Cleaning Nicotine Garage Doors

[Jwco5.3]

Hello,

I recently closed on my dream home, which includes a 3 car garage. It has three single bay, insulated doors. The interior of the doors have what seems to be foam covered by almost a plastic, vapor barrier type of cover, so I don’t think they can be painted. I have ordered flooring and sealed the walls, and will begin painting soon.

The garage doors have stumped me, though. Some vinegar cleaned them up a lot, but they are still a bit yellowed. Any ideas on how to bring them back to white? I have a pretty thorough garage build planned, and yellowed doors will really throw it off.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[atch]

Acetone.

Took off the yellow at the wife's condo she sold after being rented for several years to a heavy smoker.

 

[Zmann]

i have garage panels that yellowed also i doubt it is nicotine but it does look like the old office ceiling tiles we used to remodel when smoking was allowed

i actually just painted over my yellow insulated panels

 

[Zmann]

I did see a post on garage door murals that had my interest

 

[The Cobbler]

I would experiment with paint . oil base is better at sealing stains than latex base

 

[BillK]

Is it actually nicotine stains or is it just yellowing from age ? I had to clean up a house in the past that had heavy "smokers" stain and the best thing that worked for us was just plain soap and water. I think we used Spray Nine but Fantastic or any other general purpose cleaner would probably have done just as good.

If it is the plastic yellowing from age I doubt that you will be able to do much other than paint it.

 

[BearsFan315]

Use a cleaner like Fantastic 409 Super Clean Simple Green, etc. test a small spot first. may take a few rounds to get all off. did this a few years ago.

if you paint i would use Kiltz or similar to cover the stains and seal it well.

 

[bobg03]

Find a spray cleaner called crud cutter (liquid, not areosol) and a supply of disposible rags. It will clean up easily.

Been a while the correct spelling maybe Krud-Cutter, good stuff.

 

[firebirdparts]

Acetone will just melt it. FWIW.

 

[MattN03]

If it's actual nicotine, go to Lowes and get a box of TSP. Mix it with hot water and a garden sprayer. Spray the area, starting at the top. Wipe it down with a fresh damp sponge in a clean rinse bucket. This is going to make a mess, so you may need to put down plastic, depending on where you're working.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/TSP-Deck-Cleaner/3014065

We had to clean our ENTIRE house with TSP from floor to ceiling due to a chain smoker owning it previously. After cleaning and rinsing multiple times, we used Sherwin Williams shellac to prime the drywall, and then painted after all that.

Removing nicotine is one of the biggest and nastiest chores we've ever tackled on a home. Good luck!

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, you will be better off with Tri Sodium Phosphate, than the commercial product sold as TSP.

You may have to go to a Painters Supply Store to get real Tri Sodium Phosphate, the industrial cleaner. You may have noticed that common detergents are advertised as "Phosphate Free". For this job you need rubber gloves and industrial strength chemistry.

Don't forget eye protection, you are dealing with an Industrial Strength product.

 

[PWC Repair]

Awesome from the dollar store will have brown dripping off the panels in about 30 seconds. That stuff truly is AWESOME.

 

[MrSurly]

A note from ages ago on nicotine clean up. In 1969, working at a Gulf gas station (full service, natch) we hand washed cars all the time. There was one elderly woman who would bring in here Olds or Buick and she smoked like a house afire. The car was rank and *sticky* with nicotine even though we cleaned it every couple of weeks. Anyway, the boss showed me the trick for getting the inside of the yellow windshield clean. News print! No soap, no ammonia, no *nothing* just a dry nicotine-covered windshield and *newspaper* would wipe the yellow right off. Slickest thing I'd ever seen.

 

[Charlie51]

Awesome is awesome. I cleaned the nicotine off of an old suspended ceiling tile frame. Nothing else seemed to touch it.

 

[bushmechanic]

Mr. Clean magic erasers work miracles on nicotine. It flat-out drips off.

They're cheap. Give them a try.

 

[JAYoung]

Another vote for TSP, and as a smoker, I should know.
And if it doesn't work, TSP is great prep for re-painting.

 

[bobg03]

Awesome from the dollar store will have brown dripping off the panels in about 30 seconds. That stuff truly is AWESOME.

I forgot about that stuff, just as good as the Krud Cutter...don't complicate it with mixing TSP and other concoctions, just use AWESOME or KRUD Cutter it will run the nicotine right off and wipe with a rag.

 

[wolfhawk73]

I've used Greased Lightning on the walls of my grandmother's old house. That's some good stuff. Or use whatever else has potassium hydroxide in it.

 

[Meursault74]

IMHO, you will be better off with Tri Sodium Phosphate, than the commercial product sold as TSP.

You may have to go to a Painters Supply Store to get real Tri Sodium Phosphate, the industrial cleaner. You may have noticed that common detergents are advertised as "Phosphate Free". For this job you need rubber gloves and industrial strength chemistry.

Don't forget eye protection, you are dealing with an Industrial Strength product.

Phosphates were removed from most household cleaners because of waste water treatment and algae growth concerns in the environment. It is good to use in hard water conditions. The removal was regulatory in nature and not so much for personal safety while using.

 

[JimH74]

I used TSP first, and then covered with KILZ. I forget what kind of KILZ, but I remember it wasn't the latex. It was recommended at the paint store. The kilz did have quite an odor for a while. But it worked. What a mess and labor intensive, with both the washing with TSP and then painting. I would never buy another house that had been lived in by a heavy smoker.

 

[themiller]

A note from ages ago on nicotine clean up. In 1969, working at a Gulf gas station (full service, natch) we hand washed cars all the time. There was one elderly woman who would bring in here Olds or Buick and she smoked like a house afire. The car was rank and *sticky* with nicotine even though we cleaned it every couple of weeks. Anyway, the boss showed me the trick for getting the inside of the yellow windshield clean. News print! No soap, no ammonia, no *nothing* just a dry nicotine-covered windshield and *newspaper* would wipe the yellow right off. Slickest thing I'd ever seen.

And where does one get a newspaper these days?

 

[gtsgarage]

You haven’t lived until you have seen that brown liquid dripping down the walls.

I’ve had to clean to houses with a heavy smoker the first time I didn’t really know what it was at first. The second was the entire house of an old chain smoker.

Good times.

 

[nadogail]

My rentals have a provision in the lease; Tobacco odors and stains are damages and removal and remediation costs will be charged to the tenant.

 

[rburke65]

Borax or Spick n Span....I don’t even know if it’s still made

 

[MattN03]

I used TSP first, and then covered with KILZ. I forget what kind of KILZ, but I remember it wasn't the latex. It was recommended at the paint store. The kilz did have quite an odor for a while. But it worked. What a mess and labor intensive, with both the washing with TSP and then painting. I would never buy another house that had been lived in by a heavy smoker.

This is exactly our experience and our feelings after buying a house that had a heavy smoker...

 

[bushmechanic]

That's over-complicating something that's easy as hell to do and doesn't take long.

I smoke, and I just clean things properly and air out the building. Done and done.

Many don't, though. It's like that "boiling a frog" lesson; it happens so slowly they just don't notice.

There's a place I don't bother, because nothing matters there, but I did go in a while back to clean it. Before I had it, someone who smoked a hell of a lot more than me did; a genuine chain smoker who lit one cigarette with the previous one.

Brought some Magic Erasers over, wet one, and just wiped that **** right off the door. Dripping like you've sprayed it with a million chemicals.

Every day I clean out computers and parts that have twenty years of smoke in them. Vacuum, Tuff Stuff, hose it out, scrub it, if needed on really bad stuff use a Magic Eraser, hose it again. Sometimes I use QD Electronic Cleaner when I can't reach something; and there's usually alcohol involved in tight spots on PCBs.

I'll take a keyboard that is literally filled with molasses-level mouse leavings and nicotine, that smells like a New York dumpster, and then sell the damned thing for $300.

Nicotine and smoke smells can indeed be removed easily.

Multi-layer textiles and stuffed things like furniture or car seats can present an irritating problem; but smoke comes out a heck of a lot easier than hair spray or hand lotion, and it can indeed be removed even in carpets.

 

[rsparks64]

Regarding vinegar, I found that it worked by far the best of about 10 or 12 cleaners I tried to clean some stains on my driveway. Since it seemed to work well for you, try buying some of the specialty vinegar that is more concentrated at 6-9%. They worked a bit better than regular vinegar for me. Some call it pickling vinegar, but you really need to check the exact concentration amount on the bottle and I would go for 9% if you can find it.

I have used most of the cleaning solutions listed above and they each seem to do something well. Try some of the common ones listed above and see if they work.

 

[Robby321]

Rubbing alcohol...tobacco stains

 

[check251]

Many years ago i bought a pool table from a bar.
I tried fantastic, 409, even went as far as using gumout carb cleaner.
What I found to work was berkebile 2+2 gum cutter.
I don't know if the formula is the same as it was in the '70's though.

 

[Slednut]

Just updated a house and sold it that had a lot of smoke. We used Kaboom and Mr. Clean pads.