Does Vaping Smell? (Tips to Get Rid Of It)

Traditional tobacco cigarettes are known to cause serious health conditions such as cancer and heart disease, but they are also associated with other less serious but still unpleasant issues, and one of these is the bad smell of the smoke.

This is just one more reason why so many ex-smokers are turning to vapes, but how much better are vapes in terms of stinky odors? To answer this and more, in this post, we discuss the question, does vaping smell?

The smell of vapor

For anyone who has never vaped before but is considering trying it as a way of weaning themselves off of traditional cigarettes, let’s start with a very basic question.

When you smoke cigarettes, they give off a highly distinctive smell. We’ll come to the lingering odor cigarettes leave in a moment, but when you light up, the smell of the smoke itself is unmistakable. But what about vapes?

The answer is that yes, vapes have an odor too – but it’s not at all the same.

Nowadays, with vapes becoming increasingly ubiquitous, most people will have experienced what it’s like to walk through a cloud of vapor that’s just been exhaled after somebody has taken a puff on an electronic cigarette.

However, thanks to the wide variety of interesting flavors that vape juice comes in, most people would probably agree that the odor from a vape is usually quite pleasant.

There’s a big difference between walking through a freshly exhaled cloud of tobacco smoke and a cloud of vapor that might smell of something like apples or vanilla – and it’s probably fair to say that most people would prefer the latter.

So in short, vaping does usually smell, so you won’t be able to get away with vaping in an enclosed space or while standing next to someone without anybody noticing.

However, the smell it gives off is generally considered pleasant and far less offensive than the smell of tobacco.

But there’s more to the question than just this since one of the big problems with tobacco smoke is the way it tends to stick to clothes and linger in rooms – so let’s look at these issues now.

The Vape smell on your clothes

Although it’s becoming quite rare nowadays as more and more indoor venues around the world ban smoking, if you’ve ever spent the evening in a smoky bar or somewhere similar, you’ll know about the strong odor tobacco smoke leaves on your clothes.

The smell of tobacco on clothes is unmistakable and unmissable. Furthermore, most people consider the stale odor it leaves on clothes worse than the smell of the smoke itself, and it’s also practically impossible to hide.

But what about vapes? Do they leave a similar lingering smell on clothes?

The answer to this question is that they don’t, and this is another advantage that vaping has over smoking.

The main ingredient of vape juice is usually propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin or glycerol, and when it is heated, this is what creates the vapor.

When the vape juice is vaporized, microscopic droplets are suspended in the air, and they will then settle on any surfaces they come into contact with, including clothes, carpets, curtains, furniture and windows.

If you vape outside or in a well-ventilated room, only a small amount will land on your clothes, so any odor they leave will be hardly detectable – if you can smell it at all.

However, if you vape in an enclosed or poorly ventilated space, it’s possible that the vapor may leave a stronger smell on your clothes.

At the same time, even when this happens, the smell will usually be a pleasant one and is sure to be much more agreeable than the smell of stale cigarette smoke – you might end up smelling of something like cherries or caramel, which is much less of a problem.

And more than this, the smell won’t linger and will disappear completely when you wash your clothes, so for most people, it’s not a big deal.

The Vape smell in your house or car

Another unmistakable smell associated with cigarettes is the odor of a room where somebody smokes regularly. After a while, rooms become impregnated with the smell of stale cigarette smoke, and when that happens, it’s almost impossible to get rid of it.

But what about when vaping?

Just like with the smell that can stick to clothes, the smell that vaping inside can leave in a room is much less of a problem than the kind that smoking causes – for the same reasons.

First, the smell is likely to be pleasant rather than nasty due to the flavor of vapes compared to the smell of cigarette smoke, and it’s also unlikely to linger like the odor of cigarettes.

It’s also far easier to get rid of the smell of vaping than it is to eradicate the smell of cigarette smoke, something we can look at now.

How to get rid of the vape smell

Here are some things you can try to get rid of the smell of vaping from clothes, homes and cars.

• Wash clothes as normal

Since vape juice is soluble in water, all you need to do to get rid of any vaping smell is wash your clothes as usual. Once your clothes come out of the wash, there should no longer be even the slightest hint of a vaping smell.

• Vacuum floors

Vacuuming surfaces like carpets will usually be sufficient for removing any particles of vape juice that may have settled on them.

• Steam-clean furniture

If your furniture starts to smell of vape juice, steam-cleaning it will resolve the issue.

• Wash windows

If a film from vaping begins to build up on windows in your home or car, you can easily remove it by washing the windows with regular dish soap and water. Adding vinegar to the solution can also help, and another alternative is to use a dedicated window-cleaning product.

Tips for reducing the Vape smell

Here are some extra tips for reducing the smell of vaping.

• Make sure the room is well-ventilated

If you vape in well-ventilated spaces or outdoors, the vapor will have less chance of settling on your clothes or on any other surfaces.

• Use a smaller vaping device indoors

If you plan to vape inside often, investing in a device that produces smaller vapor clouds is a sensible idea.

• Vape in rooms with fewer fabrics

If you must vape indoors, choose rooms with few fabric surfaces for the vapor to settle on – places like kitchens or bathrooms are best for this.

When does vaping smell bad?

There is one time when a vape might smell bad, and that’s when you have a burnt coil.

Burnt coils happen when there is no vape juice left on the wick to convert into vapor or simply when the coil reaches the end of its life and needs replacing.

When this occurs, your vape will give off an unpleasant, burnt, acrid smell, and if you take a puff, the taste in your mouth can be pretty nasty too.

You can extend the life of the coil in your vape by ensuring there is always enough vape juice in the cartridge and by giving it enough time to soak into the wick when starting a new cart.

There are many advantages to having a vaping device with a replaceable coil, but since you will inevitably need to change the coil every one to three weeks (depending on how often you vape and other factors) the cost can quickly add up.

To reduce the cost, you can buy in bulk, but many people nowadays prefer the convenience of simply buying a high-quality disposable vape such as the Spiritbar Katana BP 10000.

Each one of these disposable vapes contains 10,000 puffs and features a sleek design reminiscent of a Japanese Katana sword – and since you use it until it runs out and then just buy another one, you never need to worry about issues like burnt coils.

What about vaping weed Smell?

If you use a vaping device to vape weed, you might also want to know if it smells – since smoking a traditional joint gives off a distinct and unmistakable aroma that might get you into trouble depending on when and where you’re smoking it.

The answer to this question is that vaping options such as convection dry herb vaporizers or conduction devices give off a certain weedy smell but not anything like as much as a regular joint.

Of the two, convection devices give off less of a smell – but for the most discrete way of enjoying the effects of THC (other than edibles), the best option is probably a weed oil vape since these give off the least potent aroma.

Another option is to turn to a weed wax device, an option that gives off a different kind of smell – however, while it’s quite different from the smell of weed, it can also be quite strong, something that can put some people off.

A better option than stinky cigs

As we’ve seen, quite apart from being far less unhealthy than smoking traditional cigarettes, by switching to vaping, you can also look forward to ridding yourself, your clothes and your home of that unmistakable smell of stale smoke.

Even for those who smoke weed, using a vape instead of sparking up a joint can be a far more discreet option for enjoying the effects of a good THC hit, and these are just a couple of the reasons why the popularity of vaping has exploded in recent years.