Best Cleaner To Remove Nicotine Tar From Walls

Photo of Scrubbing Bubbles bottle against photo of Scrubbing Bubbles foam removing tar from wall while it sits, right before removal with a rag, photo by Useful Roots Team

Updated 2024.01.02. This page contains affiliate links and this site earns from qualifying purchases made through these sponsored links.

We are currently rehabbing a mobile home as a team. The home we are restoring previously housed a smoker and the walls, ceilings and carpeting are heavily stained with yellow and brown nicotine tar stains.

Part of the restoration plan is to clean the walls and ceilings before we paint them with a stain and odor blocking primer (Kilz 3) and a little fresh paint.

It’s important to clean the nicotine tar residue off the walls of any property before you paint them as the nicotine plant, when combusted, creates a sticky tar which is an oily resin. 

Getting any substance off the walls before you paint them will ensure your paint job is enjoyed and lasts for years to come.

If you’re removing nicotine stains from walls and ceilings, we have tried a few different cleaners in our process and want to share with you, with photos, what we have found to work the best for cleaning yellowed walls from years of smoke.

The cleaners we tested to remove nicotine from walls were:

Photo of nicotine tar running down the walls in a mobile home that previously housed a smoker, just after the application of Scrubbing Bubbles but before wiping it all up text overlay Best Cleaner To Remove Nicotine Tar From Walls by Useful Roots Team

• Simple Green
• Dawn Dish Soap and Baking Soda
• Scrubbing Bubbles

Let’s look at some photos of the cleaners we tested and a description of our results using each.

1st Cleaner Attempt: Dawn Dish Soap & Baking Soda

Below you will see the comparison photo of using Dawn Dish Soap & Baking Soda (left) VS Scrubbing Bubbles (right) to clean the walls:

Photo of rag after nicotine tar cleaning attempt with Dawn Dish Soap & Baking Soda vs rag after nicotine tar cleaning attempt with Scrubbing Bubbles, you can clearly see Scrubbing Bubbles removed more nicotine tar residue, photo by Useful Roots Team

As you can see, Scrubbing Bubbles (right) is the clear winner over Dawn Dish Soap and Baking Soda (left) in stain removal, taking up more of the tar in the shop cloth from the same area.

2nd Cleaner Attempt: Simple Green

Simple Green is great for ceilings, as there is very little back spray compared to Scrubbing Bubbles, however, it requires a few passes before you see a result and the difference is faint. 

See picture below for two passes after Simple Green (left) and before Simple Green (right):

Photo of ceiling after application of Simple Green Cleaner vs before application of Simple Green Cleaner by Useful Roots Team

Simple Green removes light staining. It’s a great second choice to our winner, Scrubbing Bubbles for walls and first choice for ceilings as it does not back spray on you when you apply it using a sponge mop above your head.

3rd Cleaner Attempt: Scrubbing Bubbles (name brand)

Store brand foaming bubbles were first attempted here, however, the real deal Scrubbing Bubbles outshined them in what they are able to remove.

See picture below, before Scrubbing Bubbles (top), after Scrubbing Bubbles (bottom):

Photo of nicotine tar smoke residue on ceiling of mobile home before the application of Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner by Useful Roots Team

Photo of ceiling free from nicotine tar after the application of Scrubbing Bubbles by Useful Roots Team

The ceiling area that is white has been cleaned with Scrubbing Bubbles, the area that is golden brown has not.

When you spray Scrubbing Bubbles and let it sit per the manufacturer’s instructions, it dissolves the nicotine tar from the surface which you can then wipe up with a shop towel or rag to remove most of what will come out of the walls and ceilings. This is what you can expect to see as the Scrubbing Bubbles are doing their thing:

Photo of nicotine tar running down the walls in a mobile home that previously housed a smoker, just after the application of Scrubbing Bubbles but before wiping it all up by Useful Roots Team

To end, we found that Scrubbing Bubbles was the most effective cleaning product to remove the most nicotine tar from cigarette smoking, when compared to Simple Green cleaner, and a Dawn Dish Soap and Baking Soda combo.

The clear winner is brand name Scrubbing Bubbles, store brands did not work the same.

If you are removing tar from cigarettes walls and ceilings, we recommend Scrubbing Bubbles for walls, and Simple Green applied to ceilings with a sponge mop. This will prevent the back spray of Scrubbing Bubbles to fall down on you as you clean the ceiling, while still cleaning nicotine from the ceiling with the Simple Green cleaner using a mop bucket. If you have only enough room in your budget for one cleaner to remove cigarette smoke or you are just cleaning nicotine from walls, Scrubbing Bubbles is what we recommend. 

When using any of these cleaners, remember to always wear eye protection, gloves and ventilate the area well.

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