getting cigarette smoke off of wood...

[midnight armadillo]

I decided to attempt to clean the wood paneling around our fireplace yesterday. When we moved into the house we made liberal use of shellac primer (Zinsser BIN) to seal the smoke residues into the walls. However, that strategy isn't quite going to work on finished wood.

20 minutes of scrubbing with a cloth and some dish liquid (the best of the various cleaners I tried) resulted in completely cleaned spot 4" x 3". This is nuts, I have about 160 sq ft to clean including shelving!!

Is there a solvent that will take off the oil smoke residue and leave the finish untouched? The wood was installed in the early 80's and I'm pretty certain it's an oil-based polyurethane - it's not shellacked and varnish probably wouldn't have aged as well over 25+ years since it gets some sunlight. I'm tempted to attack it with acetone and re-finish it with a nice shellac/wax finish but I'm not prepared for such a drastic move yet.

[BlueJazz]

1. Might be a lot easier to simply put Wood Veneer over it. Fairly easy to do.

...and it's not very expensive.

[Moondog]

2. Try this -

Just noticed wood, instead of plaster / drywall in your post. Thus, the edit -

These people - http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-remove-nicotine-cigar-pipe-smoke-and-cigarette-stains9.htm

say to "Follow these steps to remove tobacco stains from Felt, Fur (natural or synthetic), Wood:

Mix dishwashing detergent in hot water and swish to make a great volume of suds.
Dip a cloth in only the foam and apply.
Rinse area with a cloth moistened with clear water.>
Allow felt and fur to air dry, but wipe wood surfaces dry with a clean cloth and wax or polish."

[midnight armadillo]

5. That's actually what I tried

The dishwasher detergent (Dawn) wasn't strong enough.

Anyone know if mineral spirits will take off the polyurethane too?

[Moondog]

6. I was afraid of that.

If it were a drywall / plaster wall, trisodium phosphate is usually recommended. Since you suspect the wood has been at least partially sealed, is there a non-visible area where you could try TSP before going to solvents?

[monmouth]

3. Murphy's Oil. I had great results with it...n/t

[rug]

4. Don't smoke until afterwards.

[Maine-ah]

7. have you tried magic eraser yet?

[S n o w b a l l]

8. Try this stuff...

http://www.housekeepingchannel.com/t_222-LAs_Totally_Awesome_All_Purpose_Cleaner_Degreaser_and_Spot_Remover

Available at Dollar General for $1.

Without even scrubbing, it dissolved smoke and grime from the glass doors of my fireplace.

Edit: I also use it on my finished wood surfaces and works great there too.

[NMDemDist2]

9. I love that stuff!! It cut the years of grease and grime off this trailer's walls

and cabinets like nobody's business

I had tried Murphy's and a variety of other stuff, but Totally Awesome cut right through it in seconds flat!

[midnight armadillo]

10. Alcohol worked!

I busted out the denatured alcohol and it seems to do the job, with a paper towel I was able scrub off a decent area. I will definitely have to at least wax the paneling when I'm done, although I think I might use a layer of clear shellac first.