Cleaning and Stain Removal - Smoke Removal

My Wife and I just moved into a new apartment. Guy before us smoked, owner had carpet cleaned and replaced the blinds but did not paint. We were told he would, but didn't. Not happy, yadda yadda yadda. Still smells like smoke. Best guess is that it is in the walls.

Need some help. I have searched online and found some suggestions such as putting bowls of vinegar around the rooms and closing them off for a while. My question is whether that is a permanent fix, or temporary. I was hoping that there was something that would permanenty neutralize the odor at its source chemically. Does anyone know of any home rememdy or product that will do this? I don't want to spend any money if at all possible. Please respond ASAP, plug-ins only work for so long.

Thanks A Lot,
Jon :wall:

I've had good luck removing smoke odors with OdoBan, but never tried it in any space as large as an entire apartment. When my parents had a fire a couple years ago, the restoration comapny brought in an ozone generator and let that run for a couple days to remove the odor. You might be able to clean the walls with a degreaser, as nicotine is oily. Otherwise, sealing the walls and painting is the usual procedure.

Have you talked to the landlord about whether he is still going to paint? Since this is someone else's property, the issues become more complicated.

if you dont remove the source you will not remove the odor. Clean, paint the walls and ceilings. Duct work may need to be cleaned. Smoke will get into everything. So therefor everything will need cleaned. Or it will come back. My suggestion contact your landlord. As this can get expensive