how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Looking at a newer vehicle but I could tell instantly that the previous owner smoked. Cloth seats,carpet. 3 row seats too. Is there a process or a way to get rid of the smell:smoke:?

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

a good rug shampoo on carpet and fabric seats will remove alot then treating with a fabric spray like febreeze// some newer cars have airfilters for the interior of the car that holds smells too// recently i saw a product on "2guys garage" that they used to desmell a car but i didnt get info on it..

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

The dealership I work at has a electric ion cleaner thing (sorry, forgot what the actual name is)

I'm told is does wonders for removing tobacco smoke sell. The machine plugs into
120V and left inside the car all day.

See if a local detailing shop offers such a service

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

If u have 1/2 day on your hands, u can save money and do it yourself. I would completely vacuum the interior. Shampoo the carpets and matts with a spray cleaner and then air dry & re-vacuum. Since they are cloth seats, buy a spray fabric cleaner and gently brush in the cleaner and then re-vacuum to dry. Protect with Automotive Fabric Spray. Clean the interior door panels and dash with vinyl cleaner and then protect with a Protectant such as 303. Clean the interior windows. Finally, spray with Auto Fabreeze and change the cabin air filter.

This should completely get rid of all odors.
Check out Auopia.org for more ideas and/or Autogeek.net

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Pull the seats, steam clean the carpets and seats. Scrub all plastic trim with Simple Green or another cleaner of choice.
Don't forget the headliner ;)

Febreeze will only mask odors, cleaning will do the trick :D

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

tapeworm presented a great machine. My dad used to work at a dealership after he retired, and when they would get in a "smoker" they would set this machine inside the vehicle and let it run for a 1/2 day, a day, or however long it would take. This thing did wonders for several vehicles they sold not long after.

2badgn presented some great ideas as well. If it were me I would completely remove the seats and break down the clean up as Joe mentioned.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

The one place that the smells will be the most predominant in will be the headliner. This of course is the worst thing to try to clean. Most headliners are now the cloth with the foam backing that is glued to a fiberglass formed piece. if you get this too wet it deteriorates and starts to hang down in the vehicle. You can use a wet upholstery clearner/vacuum and apply a very light mist of water to the material and suck the residue from the fabric, but be careful. I have used a squirt bottle with water that has a small amount of vinegar in it to do such cleaning. Be sure to use the upholstery vacuum to pul what you can from the material.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

You could try smoking something else to cover up the smell.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I like how you think :lol:

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Wow Man, what is that in the rear view mirror?????? Is it Officer Stidanko?

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

LOL you crack me up

I gotta AWFUL burnt wire smell in my truck no carpet headliner only thing cloth is the seat tried febreeze worked great for 5 minutes then it came back whats next? lite up a joint in the cab lol

JK bout the joint...

any ideas

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I gave that up years ago lol. thanks guys for all the replies and advice. My wife doesn't even like to talk about the smoke smelling suv so I kept looking and found a truck in TX. I will fly out and drive it home next Sat. It supposedly hasn't been smoked in but if it has I will be taking a lot of your suggestions and puting them to work. I hope that it hasn't as shes going with me. :smoke:

THANKS AGAIN!

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I have heard of people using a spray sold in sporting goods stores that deer hunters use to mask their smell from the deer. Never tried it. If anyone does, post whether it works or not. Its worth a try.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Just don't get "Buck Lure" by mistake....

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Unless you have a gunrack in your back window

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

fabreaze?:pty:

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I have never tried this, I was told that lemon juice and water in a spray bottle works great for odor removal. Spray on liberally, and let dry. I have a very stinky truck to try this on, so I will.:metal:

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

It amazes me how many people think that fabreeze cleans. Its a synthetic fragrance that masks odors. Not saying it doesn't have its place but never as a cleaner. That is like putting deodorant on when you need a bath/shower.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I believe you guys are thinking of an ozone machine. You would close up the car and let it run for about 24 hrs. Don't try to clean the headliner, just get some quotes on replacement. Clean the windows several times. I've seen cars so caked with nicotine that when I'd spray window cleaner on the windows it would run yellow and puddle on the door panels. There was one in particular that was so bad I spend an entire day cleaning the windows and it never stopped. I think we finally just sent that terd to auction.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Chuck, eat a bunch of Chili and then go to work baby!!!!!!

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

This, or Lysol

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I do that in every vehicle I own. Luckily the sales person was right and the truck hadn't been smoked in. It still smells new. Heres a pic of what I wound up buying. i got the 20'' wheels from Ron586. TY.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...SANY0009-5.jpg

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Nice truck Chuck!

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Thanks.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

After having quitting smoking (both) for several years I could never get the cig smoke outta my 97 Silverado til one day it was gone.........yea some sob stole my truck!
I have not been having great luck with trucks past few years seems.

And now a freaking tree fell on my 86 but before that I rolled and tumbled a 77 lwb chevy and found myself lying in a hospital bed with a broken neck (crushed C5 bone).

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...2010_00000.jpg

It has healed really well but to think I have another person's bone in my neck freaks me out somewhat.

Sorry I got off track a little. Just needed to vent some. :smoke:

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

actually i would try the water/vinegar route myself since it works wonders with smelly cat pee(last week i wanted to make kitten katsu out of the lil sob for peeing on both my pillow and side of the bed. thank god he's gone) in cloths since one of the cats likes to use the house as his litter box. again thank god i got rid of him. and i wonder how long the ozone machine treatment would last.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I couldn't agree more with the vinegar. Had a giant gasoline fiasco (don't ask...I'm still alive) in the truck and in the garage. Placed a few bowls of white vinegar around the house and one in the truck for a few days and tada! No more gas smell. Of course, you'll have to give the PU a good cleaning first.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I didn't get the suv that had the smoke smell in it. I posted earlier that I went to TX and found a low mileage truck that hadn't been smoked in.Recently we had a hail storm and the truck had some damage to the roof,hood and a couple dents on doors here and there. It was 5700.00 worth of damage. Well I picked it up,, well my wife did and when I got home and gave it a good once-over everything on the outside looks great. When I opened the door I was hit with bodyshop smell. It smells like bondo/thinner. It just hits you when you first open the door then isn't as noticable after your in it for a while. It still has a new smell as well. I think I need to detail it myself so I can make sure its done well. And I think that its normal to have that lingering smell considering all that they did.Thanks guys for all your replies and I may try some if this body shop smell doesn't pass.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I used a product called ozium on a ford ranger that we bought for our son. it worked real well. and the po was a cigar bone head!! try it! worked for us cheers, Pat

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

after you cleaned it the best you can, put a drier fabric softner sheet behind the vent.... nice cheap way of having a good smelling interior.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

You can clean all you want, you'll never get it out completely.

I've cleaned mine pretty well, and I've cleaned out the a/c ducts under the dash and sprayed the evaporator with lemon cleaner. Main problem is the seats and headliner but you dont wanna clean the headliner because then its gunna start sagging.

Clean it the best you can, it will fade over time. Keep an air freshener in there it should be barely noticeable.

When the vehicle sits on a hot day is when i can smell it more.

I dont really mind it though truck has a classic smell to it.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Probaly no help here. MY grandfather was paint contractor for 40 years. He had a customer call him t get smoke smell out of a house. He mixed 3 gallons of vanillia extract with 40 gallons of paint and sprayed the attack that had burnt. The home owner called him a year later and said she had the sweetest smelling house on the block.
Wonder if theres some way to put this to work in a auto.
As a cigarette hating SOB I can tell you its one hard small to get rid of. The main thing is the upholstery. The only way to get it out is to replace it. As for rubber and painted pieces I would think a washing with something like greased llighting might help. This Is why when in my vehicle,shop or house I can quarantee that smolking kills and even sounds like a 45 be shot at you. Heck bad part Im about to marry a cancer stick sucker. I keep telling her when she dies from it I'll have plenty of money to buy some young girls(over 21 under 30,no jail bait so take it easy).
If you do find something to completely remove the smell you can be rich easy.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

There are some good suggestions in this thread and I know the OP mentioned he bought another vehicle but should someone else stumble upon this thread I have some experience in recovering a vehicle from fire/water damage.

The main areas for lingering odors in the car will be the carpet padding, the headliner, the door panels and the heater/ac ducts. The only way to do a full recovery would be to gut the interior and the fresh air systems, replace all padding and sound deadener, clean out the inside of the doors, the wiring harnesses and the inside compartment sheet metal, steam clean the carpet, upholstery and especially the seat foam, then sanitize everything before putting it back in... quite a job, and still a hot day could bring out some smoke from the permanent insulation in newer cars and various nooks and crannies.

A quicker "fix" would be to just clean the upholstery as good as possible and run some Fire-D through the vehicle. Will not get everything but will help a lot... and leave your vehicle smelling like bubblegum for a few months :P

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

The BEST thing I have ever found for removing odors is-----newspaper----really!!! cover the seats carpet ect with a newspaper or 2 for a few days and replace for a few days if needed. I saved a freezer that had ROTTEN meat in it and I laid whole newspapers on the bottom and then stuffed the rest with newspaper for a week then replaced the entire works of newspapers------NO smell at all! it worked for me.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

just stare and act natural.....

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I just purchased a 2007 Altima for my daughter. It stinks of cigarette smoke. I'm gonna try putting coffee grounds in it. After hurricane katrina everyones refrigerators, homes, automobiles etc... were pretty stinky, most people just went purchased new stuff. I found out that a lil-bit coffee grounds in an open container will remove about ANY odor. try it... it works;)

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

oh man i love the smell of fresh coffe grounds/beans. that's my favorite part of the grocery store. don't like the smell of brewed coffe or care for brewed coffe myself, but man the fresh beans/grounds..... best fragrance ever

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

Great ideas guys. The coffee ground one surprises me but if it works, it works. :)

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

coffee grounds work great. I used that trick when there was a dead mouse in the walls of the girls bedroom.

Re: how do you get rid of smoke smell?
 

I cracked the window and left coffee grounds in it for 2days... added a few Vanillaroma trees and a Pinacolada fragrance sack and the smoke smell is officially GONE:metal:. You can smell the fresh new smell outside the car with the windows up:mm: