How do you get rid of the smell of stale cigarette smoke?

Question

My son has just bought a used Rover 400. The car is nicely turned out but the previus owner definitely enjoyed smoking with the windows up! It stinks. Is there an effective remedy short of putting the car in for a thorough valetting? The car has stretched his budget so cash is tight for him at present.

Answer 1

Ok, this sounds wierd, but it works on worse odors than cigarette smoke (skunk!!)

Slice up some fresh apples, 4-5 of them and set them in a pan in the back of the car for about a week. The actually absorb the odors.

We do this periodically just to freshen our car. Nice way to do it an not get aritificial chemicals in the vehicle.

Answer 2

Well if he keep himself from driving his car for the day the old method is to leave a half of an onion with a little ammonia in the place where all the stale smoke is this suck´s up the smell. I have to say I did try it once in a room and it worked.BUT there is a air freshener called OUST this I can tell work´s for sure it´s by Johnson wax ,A family company I use this all over the house . I am a smoker myself I don´t smoke indoors I always smoke on my balcony, but closed up with glass windows,I give a spray and no smell.They say it even rid´s the smell of skunk, This I could not say as I don´t own one but I´m sure it could, LOOK it up for yourself on Internet, This might be what your son need´s for his car.

Answer 3

I've had the same problem (except it was me before I quit) I steam cleaned all the seats/carpets, ceiling liner. I wiped everything else down with full strength vinegar. BUT!!! I found out something very interesting about the vents. EVERY car has vent air filters usually at the back of the glove compartment. I had my oil changed and they asked me if I wanted my vent filters replaced - I said huh?? they took them out (disgusting but not only smell but dust, bits of leaves - lots of allergens) and said all cars have them and most people don't know about them. Check yours and they can be washed (they aren't cheap to replace) Well, that coupled with the above has made the car smell almost brand new. I've asked non-smoking people to smell it and they said they can't smell ANY stale smoke. Good luck

Answer 4

Sam's Club sells a cleaning/disinfecting product called OdoBan. I recently purchased a used travel trailer for camping, which also smelled like smoke-we cleaned the inside with OdoBan, sprayed down the furniture after cleaning it, and left a small container with holes in the trailer. It not only cleans great, but gets rid of the smell. Hope this helps.....

Answer 5

i was told by a former wardrobe assistant from the qe2 that they used to spray vodka onto the costumes to get rid of the smell of stale cigarette smoke. i have never tried it but it stuck in my memory for some reason. could be an expensive solution in itself mind!
i would suggest trying it on a headrest, if detatchable. that way you could remove it from the smelly car and smell it in a clean room to see if it has worked.
good luck

Answer 6

At some car washes, they have a thing that they can do after they wash ur car and what they do is like power clean the cushion seats, the floor, the dashboard, everything! and usually u can pick 1 of 3 scents like coconut or cherry. i got the coconut one and my car smelled so good for like 2 weeks. and my mom had smoked in the car so my car smelt like cigarettes, but when i got my car back it just smelled really good! you have to pay a little extra for it though!

Answer 7

Fabreeze works well. My daughter uses Downey wrinkle release on her clothes and it gets the cigarette smoke smell out completely. I think the Downey works better and I like the smell better. I use it all the time to freshen my clothes, not just for the wrinkles.

Answer 8

steam clean the heck out of the seats and the carpet it will do wonders.DO NOT steam clean or anything else to the headliner it will screw it up.dont use fabreeze that wont do anything other than cover up the smell.you have to get the tar and cr@p out of the carpets.oh yea get ready to puke at the water that comes out of your seats.talk about gross.it will make you never want to smoke.

also it will take a long time for the smell to get out of the a/c vents.you cannot clean them other then replace them which is very expensive.

Answer 9

You can try putting charcol Briquets like you use for outdoor cooking inside an old nylon stocking and place in various places in the car, under the seats etc. The carbon is a natural odour absorbent.

Answer 10

Dilute some hair conditioner in warm water and rub the seats and carpets down - I use this method for many things and it sure works - a dog owner should know.