Smoke odor

[SRI Cleaning]

We do alot of rental property carpet cleans as well as janitorial cleans. One property inparticular is always worried about getting rid of smoke smell after a smoker moves out. The guys at jon don told me to get a thermo gen fogger and thermo 55 or something like that. they said to run it for 30 minutes before we clean it. Anyone have experience with this? Does it really work? The place wants to try it and I hope I am not "overpromising." Anything I should be aware of?

 

[Brian R]

I've used foggers before with the unsmoke products. Worked pretty good because it get to all the walls, ceilings and anything else that might have the odor in it.
Bring your respirator. I wouldn't want to be cleaning after you fog it. Hard on the lungs.

 

[Rex Tyus]

I would clean and then fog as well.

 

[packfancjh]

Unsmoke's Thermo 55 Tabac-attack formulation is the right way to go. Should do the trick.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Anything I should be aware of?

yes,
if they don't paint and wash/degrease/deo every surface that doesn't get a coat of paint..
they're pi$$ing in the wind on a "heavy smoker" unit.

I don't know which fogger JD is trying to sell you, but I agree with Rex, fog after you clean.
That's what we do, anyway.

and maybe one of the smarter fellows could chime in, but fog for a "half an hour" is right?????
I "thought" there was a ratio pr cubic ft of space fogged.
should be listed on the jug directions for use

..L.T.A.

 

[Farenheit251]

I do alot of the same type rentals. Thermal fogging and Tobacattack didn't work for me. Might be good enough if you paint walls/ceilings and wipe down everything with some Unsmoke 9D9 added to your cleaner. Not something I want to do especially in the busy Summer.
Ozone is the only thing powerful enough to eliminate all the other steps. I got a Total Zone 2 from Jon Don last fall and my property managers love it.
I also tried SOS from Vaportek with little success. The last house I thermal fogged twice,sprayed carpet w/ tobacattack and put a vaportek in the duct return with no success before driving 2.5 hours each way to get the Totalzone which I ran that night and solved the problem.

 

[Brian R]

What is a total zone 2? is that peice of equipment or the solution?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Larry is right, it needs to be cleaned, unless very light.
Smoke rises, the ceiling needs to be washed, maybe sealed. After all is clean the you stand a much better chance of removal.

 

[Gary Taylor]

Just have them rent to another smoker.

 

[Jimmy L]

Clean, OZONE and then fog.

www.fragramatics.com

Green lable oil based "Spearmint" deodorizer.

 

[John Buxton]

I've sussesfully done many of these. I do not own a thermo fogger. The way I approached it was to use a large commercial ozone machine and sat it on a ladder in front of the return air duct of the air handler. Ozone is heavier than air so the machine needs to be high.

Run that for 12 hours or so with the air handler fan set to "on". This distibutes the ozone through the different rooms and the ductwork.

Unsmokes 9D9, and 1 capful of Last Resort added to cleaning chems works great. I have also cold fogged (ULV) it into ductwork after cleaning.

Apartments are ususally too friggin cheap to pay to have it done right so dont buy any expensive equipment unless they approve the payments. My distributor rents ozone, and foggers.

Put a sign on the door "No Entry Ozone in Use"

 

[J Scott W]

Definitely clean first. Every surface. Then replace furnace A/C filters.

Thermal fog can work, but has to be done in unoccupied area, make sure no flames or pilot lights, disconnect smoke detectors, etc. I think the Vaportek SOS (Smoke Odor Solution) will work better than any fogging product I have ever tried. It will also do the job with less fuss and bother. Plus no chance of an oily residue over every surface if you over-use. I've seen that residue several times from fogging when you keep putting out more ofg hoping to make it owrk better.

Scott Warrington

 

[Guest]

hey Scott I know safety first and I always did(this was years ago) but I was using a propane fogger then and it has a 4inch flame before the chamber,never had problem other than the neighbor calling the fire department :shock:

Kevin

 

[Desk Jockey]

Scott's right, too often everyone wants the big thick clouds of hot fog to fill the room. Only problem is then you can get fallout on horizontal surfaces.

We had to wipe down all the flat surfaces in a home that originally we were only deodorizing, due to my over fogging.

It's better to do it twice than to do too much at one time. :wink:

 

[John Olson]

Clean everything with CTI's Smoke Off and very rarely will you need to fog except the vents where you can't really get into to well enough to get the tar out. The other stuff mentioned works but cost more and is more work.

If it doesn't i'll give you back the money you spent on the smoke off. thats how much I believe in it. (provided you follow every step in the process)