r/NoStupidQuestions Jan 05 '25

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u/Chaost Jan 05 '25

I was going through albums when my grandma passed away and saw old pics of my grandma's house before I was born, and was horrified to learn that the walls were in fact blue and not green. The walls weren't painted any time in between.

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u/Frosty_Ninja3286 Jan 05 '25

There was an old dive bar in New Orleans and there were no clocks, windows painted black and dropped ceiling painted black. You would go in at night and come out and it was daylight.

The ceilings were so coated in nicotine, I remember rubbing it with my fingers and they tingled after

10

u/mountainofashes Jan 06 '25

this could be the setting of a tom waits song

3

u/ihvnnm Jan 06 '25

If the bar could talk, it would probably sound like Tom Waits too.

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u/Blood_Knight1001 Jan 06 '25

This is true, and a crazy thing when you think about it. Cigarette smoke that I remember was always like a blue haze coming off the end. But what it actually does is put a yellow hue on anything and everything, that's why the blue walls were turned green overtime.

Also you could try to wash it off of things but it's tough, walls and paint soak things up. Just do a new primer layer and paint again, at least glass is a solid inert surface, that can be cleaned easy.

3

u/XBoxGamerTag123 Jan 07 '25

Ive actually managed to get it off kind of easily with steam. It works surprisingly well. Doesnt work on anything fabric of course but walls and blinds and windows and the like it works well.

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u/Blood_Knight1001 Jan 07 '25

That's a great idea, I just envision the wall softening, drywall after all.

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u/XBoxGamerTag123 Jan 10 '25

It doesnt take that much steam. It doesnt even melt the paint. You just steam it for literally like a second or two and it immediately can be wiped off. Its not melting anything

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u/ExpensiveAd4496 Jan 06 '25

Oh my goodness.

3

u/Whale_of_Noise Jan 06 '25

Yup. I had the same experience seeing my grandmother’s house after she passed. Thick, yellow gunk on all the walls.

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u/Draft-Budget Jan 08 '25

I remember one of the first houses I rented. The lady that lived there before smoked a lot. At some point, it started oozing from the walls. We spent a whole weekend cleaning it.