by Nebula Haze
Want to enjoy weed in peace, with no one the wiser? Then you’ve come to the right place! Today you’ll learn how to prevent the smell of cannabis while smoking, traveling, or growing. Get seeds here.
Time to enjoy weed… without the smell!
Your Roadmap to Smell-Free Weed Enjoyment
Here are the three main situations where cannabis smells become a problem, with solutions.
- Smoking – Breathe smoke into a Sploofy, then spray when you’re done smoking (I use a spritz of vanilla OZIUM).
- Traveling – Store weed in smell-proof bags inside a secret stash safe.
- Growing – Install a carbon filter in your grow tent.
Enjoy cannabis without much smell by using methods that neutralize, filter, and contain smells in these 3 situations.
Learn how to neutralize, filter, and contain smells.
1.) Smoking – Stealthy Weed Enjoyment
Smoking is the most popular way to enjoy weed, by far. Ask any dispensary worker and they’ll tell you most of their business is selling straight flower to people. But smoking can be stinky… until you know what to do.
Principles of low-smell smoking:
- Reduce Smoke – Use a bong or pipe instead of a joint, and practice smoking efficiently so you don’t lose extra smoke.
- Use a Personal Air Filter – This is key. Use a personal air filter when breathing out to “scrub” the smell of smoke.
- Spray Afterwards – Finish each smoking session with a spray that neutralizes and covers any remaining weed smell.
When you smoke weed, you can never completely cover up the smell. But you can cut down the smell quite a bit with the right tools and a little practice.
Smoking method (contain & filter smoke)
First, let’s talk smoking methods (joint vs pipes vs bongs, etc.).
I love joints, and they’re awesome for many situations. However, when the smell of smoke is a concern, they’re not always the best choice. The issue is they constantly emit smoke even when you’re not actively smoking.
That being said, the real factor to cut down smell when smoking weed is to always use a “personal air filter” like the Sploofy, which is essentially a “carbon scrubber” for your mouth (if you know, you know).
Breathe into the Sploofy to filter smoke.
How did it get the name? The “old school” way to reduce the smell of weed smoke was to make a “sploofy” out of a toilet paper roll full of toilet paper, sometimes laundry sheets, so when you breathe out, the smoke is somewhat filtered out.
Some inspired cannabis enthusiast decided to make an industrial version. Each Sploofy has a carbon filter inside to trap smells and odors. They last quite a while, and the filters can be replaced. There are alternative personal air filters including the Smoke Buddy, but I like the Sploofy version because you can refill carbon filter cartridges instead of having to buy a new device every time.
Here’s me smoking a joint with and without a Sploofy filter. As you can see, the joint emits smoke between puffs, but a filter immensely cuts down smoke.
If you continuously smoke a joint from beginning to end, the “smoke leakage” isn’t too bad. But slowly enjoying a joint can cause a problem because smoke keeps coming out between puffs.
When trying to reduce the smell from smoking, often a “smoking piece” like a small pipe or bong (water pipe) can be a better choice because (with practice) you can more fully contain the weed smoke until it leaves your mouth. That being said, if you don’t smoke the bong perfectly, smoke does leak out.
Here’s a video showing the smoke difference between smoking weed out of a bong, with and without a filter.
In the top “without filter” version with the bong, I didn’t “leak” any smoke while smoking. If I had used a filter, that “hit” would have been almost smoke-free. But in the bottom version, the bowl of weed I made was too big, and I couldn’t smoke the whole thing in one “hit”. But you can see the filter cut down most of the smoke even when I didn’t use the piece “perfectly”.
Breathe into the Sploofy and scrub the smell of smoke.
You can get a Sploofy in crazy colors. I’ve had this one for years.
Summary: Regardless of how you smoke the weed, you should use a Sploofy-type device to dramatically reduce the smell after smoking cannabis.
Smoke & Smell Eliminator Sprays
These are for when you need to instantly get rid of the smell of weed from a space. These sprays are also good to give a quick “spritz” after a smoking session to neutralize and cover up the smell of smoke.
FunkAway, Zep, and Ozium are three common examples. Compared to a typical perfume, these are much better at getting the smell of weed or smoke out of the air. Just remember, a little goes a long way.
A tiny spritz of Vanilla Ozium disguises the smell of weed.
I have a regular size bottle for the house, and a travel-sized version for the car.
2.) Traveling – Stealthy Weed Storage
When traveling, the goal is different from smoking. It’s not that you’re trying to fight active smoke, the goal is to completely contain weed smell so it never escapes from the source.
But what containers hide weed smell? The most popular option is…
Smell-Proof Bags
These are a great place to store weed so that it doesn’t smell up the place. They’re plastic so they don’t attract attention under an X-ray machine or similar screening, which makes them a good choice for traveling. Grove Bags are a popular example though there are many cheaper brands that work great.
I like smell-proof bags but they’re really stiff and hard to fit into a secret stash safe (like the one below).
So to weed in this diversion safe, I recommend getting regular plastic baggies since they’re easier to roll up. Wrap the weed up tight, and double bag it if possible before putting in the safe place.
The fake lint roller by “Safety Technology” is the most realistic version I’ve seen. It has a handle that is shaped like this, and usually says “Scotch Brite” on the design. These actually work as a lint roller, and just look like a regular roller, though cost $30-40 unfortunately.
Usually listed as a “Lint Roller Diversion Safe”
3.) Growing – No Smells During Your Grow
We talked about how to keep your weed smell stealthy for smoking and traveling, but what about during your home cannabis grow?
Me in 2008, smoking the first weed I ever grew.
Unlike smoking or traveling, growing needs a solution running 24/7 so no one is ever the wiser…
Most cannabis strains have a pungent smell, like ultra-potent Godfather OG grown here by Dane. The smell can be hard to ignore.
Some cannabis strains like Candy Games #38 have a low overall smell. However, even these “low odor” strains make some smell in the flowering stage that should be scrubbed with a filter.
(When does it start to smell when growing weed?)
Luckily, controlling grow smell is surprisingly easy and straightforward by growing cannabis in a tent with a carbon filter.
Grow Tent + Carbon Filter
This is a proven way to grow weed without any odors indoors. Grow your plants in a grow tent created specifically for this purpose. Hang an exhaust fan with a carbon filter at the specially designed port in the tent. You not only vent out all the heat from your grow light, but also stop all the smell of weed from accidentally spilling into the house.
The carbon filter and fan vent out heat while filtering smells.
This setup is also reflective, waterproof, and convenient for a “pop up” weed growing experience. If you’re not sure where to get started, I think this complete cannabis home grow kit is awesome for growers getting started. Just add soil, seeds, and nutrients.
This 300W kit can grow 8-14 ounces of weed. Just add soil and seeds. No smells!
Here’s plants in that grow setup. I ended up harvesting 11.4 ounces.
Learn more about this setup and grow light.
These tools make it easy to enjoy your weed at your own discretion, whether you’re at home, traveling, or growing.
Summary
- Smoking – use a piece, practice smoking efficiently, filter smoke, neutralize smells
- Traveling – smell-proof bags, stored out of sight
- Growing – keep plants in a tent with a carbon filter
Now go and enjoy the world with your weed!
Bonus: “Low-Smell” Cannabis Strains (Make Life a Little Easier)
Here’s a list of strains with a lower-than-average smell. You should still get a carbon filter with these, but they will be overall less smelly while growing, and after they’ve been dried and cured.
Blue Dream by Seed Supreme
This is a dream strain for real. Huge yields, dense buds, easy to grow. The smell of buds is mild but pleasant, vaguely sweet without any skunkiness. Medium-High effects great for an afternoon.
Blue Dream had the best yields in my last grow.
Grow Tips for Blue Dream
- Smell – It smells a little sweet and a little sharp (kind of reminds me of that 2005 “kush” smell). But overall has a mild odor, including after being dried and cured. That can make it a great choice for a grower who doesn’t want to be overwhelmed with smell. Also does great outdoors.
- Grows Fast – Fast germination, grows extremely fast, so it can be easy to let it grow too big. Indoor growers, make sure to initiate 12/12 once it’s reached half the final height, as plants will double in size after 12/12.
- Flexible – Responds great to training, or just cut off the top above the 5th set of leaves, and let it grow naturally. Resistant to light stress and heat stress.
- Big yields – Can be harvested around 75 days from 12/12, though buds get bigger if you let them go longer. Make sure to harvest if you see any amber trichomes. Since the trichomes don’t always turn white with this strain (often go from clear to amber), it’s better to harvest when you see the first few amber trichomes on the buds themselves.
Some of the Blue Dream buds I harvested.
Candy Games #38 by Happy Valley Genetics
This is for growers who want to grow the prettiest buds they’ve ever seen, with a mild smell. High potency buds are dense and covered in glitter. Both plants I grew started out green, but turned purple over the course of the flowering stage.
Candy Games #38 had the most beautiful buds in my last grow.
Grow Tips for Candy Games #38
- Smell – It has a light, somewhat skunky smell.
- Beauty – Buds form into works of art, with sparkly, round, golf-ball nugs.
- Stretchy – This strain tends to “stretch” a lot after initiating 12/12, so don’t let it get too big before flowering.
- Potency – High potency buds can be harvested around 70 days from 12/12.
One of the Candy Games #38 buds I harvested.
Purple Ghost Candy by Seedsman
One of my top 3 strains for a reason. Big yields, dense buds, and insane POTENCY. Definitely for experienced smokers only. A lovely sweet candy kind of smell, almost doesn’t smell like weed, though a relatively mild odor overall. Very fast-growing and stretchy strain. Pairs well with the Blue Dream as far as growth patterns and harvest time.
Purple Ghost Candy had good yields and the best smell in my last grow.
Grow Tips for Purple Ghost Candy
- Delicious Smell – I love the smell of Purple Ghost Candy buds. They’re truly sweet and have “candy” smell to them, but not an overwhelming scent. Often described as “berry” flavored, they don’t smell as much like weed as most cannabis strains.
- Grows Fast, Gets Big – Another strain that grows fast enough to fill the grow space if you’re not paying attention. Indoor growers, make sure to initiate 12/12 once it’s reached half the final height, as plants will double in size after 12/12.
- Flexible – Responds incredibly well to training. Just bend branches where you want them and tie them in place. The plant doesn’t mind. In the flowering stage, it needs support (for example plant yo-yos) to hold up the buds, as they get heavy and start falling over.
- Dense Buds – Can be harvested about 75 days from 12/12, though buds increase in potency if you let plants go a little longer. The leaves typically turn purple by the end, but sometimes the buds stay green (though my last batch came out purple-tinged, as you can see below).
Some of the Purple Ghost Candy buds I harvested.
You are now armed with all the information you need to enjoy weed in the world without worrying about smell.
About the Author
Nebula Haze is the co-founder of GrowWeedEasy.com, one of the most comprehensive cannabis grow resources on earth. Since 2010, Nebula has written over 700 articles and tutorials covering every aspect of growing weed at home, including the free 10-Step Guide to Growing Cannabis. Her work focuses on creating clear instructions using proven techniques to make home growing smooth and productive. She is an instructor for the online 5-week course Home Grow Masterclass. She is also the author of the book Harvest, a step-by-step guide on preparation, harvest day, and drying/trimming/curing, so buds come out dense, potent, and smell great.
