How to Smoke Without Getting Caught (In the Car, Bathroom & More)

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Easy ways to mask weed and cigarette smoke smell

Co-authored by Riley Kirk, PhD and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: November 18, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Bathroom
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• Bedroom
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• Car
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• Removing Smell from Clothes
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• Hiding Smells from Neighbors
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• Using a Sploof
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• Hiding the Evidence
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• Weed Smell FAQs
|
• Video
|
• Tips
|
• Warnings

|Show more |Show less

Cigarette and marijuana smoke have distinct odors that can alert other people in your home to what you are doing. While smoking indoors is never an ideal situation, there are times when it can be preferable to going outside. In this article, we explain how to hide the smell so you don’t get caught in those situations, whether you’re smoking in your bathroom, bedroom, car, or somewhere else, with the help of cannabis research scientist and educator Riley Kirk, PhD and CBD expert Lauren Forsch.

If you need help to quit smoking, read How to Quit Smoking or visit the CDC website for resources andinformation.

How do you hide that you’re smoking?

Cannabis research scientist and educator Riley Kirk, PhD, suggests going outside to avoid spreading the smoke smell. If you can’t go outside:

• Try lighting incense before you smoke to drown out weed or cigarette smell.
• Use edibles or dabs in place of marijuana flower.
• Run the shower while smoking in the bathroom.
• Wash your hair and clothes to cover up any lingering smoke smell.
• Exhale through a sploof to mask the scent.

Steps

Section 1 of 8:

Smoking in the Bathroom Without Getting Caught

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1. 
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   Seal the door gaps with towels. To prevent any smoke from seeping under the door, roll up a towel and lay it out in front of the gap at the bottom of the door. Make sure that the towel extends from end to end of the door and that it is pressed close against the gap.

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Riley Kirk, PhD is a cannabis research scientist and educator based in New Hampshire. Riley educates her community of nearly 500K followers through her social media, @cannabichem.

   Lauren Forsch is a CBD expert and the founder of Popped.NYC, a cannabis company that makes CBD products for relief, wellness, self-care, and health.
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   Run the shower and let the steam coat the air. Taking a shower is a good excuse for spending lots of time in the bathroom, and the steam will also blend with the smoke and help to cover up the odor. Smoking in the shower doesn’t fully get rid of the smell, but it can help combat it if you’re careful. Crack a window, let the hot water from your shower run, and do your best to keep the smoke near the window or outside of it.

   • The sound of the shower will also help to mask the sounds of a lighter striking or of you puffing and exhaling smoke.
   • You may also want to play some music on your phone to provide an extra layer of sound protection.
   • Make sure that you actually take a shower (or at least get your hair wet so it looks like you took a shower), or people will be suspicious.
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   Direct the smoke outside or towards a vent if possible. As you smoke, make sure that you direct your smoke towards an open window or towards a vent. You may want to check out the window first to be sure nobody is outside who might see the smoke escaping from the window. If you direct the smoke towards a vent, make sure it doesn’t connect to any other rooms in the house.
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   Wash your hair with shampoo, conditioner, and apple cider vinegar. If you have time to actually take a shower, then make sure that you thoroughly wash the smoke smell out of your hair. The aromatic qualities of the shampoo will quickly fill the room, making any smoke odors difficult to detect. Then, condition your hair to further help absorb the smell of smoke. For good measure, rinse your hair with diluted apple cider vinegar for 2-3 minutes afterwards.

   • You can also pour a bit of shampoo into the sink and fill it up with hot water if you don’t have time to wash your hair.
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   Cover up any lingering smells with an air freshener. Try to get an air freshener that has a strong scent and that also neutralizes odors. Spray lots of air freshener before you exit the bathroom.

   • If you do not have any air freshener on hand, then body spray, cologne, or perfume can also work to cover up the smell. Spray it on yourself and around the bathroom as well.
   • Incense is also useful for getting rid of the smell of smoke. Just light it and let it do its thing.

Section 2 of 8:

Smoking in Your Bedroom Without Getting Caught

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1. 
   1
   Cover your hair. Hair is quite porous and tends to hold onto smells more than your skin does. Tie back long hair and cover it with a bandanna or towel to prevent the smoke from getting to your hair.

   • Use a plastic shower cap if possible, as the plastic will protect your hair, and it will not pick up any of the smoke’s smell either.
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   Keep the smoke away from your clothes or take them off. The more clothing that you have on, the more likely you are to collect smoke smell on your clothes. Consider taking off your shirt when you smoke or at least rolling up your sleeves.

   • You might also consider wearing a designated smoking jacket (or sweatshirt) when you smoke. Keep it hidden in your room somewhere and wear it when you need to smoke. Wash it at least once per week to keep it from smelling too much.
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   Burn some incense or a scented candle. Dr. Kirk suggests “lighting incense or lighting something else that might kind of counteract the smell a little bit.” While Dr. Kirk says that there aren’t many products that work well for just eliminating the smell of cannabis smoke, things like incense can still help combat the smell.

   • If you don’t have incense, sage or scented candles will do.
   • If you don’t have any of these things, then you can spray some air freshener around your room before and after you start smoking. It may not work as well, but it’s still helpful.
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   Put a damp towel at the bottom of your door. Using a damp towel will help prevent the smoke from escaping to other parts of your house, as towels become less porous when wet. Place the damp towel along the crack beneath your bedroom door. It will block the smoke from getting out of your room and absorb some of the odor, as well. The smell will be trapped in your room, though, so you’ll need to properly ventilate.
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   Open a window and use a fan to let the smoke out. You want to try to direct as much smoke as possible out of your room. Turn on a fan to push the smoke toward the window and help get rid of it. A tabletop fan pointed toward an open window or air duct is ideal. If smoke can't exit through an open window or duct, the odor may remain on walls, carpets, furniture, and linens.

   • If you happen to have a fireplace duct in your room, then that is even better. Fireplaces are specifically designed to allow smoke to escape a building, so it will be easier to direct smoke out of your room if your room has a fireplace duct.
   • If you are smoking in a bathroom with a ventilator or exhaust fan, turn it on and aim the smoke toward it to quickly eliminate visible smoke and odors. The special ventilators work by sucking up excess moisture and air particles.

Section 3 of 8:

Smoking in the Car Without Getting Caught

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1. 
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   Crack the windows of your car before you start smoking. Unless you plan on hotboxing, cracking your car windows is essential for making sure you don’t get caught, as it allows the smoke to escape the car before permeating the ceiling and seats. You don’t need to roll them all the way down, just slightly crack them so you feel a bit of wind whistling through.
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   Protect the vents with essential oil air fresheners and activated charcoal filters. Cut an activated charcoal filter to the size of your air vents and use an adhesive to hold them to the vents. Then, clip an aromatherapy freshener onto the filter. The activated charcoal filter will absorb the smell and help prevent it from spreading to the rest of the car. The essential oil air freshener will replace the smell with something more pleasant.

   • Together, they’ll protect the vents and help keep the smell from getting deep into your car.
   • Leave the activated charcoal in your car overnight to help absorb the smell.
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   Spray an odor-eliminating air freshener after smoking. For good measure, spray an odor-eliminating air freshener to combat the smell that wasn’t handled by the filters and fresheners on the vents. Spray the freshener throughout the front and back of your car, then leave the car so it’s able to work its way throughout the car without jeopardizing the air you’re breathing. Not sure which odor-eliminator to go for? Try these:

   • Ozium Air Sanitizer
   • Cannabolish
   • Agent 420
   • Zep Smoke Odor Eliminator
   • Forsch says that “there’s a great product called ‘No Smell No Tell’ from Long Island. It was formulated by a scientist, and it eats the smoke. It’s silicone-based, so you just spray it in the air, and the odor disappears.”
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   Open your windows and let your car air out. After letting the odor-eliminating spray sit for a few minutes, head back into your car to roll the windows down and air out any residual smells. If you’re in an area where you can’t roll your windows all the way down, whether it be in the garage, a driveway that’s being battered by snow or rain, or somewhere far too cold, feel free to skip this step and let the odor eliminator do its thing.
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   Replace the cabin air filter if you regularly smoke in the car. As you smoke in your car, some of the smoke will inevitably circulate throughout it, including through your air filter. Over time, the residue left from the smoke can build up in the cabin air filter and result in a lingering stench. To avoid this, replace your cabin air filter once you start to notice a residual odor.
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   Clean the upholstery and carpets if the smell doesn’t go away. Regularly smoking in your car can cause the smell to get trapped in your upholstery and carpet. To get rid of the smell, steam clean your upholstery or gently brush it with a soft-bristled brush and shampoo or an upholstery cleaner. Repeat the process on your carpet until the smell goes away.

   • Be careful when cleaning your upholstery, as you don’t want to damage any of the materials it’s housing.

Section 4 of 8:

Getting the Smoke Smell Out of Your Clothes

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1. 
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   Air yourself out for 15 minutes. Whether you just hotboxed the car or had a joint in the garage, you’re going to need to air yourself out, as the smell of smoke sticks to clothes fairly easily. After finishing your business, head outside and stay there for 15 minutes. Go for a walk, admire the scenery, or do whatever you need to get outside, as it will help get rid of the smell from your clothes
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   Wash your clothes using odor-neutralizing detergent. When you get home, take a shower, change into a new pair of clothes, and toss the ones you wore to smoke into the washer with some odor-neutralizing detergent. Since the smoke smell sticks to clothes fairly easily, you’ll need to wash them to get rid of the smell. Follow the care instructions on your garments to ensure that you wash them properly.

   • If you’re unable to wash your clothes, store them in a sealed bag with activated charcoal or another odor-fighter to help get rid of the smell.
   • Consider washing your clothes with lemon juice, vinegar, or baking soda if the smell is really strong. Just add ¼ to ½ cup of your cleaning agent into the bleach dispenser of your washing machine, then wash as normal.
     • Be careful when washing with lemon juice, as it’s a natural bleaching agent that can stain your clothes or fade the colors.
   • Hand washing your clothes with dish soap can help break down the fats and oils that house the terpenes in marijuana, which cause the stench.

Section 5 of 8:

Hiding the Smell From Your Neighbors

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1. 
   1
   Smoke outside away from windows and vents. Dr. Kirk suggests “going outside if you’re going to smoke and you’re trying to avoid that [weed] smell.” When you smoke outside, make sure you’re away from windows or vents so the smell doesn’t accidentally seep into your neighbors’ homes.
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   Try using products that don’t emit as strong a smell, like edibles or dabs. According to Dr. Kirk, “Even using something [like] a vaporizer or dabbing, it’s going to be less smelly than smoking flower.” Flower tends to be the smelliest way to consume weed, so if you’re trying to be more discreet, Dr. Kirk says to go with a vaporizer, dabs, or edibles.
3. 
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   Use fans and air purifiers to get rid of the smell indoors. Set a fan up facing the window and blow your smoke towards it so the smoke is sent out towards the window, rather than sitting in your home. After smoking, turn out an air purifier to get rid of any residual smoke and help cleanse the room of the stench. You may want to spray an odor-eliminator afterwards to ensure that the smell doesn’t linger.

Section 6 of 8:

Filtering Smoke Through a Sploof

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1. 
   1
   Gather toilet paper rolls and dryer sheets. Start saving up empty toilet paper rolls and keep a box of dryer sheets handy for when you want to smoke without anyone knowing. You can blow your smoke into the dryer sheet-stuffed tube (also known as a sploof), and it will pass through smelling like the dryer sheets.

   • You can also use an empty 20-ounce soda bottle with the bottom removed. These work great since the bottle is already made to fit in your mouth.
   • If you prefer a product designed to filter the smoke, try a Smokebuddy, a Sploofy, or other air filters made for smokers.
   • If you can't make a sploof, blow your smoke into a damp towel, t-shirt or other fabric that you don’t use frequently. The moist material will help absorb the smoke and its odor. Wash it immediately after you smoke.
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   Stuff three or four scented dryer sheets into the tube. Ensure that they're evenly spread between each opening so that the smoke will have to pass through the dryer sheets. If you are making a sploof from a soda bottle, use six or seven dryer sheets.
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   Blow the smoke into the sploof. After you take a drag of your cigarette or pipe, place one end of the sploof over your mouth and exhale into the tube. Make sure that you blow all of the smoke into the tube. When the smoke comes out on the other side, it will smell fresh like dryer sheets.

Section 7 of 8:

Disposing of the Evidence

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1. 
   1
   Extinguish your cigarette, pipe, or joint. If you are done smoking but your cigarette, pipe, or joint is still lit, then you will want to put it out right away. The best way to put out a lit cigarette or joint is by stubbing it in an ashtray or by dousing it in water.

   • To put out a pipe, stop puffing, and it should go out on its own after a minute or two. You can also cover the bowl with a flat object, and the lack of oxygen should put it out. If the bowl is too hot, then use a few drops of water.
   • To put out a joint, stub it in an ashtray or use a bit of water to put out the ember at the end. Just be careful not to get the whole joint wet, or you won’t be able to smoke the rest of it.
2. 
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   Clean your ashtray. If you used a small plate, cup, or jar as a makeshift ashtray, be sure to clean it well with hot water and a bit of dish soap until the ash is gone. If you used an empty can or some other disposable item, then you can just throw it away. Just make sure that it is covered up in the trash can. You may also want to clean it out first to prevent any odors from spreading in the trash can.
3. 
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   Dispose of what you smoked by flushing or tossing it. The easiest way to dispose of ashes or butts is to flush them down a toilet. Cover the cigarette in toilet paper to reduce the chance of ash and other debris floating back up. If you're nervous about flushing your evidence down the toilet, seal the ashes and/or butts in a plastic bag and toss the evidence into a public trash can or designated cigarette disposal area when you are out.
4. 
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   Wash away any lingering smoke or odors. Even when you are done smoking, the smell can remain on your hands, breath, and clothing. Washing your hands, brushing your teeth, showering, and changing your clothes will help to eliminate any lingering scents.

   • Wash your hands with lots of soap after you finish smoking. Washing with hot water alone won't be enough to rub off the smell. If you don’t have access to a bathroom, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
   • Brush your teeth for at least two minutes, with special attention given to the tongue and gums. You can also spruce up your breath by using mouthwash or eating a mint-flavored candy or gum.
   • Smoke will linger on any body part it touches, so showering is the most important part of your post-smoking routine. Use plenty of soap, shampoo, and shower gel, paying special attention to your hair, which most often retains the smell of smoke.
   • Once you're out of the shower, put on a fresh pair of clothes. No matter how diligently you directed smoke outdoors, some of the odor will still linger on your clothes. After showering, wash your clothes to avoid being caught.

Section 8 of 8:

Frequently Asked Questions about Weed Smell

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1. 1
   How long does weed smell last? The smell of weed can linger anywhere from a few hours to multiple days, depending on what materials it clings to. Porous materials like carpet, wood, and fabric typically hold the smell for longer, while non-porous materials and surfaces, like glass, plastics, and metals, tend to lose the smell fairly quickly.
2. 2
   Does walking get rid of the weed smell? Walking helps mitigate the weed smell, but it may not completely get rid of it, especially if you’ve been smoking joints or other products that can transfer the weed smell to your body. So, while walking is useful for lessening the weed smell, it’s still important to clean any items that hold onto the smell.
3. 3
   Does weed smoke stick to walls? Yes, weed smoke can stick to walls due to the oils within it. These oils stick to the paint and surface of the wall, as well as the curtains and blinds near the wall, once they’re exposed to them. It doesn’t stick as much as cigarette smoke, but it’s still something to note. You can clean your walls of weed smoke with warm water and vinegar, ammonia, or bleach.

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Tips

• Put a plastic bag (or two in case of holes) over any smoke detectors to stop them from detecting the smoke until it has cleared. Just make sure you remove them after you take care of the smoke.
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• After brushing your teeth, use hand lotion to keep the smell on your hands from attracting attention.
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• Replace the dryer sheets in your sploof after every five cigarettes smoked. Even if the dryer sheets still smell good, using them at their peak scent will help ensure you eliminate smoke odors.
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Warnings

• Don't spray any aerosol products in the vicinity of a lit cigarette or open flame, as they are generally flammable.
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• Don't try and smoke anywhere where smoking is illegal, such as an airplane restroom or a courthouse. You might be able to fool a human nose, but you can't con a smoke detector, and you could wind up with a big fine or even a jail sentence.
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