Tar

 

This post is a PSA. Don't smoke. Almost a year ago we got the keys for the house next door that we bought as a rental object and the previous owner was a chain-smoker who smoked indoors. I already knew that the tar in cigarettes could stain walls, blinds, light switches, etc. from my father's studio as they are all tinted in a strange shade of yellow unlike the other parts of the house. This, however, was the only room (that also had a door to the garden) in the house where he ever smoked. 

The previous owner of the house next door, however, would smoke in the house with windows closed and blinds drawn. We have already used copious amounts of heavy-duty cleaning products, but sometimes that slightly oily film of tar surprises you in random places such as the under-the-sink cabinet that I was in the process of wiping in the picture above. Extremely disgusting and shocking at the same time. I'd love to use photos of stained wads of kitchen roll such as this one as shock therapy to stop "aspiring smokers" in their tracks before it has become a habit...