Mrs. cbelt3 is a long term smoker. Fortunately for my asthmatic self, she agreed long ago that she would only smoke outdoors or in our bathroom. Which has a good exhaust fan AND an air cleaner. BUT...

Cigarette smoke / tar plates itself on and in EVERYTHING.

So after almost 2 decades, LED bulbs will not work properly in the overhead light fixture in the bathroom. I looked and looked and suddenly realized ... I bet it's tar buildup ! Also possibly in the switch.

Spray electrical contact cleaner (It's non conductive), wait a couple of hours for it to leak out, and it all worked properly.

Whew. I wish I wish I wish I could get her to quit. Nothing works. It frustrates her. I will probably outlive her as a result. Sigh.

The last occupants of my last apartment were smokers.

The gunk from their cigs was so thick on the walls that it leached through the new paint and left sticky stinky rivulets.

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I’ve seen tar on electronics. It sucks when you buy a used hard to find replacement part and it comes from a smoker.
Getting someone to quit is up to them. My MIL was a smoker. I didn’t even know she smoked for the longest time because she did it outside and not very often. She quit cold turkey when she had brain aneurysm. She’s been smoke free for 5 years now.

Its crazy to think about how much the habit of smoking has changed. Never would have had that problem in the past since she would have smoked anywhere and everywhere.

Has she tried vaping?

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smoke tar, dont underestimate kitchen grease in the air and then on your stuff, dust, dirt..electricity hates it all...

I don't think I've ever bought a used guitar amp that didn't smell like ciggs...you think you have it finally fumigated and then....you turn upthe volume and hit the big power chords...out comes that smell.

if you go to 11 you get the ransid Budweiser underodor.

We cleaned my grandmothers house in preparation to sell it after she moved into an assisted living home.
She'd been a chain-smoker for the 25 years she lived in that house. Until she quit (after her second bout of cancer), I never saw her without a cigarette in her hand.

Everything was covered in... goo. The walls, the cielings, the lights, the bulbs, the switch covers.
It took days of scrubbing with strong detergent, then even with denatured alcohol (and man, do you ever want good ventilation when doing THAT!).
Then, finally, repainting everything with a really good primer, two coats, and good paint.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

My mom quit cold turkey when she had an aortic dissection (similar to an aneurysm). She was in a coma for a week or two at the hospital, and when she came out of it basically "forgot" that she smoked and never had the desire to do it again for the six years she lived after that. A couple of years after she passed, my dad got remarried... to a smoker! Ugh! He was always complaining about my mom's smoking, and he ended up marrying another one. She finally quit about a year before my dad passed away.

Most public smokers are very good about smoking only in allowed areas. I feel sorry for them because of how hard it is to quit - my SIL has lost all of her teeth because of smoking.

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Ammo
Most public smokers are very good about smoking only in allowed areas. I feel sorry for them because of how hard it is to quit - my SIL has lost all of her teeth because of smoking.

Sadly, the smoke doesnt know to stay only in "allowed areas".

My neighbors are smokers. Awful smelling eastern European cigs. They dont smoke inside, but on their front porch. They sit for hours watching TV on their laptop chain smoking. In our normal track home 'hood, it wafts over our house with the slightest breeze, about 20-30 feet away. And its breezy a lot.

Sucks worse in the summer when the smoke even more. My office is in the garage, and I like to open it just a crack for fresh air -- but rarely possible. Just wafts into my space and theres no way to dissipate it. Lingers.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

I quit cigs way back in '88 cuz, well, they were going up to a dollar a pack!!

I can't even believe I smoked back then. It seems so foreign to me now.

Non smokers, ever kiss a woman who smokes? *GACK*

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Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

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Paul F.
...Everything was covered in... goo. The walls, the ceilings, the lights, the bulbs, the switch covers.
It took days of scrubbing with strong detergent, then even with denatured alcohol (and man, do you ever want good ventilation when doing THAT!).
Then, finally, repainting everything with a really good primer, two coats, and good paint.

Yea, my father in law smoked like a chimney. When he died ( of COPD) we did the same thing to the house. Lots of bleach.... and then Kilz classic primer worked a treat. Otherwise the gunk would leach through the paint.

However, do NOT do this:

Quote
jdc

Quote
Ammo
Most public smokers are very good about smoking only in allowed areas. I feel sorry for them because of how hard it is to quit - my SIL has lost all of her teeth because of smoking.

Sadly, the smoke doesnt know to stay only in "allowed areas".

Latest study shows that simply sitting near to a smoker in a movie theater can expose you to the equivalent of secondhand smoke from up to 10 cigs. And much of it hangs around in the seats/floors/AC-vents.

Yep! The particles they shed from their clothing will kill you.

The suggestion is that at least a third and possibly 2/3rds of the illnesses previously attributed to secondhand smoke may actually be from this type of "thirdhand smoke" from people's clothing, carpet, furniture, etc.

More studies on this phenomenon are on the way.

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Yeah, saw that 3rd hand smoke thing.

Wife, who worked in tobacco control many many years ago always talked about 3rd hand smoke, but I dont think they ever guess it contributed that much.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

I told my wife when first I met her; no smoking or drugs; otherwise, I leave you.

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All I ever really needed to know, I learned from watching Star Trek.

Formula 88 Cleaner & Degreaser will dissolve the gunk.
A gallon costs $7.59 w/ Free Ship @ Wallys.
btw, Many HomeDepots have it in store for < $7.00 (not on website).

Follow up with magic eraser sponges.
Small home type steamers work too!



Formula 88

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39°36'17"N 75°44'43"W

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