A longtime customer was moving.  Both he and his wife were smokers, and their cigarette smoke permeated their entire house.  They had a nice white brick fireplace that was stained from years of cigarette smoke.

The fireplace was the focal point of their family room and its yellowed appearance did not add appeal. Options to clean the brick were limited. After protecting surfaces with plastic I tried a few different cleaners.  None of them made any impact.  Finally, I  power washed the surface. Using a power washer had minimal impact.  With that said, you can see some of the tar and nicotine in the wash off.

Smoking indoors not only can impact your health, it also can impact your house.

Prepping the fireplace.

Nicotine residue