No More Ashy Breath: 5 Tips for a Fresher Mouth

You’ve focused on removing the cigarette smell from your car. You’ve taken efforts to eliminate the smell of smoke from your home.

Now it’s time to make sure your breath doesn’t smell like an ash tray.

The issue is that many odor removers tend to mask the bad smells that are on your breath. Once the masking agent wears off, you smell like the after effects of a bonfire whenever you breathe next to someone once again.

It’s time to take control of your smoker’s breath at the source. Here’s how you can make that happen today.

1. Use an alcohol-based mouthwash. Because smoke particles coat the inside of your mouth, you need to use a substance that can break through that coating and remove it. Alcohol does an excellent job of this, but it takes some time to get the job done. Don’t use an alcohol-based spray to improve your breath. Use an alcohol-based mouthwash instead. You’ll need to swirl and gurgle for a minimum of 30 seconds for positive results.

2. Hydrogen Peroxide. Careful with this one because you won’t want to swallow anything. The hydrogen peroxide also cuts through the coating of smoke particles that get left behind in your mouth so you the odors can be removed. It will also work to disinfect your mouth at the same time. A 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water is usually the best option since taking this substance straight can create a gag reflex.

3. Baking Soda. A baking soda toothpaste is remarkably effective at removing ashy breath. You’ll need to brush your teeth, tongue, gums, and cheeks for the product to be effective. Just swishing the toothpaste foam and saliva mix in your mouth can leave residue behind. If you don’t have toothpaste, you can make a simple paste with 2 tablespoons of baking soda and enough water to make a paste.

You can also mix one part baking soda with two parts white vinegar to remove ashy breath odors that are extremely strong.

4. Apple Cider Vinegar. This type of vinegar is particularly aggressive with its acidic format, allowing it to cut through the coating of residue that happens to be in your mouth. You don’t even need to swirl or gurgle this vinegar to remove the bad odors from your breath. Boil some of the vinegar and breathe in the steam for about 15 minutes and that ashy breath will start fading away.

5. Ginger. Chewing raw ginger root can neutralize the odor compounds that linger in your mouth. Make sure you peel the bark off the ginger root before chewing to avoid having tiny brown bits getting stuck in your teeth.

A masking agent can be helpful if you have a bad breath emergency. The most effective masking agent is a cup of milk. Drinking lemonade, eating a lemon, or eating an apple will also work to mask the ashy odor until you can remove it completely.

You don’t need to settle for smoke odors on your breath anymore. Take these steps today and make the bad breath go away for good.