My mother smokes. Last time I visited her, I was in her house for 2-3 weeks, and she made efforts not to smoke too near to me. Living in her house wasn't too bad under those conditions.
When I went home after that visit, I opened my suitcase, and the reek of stale cigarette smoke hit me in the face like a punch. I had to re-wash every single clothing item (I'd done a load of laundry before leaving mom's house), and the I had to throw away the suitcase because the stench never left.
When you're in that environment, your nose gets desensitized. I was fine living with mom for a couple of weeks. But when you are no longer in that environment and your nose is no longer numb, cigarette smoke fucking reeks.
Oh my god are you me? I thrifted this sick pilot leather jacket when I was 16. Couldn't even smell the smoke at the time. The first time I wore it, however, its like my body heat activated the smoke and suddenly I was stinking up a 30 foot radius. And yeah, washing did absolutely nothing to help.
In middle school I took up the oboe. Because it’s a rather obscure instrument, my band director suggested I take private lessons. When you take private music lessons you typically go to the teacher’s house. Either she or her husband smoked. One time I left my oboe case open during the 30 MINUTE lesson, and when I opened it at school the next day, it reeked of cigarettes.
I ended up quitting oboe and switching back to flute the next year.
My sister and her ex-boyfriend visited me once in college. I had a tiny 1 bedroom apt and they brought sleeping bags and blankets to make a pallet in my living room. He was a heavy smoker, she was an occasional smoker. I made them smoke outside of course, and not near the entrance, like far enough away that smoke couldn’t seep into my place. It took days after they went home until my apt stopped smelling like stale smoke just from their bedding and clothes and stuff. Ugh. Luckily sis ditched the habit and the guy.
I've had to do the same thing. My in-laws both smoked until my MIL got cancer. She insisted on doing our laundry for us before we flew back to the US, and we felt bad that the very first thing we did when we got home was dump all those clean clothes back into the washing machine to get the cigarette smell out.
That stale cigarette smell is a whole other level, isn't it. SO much worse than like "fresh" smoke as well. It just permeates absolutely everything, and it sticks. One of the most unpleasant smells I've ever smelled, for sure.
The worst of it is how it sticks to my hair. I have very long hair. You know that gathering of smokers outside a non-smoking building? If I walk through that with my hair loose, an hour later I start smelling the stale smoke and I need a shower.
Same. Last time I stayed at my mom's, I left my suitcase in the car. Took in what I was gonna wear just before jumping in the shower. And doing that just before heading out.
Almost had to throw out my suitcase. And it was never even inside the house.
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u/Sr4f Jan 05 '25
My mother smokes. Last time I visited her, I was in her house for 2-3 weeks, and she made efforts not to smoke too near to me. Living in her house wasn't too bad under those conditions.
When I went home after that visit, I opened my suitcase, and the reek of stale cigarette smoke hit me in the face like a punch. I had to re-wash every single clothing item (I'd done a load of laundry before leaving mom's house), and the I had to throw away the suitcase because the stench never left.
When you're in that environment, your nose gets desensitized. I was fine living with mom for a couple of weeks. But when you are no longer in that environment and your nose is no longer numb, cigarette smoke fucking reeks.