Does Vaping Stink Up Your House? A Quick Guide

January 25, 2022

If you recently switched to vaping, you might be wondering if the smell from the vapour is going to linger in your house. That depends on many factors, from how absorbent the fabrics in the room where you vape are to what kind of vapour your device produces. 

But the lingering odours of even the thickest, most intense vapour clouds can be removed from a home. All it takes is a little tender love and care. 

Does Vaping Make Your Home Smell?

One of the biggest misconceptions of e-vaporizers is that they produce smoke. They're called vaporisers because they produce vapour, not smoke. 

Not only is vapour different from smoke in its effect on the person who inhales, but they’re also different substances on a chemical level—ever noticed how nothing needs to be ignited to produce vapour? That's just the beginning of the differences between the two.

Vapour is composed of microscopic molecules of liquid rather than hydrocarbons like cigarette smoke that tend to cling to your couch and drapes. The smell of vapour can linger inside a closed dwelling, but it's not nearly as hard to deal with as traditional cigarette smoke.

How Long Does Vaping Smell Linger?

How long the smell from a vape lingers depends on what kind of vape you use, how often you use it, how well or how poorly ventilated the room where you vape is, and what kind of materials are present in that room.

Take flooring as an example; a room with hardwood floors will absorb significantly less odour from your vape than if you have carpet flooring. 

What Causes Vaping Smells to Last?

Both cigarette smoke and vaping can result in lingering odours. Depending on numerous factors — such as the flavour and composition of the e-liquid and how much ventilation there is in the room — some vape odours may remain in your home longer than others. 

Anecdotally, the lingering odours of cigarette smoke may last longer and be more difficult to mask than those of vapes. This may be because the components of cigarette smoke tend to stick to surfaces due to the coating effect on objects of a mixture of solid ash particulate and liquid aerosol droplets. Because vapour is thinner than smoke and doesn't have the same hydrocarbon chemical composition, vapour smells don't last as long.

But odours from vaping can still linger on clothing, floors, and furniture.

How To Get Rid of Vaping Smell in Your Home

If you have done some serious vaping in your home and can't seem to get the smell out, you may want to change your habits. Regular cleaning is always advisable. But there are lifestyle changes you can make to reduce the amount of vapour odour that lingers in your home.

Here are the nine best tips for getting rid of the vaping smell in your home.

Keep the Room Where You Vape Ventilated

It should be intuitively obvious to keep the room where you vape ventilated. But for many reasons, that isn't possible for some people who vape. You may live in a cold climate and not want to open the windows. You may even enjoy the smell of the vapour at the moment.

But nobody likes the smell of vapour long after you've stopped vaping. That's why you should keep windows and doors open and even consider getting a box fan to run while you vape.

Go for a Vape with Low VG

VG and PG, or vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, are solvents commonly added to vape juice to enhance its flavour and aroma. 

These elements are often pointed to in conversations around throat hit and juice quality. But research by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health has shown that the proportions of VG and PG in vape juice don't play substantial roles in whether smokers prefer any particular vape juice and thereby any resulting uptake in its use.

That being said, the amount of VG in your vape juice is directly tied to how thick the clouds of vapour will be. If you want less lingering odour, go with a vape juice with less VG.

Vacuum Regularly

If the place you live has carpeted floors, you need to vacuum if you're vaping. As the law of gravity has it, everything that rises must come down. That goes for vapour too. 

You may not see the vapour from your e-vape falling and collecting within the fibres of your carpet. But it's happening on a microscopic level. Vacuuming is the best way to counteract the smell.

Steam Clean Your Furniture

The same thing that happens with carpet around e-vapes happens with upholstered furniture. The aromatic vapour clouds swirl around couches and chairs and seep into the fibres.

Steam cleaning is the equivalent for your furniture of what vacuuming does for your floors. 

Get an Indoor Air Purifier

High levels of particulate matter in the air can negatively impact health. The effectiveness of air purifiers in removing that particulate matter has been well documented in the Journal of Building and Environment.

Air purifiers can also help with lingering vapour odour. An air purifier will continually siphon the air in your home, removing odours and materials you don't want in your lungs.

Experiment with Vaporless E-Liquid

Some e-liquids do not produce clouds when vaporised. If you're concerned with the amount of odour from vaping lingering in your home, you can eliminate the vapour altogether with vapourless e-liquids. 

Balance Out Vape Odours with Other Odours

One way to mitigate the effect of vapour odours in the home is to counteract them with other scents. You can light scented candles while you vape. Another option that may help obscure odours from vaping is using an air freshener. Like candles, most air fresheners not only add fragrance to the air but may help mask odours resulting from vaping. 

Use Low Heat Settings While Vaping

Generally, a higher heat vaporising process will produce a bigger cloud of vapour. If you want smaller, less odorous vapour clouds, tinker with the heat settings on your vape. You can also seek a new vape that operates at lower heat settings. 

Vape Wisely

Ultimately, the key to reducing lingering vapour odours in your home is to vape wisely. Keep an eye on the airflow where you vape, check out your vape settings, and refrain from vaping in enclosed spaces if you’re concerned about your furniture smelling like your e-liquid.

Once you start paying attention, you'll probably start to notice areas where you can improve your vaping experience and minimise undesired odours in your home.

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