Walk into almost any smoke shop in America, and you’ll likely find it. Sitting near the register or burning quietly in the background, Smoke Odor Exterminator has become a subtle but consistent presence in the culture.
From rental cars to hotel rooms to apartments, it’s the kind of product people rely on when it actually matters. Between strict smoking policies and the loud smell of unburnt flower, Smoke Odor Exterminator candles and sprays have been battle-tested in real-life situations, trusted by generations of smokers to eliminate odor at the source, not just cover it up.
This year marks 25 years since the launch of the Smoke Odor Exterminator line—a milestone that says less about longevity and more about consistency. Because in a space that constantly shifts, very few products stick around unless they actually work.
Before It Was a Brand, It Was a Hustle
Long before legalization and before cannabis culture became mainstream, founder Paul Hoge was simply trying to make a living. In mid-1970s Florida, he started by pouring candles on his mother’s stove and selling them to tourists outside restaurants. There was no formal business plan—just instinct, hustle, and a passion for making candles.
That early grind turned into a real business in 1976, and over the next couple of decades, the company operated in the traditional candle world, producing seashell candles and novelty gift shop items. It worked for a time, but like many small businesses, they were eventually hit by industry shifts that forced them to rethink everything.
Solving a Problem Everyone Had
About 25 years ago, a challenge from the cigar world changed everything. Paul’s friends Don Bores and Paul Walsh proposed an idea: create a candle that doesn’t just mask smoke odor—but eliminates it.
At the time, most solutions were built around masking the smell—incense, sprays, or heavily scented candles—but none of them actually solved it. That challenge led to the development of a proprietary, enzyme-based formula designed to eliminate odor at the source rather than cover it up. That moment became the foundation of the brand as it exists today.
What started as a candle evolved into something more functional—a product people didn’t just want, but needed. From there, the Smoke Odor Exterminator line expanded into a full system of sprays, car fresheners, and portable formats designed for real-life use.
Legacy Built with Smoke Shops
Initially, Smoke Odor Exterminator found its way into cigar lounges and tobacco shops, but its real growth came when it entered the smoke shop space. At a time when cannabis culture was still largely underground, Jeff Hirschfeld launched the Champs Tradeshow and provided the brand with a platform to connect with the smokeshop community. Smoke Odor Exterminator stepped into environments that were raw, unfiltered, and deeply rooted in community. Growth happened naturally—store by store, owner to owner, driven by word of mouth rather than marketing campaigns.
Over time, Smoke Odor Exterminator expanded its scent lineup to reflect the culture it grew with—introducing fragrances like Hippie Love, Nag Champa, Sandalwood, and Dragon’s Blood, each rooted in the sensory identity of smoke shops and cannabis spaces. These weren’t just scents—they were nostalgic experiences, recreated in a candle or spray.
Jeanne Swanson, a longtime member of the Smoke Odor Candles family, has spent years helping shape the brand. Her passion shines through in Hippie Love, a fragrance she developed. One of the brand’s defining moments came in 2011 with the release of Hippie Love, which featured a cannabis leaf on the label. It was a bold move at a time when that kind of imagery still carried risk. The product quickly became a best-seller and marked a shift in how the brand showed up—no longer adjacent to the culture, but fully part of it.
The Candle You Can Afford to Burn
From the beginning, the goal was to create something people could use every day. That meant keeping pricing accessible, performance consistent, and products designed for real-life situations—not special occasions. This philosophy—often described as “the candle you can afford to burn”—became central to the brand’s identity. Today, that philosophy extends across the entire product line of candles, sprays, and car fresheners.
In the odor control world, you usually have to pick a side. Either it smells good but doesn’t really work—or it works, but smells like chemicals you don’t want anywhere near your space. Smoke Odor Exterminator built its reputation by refusing to compromise. It’s a product that actually eliminates odor at the source, while still delivering a scent profile that feels intentional, not artificial—all without pricing itself out of everyday use.
Product Lineup and Scent Profiles
Each product in the lineup is designed with a specific role in mind. The candle is built for more stationary environments—homes, offices, or any space where consistent, long-lasting odor control matters. The larger 7oz sprays offer a quick, effective solution for areas like bathrooms or shared spaces where you need immediate results. Then there’s the 1oz spray—the everyday carry. Compact, TSA-friendly, and easy to keep within reach, it’s designed to move with you, whether it’s in a bag, a car, or wherever the moment calls for it.
Across every format, the brand offers a wide range of scents tailored to different preferences—from familiar, nostalgic profiles to more modern, layered fragrances. With so many options to choose from, finding a favorite isn’t the challenge—it’s narrowing down which to choose.
The Perfect Match: Collaboration with BIC
As the Smoke Odor Exterminator brand celebrates its 25th anniversary, it’s also rolling out a new collaboration with BIC.
The Perfect Match box set pairs a Smoke Odor Candle with a matching BIC EZ Reach lighter for each scent. With its extended wand, the EZ Reach lighter makes lighting a candle that much easier, keeping your hand and fingers comfortably away from the flame while you get to the wick. The collaboration reflects how people already use both products in real life—bringing them together in one box set just makes sense.
The Perfect Match is now available at Wild Bill’s Tobacco locations across Michigan.
Independent Then, Independent Now
The company has remained intentionally independent, not backed by major corporations, and continues to price its products with small business retailers in mind. Affordability isn’t just about the end consumer—it’s about ensuring retail partners can move product, stay competitive, and keep customers coming back.
On the consumer side, the philosophy has always been just as clear: when a product is priced too high, people hesitate to use it. They save it. And that defeats the purpose. So accessibility became part of the design. Something you light every time you light up. Something that becomes part of the ritual—not something that just sits on a shelf.
Showing Up Beyond the Shelf
That commitment to community extends beyond retail. In moments when it matters most, the brand’s candles have served a purpose beyond odor control. Following natural disasters like Hurricane Maria, the company stepped in to support impacted communities by providing candles as a practical source of light during widespread power outages—offering something simple yet essential in the immediate aftermath.
That same mindset carries into its partnership with Maestro Cares, the nonprofit co-founded by Marc Anthony, where the brand supports initiatives focused on underserved communities across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The brand actively supports independent artists who are shaping the culture from within—from Haizi Haze, a recording artist and content creator with deep ties to cannabis culture, to Shirley Ju, journalist and host of Shirley’s Temple Podcast, to Sean Dietrich, a painter whose original artwork is now being integrated into a new collaborative product line.
For Smoke Odor Exterminator, community is embedded in how the company operates. Whether it’s showing up in times of crisis, supporting independent retailers, or investing in the culture itself, the approach remains consistent: stay rooted in the community and contribute in a real way.
Looking Ahead Without Losing the Core
In 2026, Smoke Odor Exterminator is expanding further into the dispensary space, developing products like 1oz sprays that are designed for convenience, portability, and easy placement within retail environments. The approach remains consistent: meet customers where they already are and create products that fit naturally into their routines.
As an Emerald Sponsor of the New Jersey Cannabis Cup, Smoke Odor Exterminator is bringing that energy directly to the High Times community—inviting attendees to stop by the booth, connect, and experience the products firsthand. With Haizi Haze set to perform at the event, it’s a natural extension of the brand’s ongoing support for artists and the culture they help shape. Twenty-five years after launching the Smoke Odor Exterminator line—and nearly 50 years since the business first began—the brand remains grounded in the same principles: solve a real problem, stay accessible, and support the community that built it.
Find your favorite scent at a smoke shop near you.
Photos courtesy of Haizi Haze.
Sponsored Content Disclaimer: This article is sponsored content produced in partnership with Smoke Odor Exterminator. While it follows High Times editorial standards for clarity and structure, it is part of a paid collaboration. Information about products, formulations, and brand history is provided by the sponsor and has not been independently verified by High Times.
