How to remove nicotine stains from bathroom walls? Professional Cleaner Reveals What 26 Years of Cigarette Smoke Does to Walls Newsweek It's Not Just Cigarettes: Vape Residue Sticks on Surfaces Too Thirdhand Smoke Resource Center After 23 years of cigarette smoke, these walls were coated in sticky yellow residue. A deep clean with TSP, followed by a shellac based primer, brought them back to life like new.