage). It's easy to use, has cleanable/replaceable filters, and it's a reasonable size. I went from waking every night with a smoke induced migraine to waking refreshed. I do still have a slight issue with smoke, but only because it's filtering up two levels through my floorboards, so I periodically have to empty and rewash everything in my closet, but the rest is taken care of by the rabbit air.

This is the ULTIMATE solution to this problem. Especially in Chi-town, especially in winter, you are right, people will smoke indoors.

This product is cheap, and it will pretty much prevent any smoke or odor from smoking.

You might just want to buy one for your roommate, though the roommate should have the respect to get it themselves.

Here it is: The Fuzzbuster

Years ago I used Smells-Be-Gone and then all of a sudden it vanished from the market. I spent years looking for it and just found out it was sold to a company who is branding it as ULTIMATE, the original Smells-Be-Gone. It will eradicate the stench of a skunk. Find it and buy it!

As far as your chain smoking roomie - he may be in violation of the law. Depending on where you live you may be able to get rid of him because you asked him not to smoke in your home. Where I live he would be cited. Check your local laws regarding your rights when it comes to smoking.

http://www.smellsbegone.com/
This is the link I just found.

Daniel - I just tried Smoke Smell Be Gone too and I believe its the best stuff I found so far to remove smoke smell. Got a couple of bottles delivered from their website for 10 bucks delivered. Sprayed it and it worked like a charm. I was using Ozium previously but apparently that causes cancer. There was an article in Time Magazine about it. Can you believe it? Check it out: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1664954,00.html

Anyways just wanted to give everybody a heads-up on this stuff that worked for me. www.smokesmellbegone.com - you won't regret it!

if you have not already tried this for getting rid of bad smells and odours, it might be worth looking into - there is a smaller unit for domestic use; it simply plugs in - great for bedrooms! I will try to put the link here Air purifiers