Dealing with ‘cigar breath’ is about attending to your usual oral hygiene routine, plus there are a few more tricks to help! We’ll tell you more below.
It’s a universal problem among cigar lovers: you can’t get away from the dreaded cigar breath! There is no way of avoiding it as smoking a cigar will inevitably have an effect on your mouth. So what do you do about it? How can you get rid of cigar breath effectively?
The thing is, while we all love to smoke, we don’t like to stink afterwards! It’s not a good thing, for us or for others. Fortunately, there are ways to get rid of cigar breath, and you should adhere to them if you want to remain socially acceptable.
As you’ll find out when you read on, it’s not just your mouth that gets affected, it’s your hair, skin, clothes and more, so let’s see what can be done to minimize the effect.
The Basics
One fact that you need to remember is that bad breath is not solely from your cigars. In fact, it will largely be caused by other factors: your oral hygiene, what you’ve eaten, what you’ve been drinking – with the cigar smoke adding to the problem. We’ll start with the basic advice: brush or floss your teeth before and after every meal, and before and after – where possible – every cigar. It’s not just basic common sense, it’s basic health sense too.
If you already follow a good oral health routine – having a good clean of the teeth and mouth after eating – then you are starting from a better point than if you don’t. Of course, being a discerning man who wants to taste cigars as they should be, you’re one who does follow a good tooth and mouth routine! So, now we have that out of the way, what are the extra tips we can offer?
Some Further Advice
Drink water throughout the day. This is not just good advice for cigar smokers but is good advice overall. If you want to deal with particularly notable cigar breath, dilute some hydrogen peroxide with water – 50/50 – and gargle with it. Don’t swallow it, but give it a good swirl around. This is one way of helping clean your tongue, which is often forgotten when it comes to oral hygiene.
If you don’t want to try the above, we recommend strong mouthwash, and again gargled thoroughly. Then, brush your teeth again! If you’ve been enjoying a lengthy smoke and want to be sure you don’t smell of cigar – perhaps if you’re expected in company – we also recommend a shower. Your mouth is just one part of you, and your body will have absorbed the cigar smoke smell too.
That’s really all there is to it: brush your teeth, wash your mouth, keep to your usual oral hygiene and double up if you feel the need, and you’ll control your cigar breath perfectly well! Before we go, there are a few other questions that are often asked that came up when we researched this, so let’s deal with a few of them.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How Do I Get Cigar Smell out of My Clothes?
This one often crops up, and it’s worth looking at in detail. Clothing does hold on to smells. The fibres are susceptible to it, and the smoke will hang around in there. Whatever you have been wearing while smoking will smell of cigars. It’s the same as when you stand next to a bonfire or a barbeque; you smell of those later on, and it won’t go away. Now, if everyone is smoking there’s not a problem, but if you enter a room having been enjoying a smoke, everyone will notice the smell straight away.
How to get rid of it? First of all, a change of clothes is needed before you can get rid of it, as you need to clean those clothes before you wear them again. If you have a jacket that you want to clean right now there are two things to do: take it off and give it a good brush with clothes brush, and then hang in somewhere airy – outside if possible – for a good half an hour. If you have more time, a good steam with a proper steam cleaner will do the trick.
Whatever you do, don’t fall for the trap of thinking your clothes don’t smell of cigars because you don’t notice it! That’s because you’re used to it, you are a part of it, but others will certainly be aware. If you can change, do so, and make sure those clothes get a good wash before you wear them again. Here’s a tip: if you want to go for the full sartorial elegance look when smoking, invest in a smoking jacket and make sure you wear that while you enjoy your cigar!
What about the Smell of Cigars in the House?
Odours are associated with all manner of household activities. Whatever you are cooking, for example, will be the over-riding smell in the kitchen. The same goes for smoking a cigar; wherever you are smoking it will naturally smell of cigars, and there’s nothing you can do.
This is why many smokers have a dedicated place where they take their cigar. It’s good manners, after all, to smoke only in the company of others who also smoke or who have given you permission, and even in your own home there may be those who are averse to it. Smoking in the presence of young children is not advised, and your partner may not like the smell of cigars.
So, the first thing you can do is find your favourite spot. Perhaps in a study or office that is your exclusive space, or maybe you prefer to sit in an outdoor space or have an outdoor building for the purpose? Your own smoking space is a must, especially of you like to smoke alone.
If you do need to get rid of the smell – whether in your smoking den or around the house where you or others have been smoking – there are a number of steps you can take. The first is to eliminate the remains of cigars by clearing away ashtrays and cleaning them thoroughly. Another is to have your soft furnishings, carpets and drapery cleaned on a regular basis – this is also a good idea as it prolongs the life of your fixtures and fittings.
The most important factor to consider is ventilation. Whether smoking on your own or in company you need to make sure your space is ventilated. You need two windows open – one for intake and the other an exhaust so you have a flow of air that draws the smoke away – and you’ll find that makes a big difference. You can invest in filtration systems if you wish, but we recommend these are used on a secondary basis to natural ventilation.
There will always be smells associated with smoking cigars, but the above should give you good ideas as to how to keep them to a minimum, so take on board these tips and enjoy your cigars to the full.
