We’ve all been there. You decide to enjoy a quiet afternoon at home, burning down blunts and getting paranoid high, when out of the blue someone asks if they can come over. Maybe it’s your token sober friend or a younger cousin for whom you try to be a positive, non-stoner example. Maybe it’s your landlord. Whoever it is, you don’t want them to know you smoke, but your house is absolutely stinking of sticky bud.
What do you do? What can you do? You can refer to our handy tips for getting rid of the smell of weed.
Avoid the smell to begin with
Sometimes the smell comes from burning that zaza, sometimes it just comes from poor zaza stash management. The easiest way to keep a space from smelling like weed is by using smell proof containers. If your stash containers are mainly plastic baggies or old bits of plastic wrap, that’s not going to cut it. Try using glass jars with lids that seal tightly. Not only does this keep the weed smell from leaking out, it keeps the delicious, mouth watering weed smell sealed in, which means a better smoke.
If glass jars aren’t your thing or you lack space for them, try a smell proof bag. These bags are made with thick materials and solid, sealable openings that don’t leak out odors. Smell proof bags come in sizes ranging from tiny keychains to backpacks, so there are plenty of options for your storage needs. Upgrading your storage is the simplest way to keep from smelling vaguely skunky while carrying on the go.
Ventilate the space
The smell of weed pervades the air because the smell of weed is in the air. All smells are carried by the air that you breathe as it passes over the olfactory bulbs in your head. The fastest way to get rid of weed smell is by opening the windows, breaking out some fans, and moving as much air through the space as possible. By exchanging the air, you decrease the number of cannabis molecules floating around your space, which in turn makes the area smell less like weed and more like fresh air.
A great way to avoid the smell in the first place is by smoking out a window to begin with. While weather doesn’t always permit us to smoke outside, blowing your smoke out a window will drastically cut down on weed smell in your house. If that’s not an option, why not try making a sploof?
Clean and deodorize
As we mentioned above, odor is caused by particulate matter that floats around in the air. Once that matter, such as smoke and bits of weed pollen, falls out of the air, what happens next? It lands on every available surface in the room, including carpets, curtains, bookshelves, and the walls themselves. Another way to cut through the odor in a room is by cleaning up and getting rid of all the weed molecules lingering around.
Vacuuming the carpet and cleaning any cloth surfaces, such as curtains, rugs, or even furniture, will have the greatest effect, as these surfaces tend to hold onto odors easily and release them for a long time. If you need to really get rid of some stank, you can try cleaning the walls with a solution of water, dish soap, and vinegar. This homemade cleaning fluid will remove some of the smoke residue that’s built up over time while simultaneously deodorizing and replacing weed smell with the smell of whatever dish soap you prefer.
Try the cover up
The last way to get rid of the smell is to cover it up with something else. This is especially effective if you’ve aired out the space and are only covering up the last lingering odors. Strongly scented candles, incense, or baking and cooking can all cover up the smell of weed. If you’re looking to achieve long-term plausible deniability, it’s best to use a scent that is somewhat close or complementary to cannabis. For example, incense smells close enough to cannabis that it melds with your home’s weed smell, but it creates a new aroma that’s not quite weedy.
Nag champa is one of the most popular types of incense used to cover up weed smell, but by now, it is so highly associated with stoner that it may be the Millennial/Gen Z equivalent of hippies and patchouli. Some great alternatives include sandalwood, cinnamon, or myrrh (as seen in the Bible!). Using incense regularly will help build up the aroma in your home, which masks the smell of cannabis. People with frequent migraines may take caution, as incense can trigger headaches in people who are sensitive to it.
If you’re looking to have a friendlier odor than incense, try baking cookies or burning some candles with scents like vanilla, cinnamon, or brown sugar. These strong odors can overpower any other unsavory scents that are leftover from those spliffs. These tips work great for other unpleasant odors too. Whether you’ve had a kitchen disaster that leaves your house smelling like the inside of a microwave, a sewer pipe that burst, or some other olfactory emergency, now you know how to make your house smell fresh again.
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Dealing with unexpected guests and a cannabis-scented home can be awkward, but there are discreet ways to fix it. Invest in airtight containers for cannabis storage, enhance ventilation, clean surfaces, and consider masking the odor with scents that complement cannabis. These methods ensure a welcoming environment while tackling unwanted odors.
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