While smoking in the home is becoming less common, as a painter and decorator as a painter and decorator you’re still likely to come across rooms that have been occupied by smokers. And, while a couple of coats of trade quality interior emulsion will probably cover the stains, it won’t be long until they start to seep back through leaving the room in need of redecorating. In this article, we’ll look at the most effective ways to get rid of nicotine stains and the secret to making sure they don’t come back.
Surface Preparation
When it comes to getting rid of nicotine stains from ceilings and walls, good surface preparation is essential. To start off with you’ll need to give the walls and ceiling a good scrubbing using sugar soap to help eliminate any staining. If the walls have been wall papered then it is worth stripping the walls back to the original plaster work as this can help stop nicotine from bleeding through over the coming weeks and months.
As well as stripping back wallpaper you should sand down any woodwork in the room, this includes skirting boards, door frames, trim and other items of woodwork. Once you have cleaned everything thoroughly you can then get started on masking taping the fixtures and prepping the area for decorating.
Priming
While you can use a normal basecoat on walls and ceilings, if you want to guarantee that the nicotine stains will be gone then you will want to use a stain blocking primer. Stain blockers like the ones from Zinsser are quick drying and will help to create a permanent seal that is effective on smoke, nicotine and water stains. These stain blockers are suitable for use on walls, ceilings and woodwork, helping you to create a stable base to apply your decorative topcoat.
Painting
Now that you’ve sealed the walls and ceilings and removed the stains you can get to work applying your chosen emulsion. Our trade quality interior emulsion paint provides great coverage with two coats all that is needed to get a great finish. From standard emulsion to specially formulated anti-mould paint, we have a great range of trade quality paints available to buy online.
Glossing
The final finishing touch is to gloss all of the woodwork in the room. As you have already sanded this down during the preparation stage the woodwork will be ready to paint with your chosen wood paint. Just like your walls it is worth using a good quality primer as this will help provide a high-quality finish. Two coats of our Armstead or Dulux Trade Gloss paint is all that is needed for an immaculate finish.
Conclusion
Like most decorating jobs, getting rid of nicotine is all about having the right preparation. Stripping the walls back to plaster is not always needed but can be helpful when the previous tenants have simply papered over previous nicotine stains.