How to clean cigarette stains off walls?

Question

I have yellow stuff from the cigarette smoke on my white walls, what do I use to get it of and how?

Answer 1

Clean them with warm water and Pine Sol. 409 does a good job, but would be expensive to do the whole house. This will be a temporary fix like the other answers said, so be prepared to prime and paint soon.

If the smoker is still living in the house you might consider fixing up an outside smoking area for him/her. I never realized how much unnecessary work we were creating for ourselves (myself actually) by having two smokers in the house until we made the decision take the cigarettes outside. I was cleaning the paint right off the walls I was washing them so much!

Answer 2

Try T.S.P. ( trisodium phosphate) This comes in a liquid or powder form that you mix with water. It's not real expensive and it's what a lot of painters recommend you use to clean walls before painting. It does a good job removing stains and plain old dirt.  

Answer 3

If you are the smoker then I would just wash them with vinegar and water.  If you are trying to permanently rid the walls of smoke then I'd wash them with mineral spirits and then use Kilz primer and then paint them.  If you do not use a serious primer then the nicotine will leach through the paint.

Answer 4

Yep repaint use kilz

Answer 5

I think repainting is your best bet both for stains and smell.