Cigarette smoke smell in the car ....

[Stevie Ray]

I bought a used Explorer that I now need to get the cigarette smoke smell out of. We normally don't smoke in the ole vehicle, but I got a deal on this one ... likely due to the smoke smell ... but .. what can I say. What say yee?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Simon G]

Stevie,

Not an easy one that's for sure! :eek: First of all, shampoo the carpets and upholstery. The best detergent I found was one of the types made for pet odours. If it's leather, wash down with a mild soap. Remember the headlining and behind the sun visors! Leave the windows and sunroof open at every opportunity when outdoors.

Take some lemons cut a couple into fours, place them in a small string bag or old nylons and hang them in the car, preferably where the wind will catch them when the windows are open. :)

I had to do this to both cars when the wife and I quit. Took about a month. The lemons have been replaced with regular car fresh though! :D

Regards,

Simon.

[Sword and Shield]

Activated charcoal tins also work quite well.

[Simona]

I bought a used Explorer that I now need to get the cigarette smoke smell out of. We normally don't smoke in the ole vehicle, but I got a deal on this one ... likely due to the smoke smell ... but .. what can I say. What say yee?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

TRY VINEGAR.
First, clean car inside - vinyl roof, door and etc. with clean hot water and vinegar, 1:1 (do not use this on leather, if you have leather seats and etc.,do not clean leather with this)
And you give, over the night or two, plate with 0,2-0,3l of vinegar (normal classic vinegar) in the car...this kill stink from smoking and vinegar smell you can easy ventilate...

[wotanson]

Thats one of my favorite smells :D reminds me of childhood (and adulthood actually) I use Febreeze to keep the smell down to a minimum, but everytime I have the car detailed it seems to take care of it.


Cheers,
Rob

[Stevie Ray]

Thanks for all the tips.

I'm going to be trying some of them over the next few days. I've also gathered that the smell does lessen just with the passage of time. It's interesting that I do like a good cigar and enjoy the smell, but just not in the car. I especially don't care for the kind of stale smell that's in there now.

[Ray.Hood]

I'm with Wotanson on this one. As a Black and Mild smoker, I too love a certain smell. Make sure that you keep the windows cracked and the vehicle vacuumed well, that should help.

[boxer93]

Steve,
This may be stating the obvious, don't forget all of the interior glass. It's amazing how much it can build up layers of smoke.
my 3 cents US
Chris

[fret]

A very difficult smell to remove. We had a car that someone smoked in for several thousand miles. No way could we remove the smell nor cover it up. Had to trade it in for a non smokers car. The next person that bought it chain smoked and was very happy with the car. I was told by a used car dealer that an "ion" machine would remove the odor and kill all kinds of bugs. Humans too. I guess only a few places have these machines as they are very expensive to buy.

[Stevie Ray]

Chris,

Ya know ... I keep meaning to give the glass a good windex scrubbing, but thus far ... have not. I'm going to to do that tonight.

[Simple Man]

A very difficult smell to remove. We had a car that someone smoked in for several thousand miles. No way could we remove the smell nor cover it up. Had to trade it in for a non smokers car. The next person that bought it chain smoked and was very happy with the car. I was told by a used car dealer that an "ion" machine would remove the odor and kill all kinds of bugs. Humans too. I guess only a few places have these machines as they are very expensive to buy.

"Used car dealer" Therein lies the problem, pun intended. Back when we were in the market, I drove several cars that had been "ionized" and I could not tell much difference between that and other that had nothing more than a decent detailing.

In my opinion, once a car has been smoked in, it is never quite the same. A lot of the time, you can get the stale smoke smell out after cleaning everything very throughly, and airing it out over several months, but you can never get it back to the pre-smoked state.

[Stevie Ray]

Latest update ...

Well ... I'm gonna try hard to get rid of the smell. I'm doing it in stages .... The wife found a new version of Febreeze that is in a spray can. That and the bounce are working on it at the moment ... I do appreciate all the feedback as I have taken a little risk buying this car with the smoke smell thing working in it ...


I have made an appreciable dent in it so far. Steps to date:

1. High powered vac over every square inch

2. shampooed the carpet, headliner and seats with the armorall cleaner that is suposed to deal with smells too

3. Lots of open windows

4. Fan blowing through it at night

5. 1.5 cans of the new Febreeze product

6. 5 sheets of bounce in strategic spots ... (uh huh ... :rolleyes: )

7. Threw away the original cloth mats and bought HD rubber

7. Tonight ... it's gonna be windex on the windows ....

The first night .. the smell was so tough that in the am inside the closed garage that I had to air the garage out ... After 3 days and the treatments above ... I couldn't smell it except in the rear near the hatch .... AND when I turned on the AC ... so it's in the ventilation system as well. I shot some of the Febreeze into the vents this am.

I did save some money on this car due to the smell, (likely 1500 or so ...), but we'll see how much stink I can actually remove... This is gonna be a learning experience for me one way or the other ... I'm stuck with it for the next 4 years or so...

Thanks so much for all the input .. I may end up trying each tip listed before this is all over.....

[Simple Man]

Sounds like you are making difference in it with elbow grease and some time to let it fade. For the A/C, I would suggest spraying some air-conditioner deodorizer in the fresh air intake grate at the base of the windshield (behind the wipers) with the A/C running on high. It may take a couple times to clear it up for good.

You can probably buy some from a local auto clean-up shop. If not, you could try Febreeze and see if that helps. YMMV

[Stevie Ray]

Rom,

An excellent idea which I will try tonight. My wife went back back to Costco and picked up more Frebreeze. With the aerosol version of the stuff, it will likely get through the entire dash system. Anyway ... I'll keep posting, as it seems this is a common problem.

[Stevie Ray]

This new version of Febreeze is working well. The smoke smell is very very faint at this point (only 10 days into it, so I'm optimistic that we'll get rid of the smell entirely over time) .... BUT GET THIS ...

Granted, this is a used vehicle, but it's new to us, BUT, after less than 10 days of ownership ... The wife hit a deer ... :eek: She's OK ... and only the bumper has to be replaced so we got lucky, but jeeze .....

For you Canadians reading this, I've got a picture of a car that hit a moose up in Canada. My company circulated the picture last week as a safety reminder to our guys in the field. I'll try to post same later this week. The damage to the car that struck the moose is unbelievable.

[boxer93]

Steve,
Good to hear she's ok. We have signs all through NH warning of moose. At one point they kept track of the number of accidents. It became like McDonalds where you had to change the sign too much. As for the damage especially with the moose all the weight is above those skinny legs. When an car hood hits the legs then you get 2000lbs of moose right in the windshield :eek:
I've learned they feed primarily at dawn and dusk near water supplies. There is one spot near my mother-in-laws that we can usually see them if the time of day is right.
Chris