How can I remove years of cigarette smoke from inside my car?

Question

I just bought a used vehicle, and the previous owner was a smoker. I lived in Arizona, and have to run my A/C !!!!...but the odor is killing me...I already tried several sprays..and fragrances...nothing has help...
Any suggestions???

Answer 1

If you can leave your windows open at all times.

There are these things that you can get that start about the size of a hockey puck and suck up everything until they are the size of an M&M. They help too.

The best advise is take to a car cleaning professional, and spray the vents, it can burn your eyes, I've been through it, and I bought my car last year from a guy who had it for two years after it was smoked in, there are still traces on a hot day, but it's depressing, that 3 years of no smoke and still, there's remnants.

Answer 2

If you feel that the smell is coming from the ac system, you may want to try to spray Lysol or better yet ZEP smoke "stuff' in an aeorsol can available at home depot. Run the vehicle with the ac on, fan on low speed, fresh air on. Open the hood and up by the windshield there will be the fresh air intakes where you can spray the aerosol spray into. This should help to get the odor reduced by having the spray neutralize the nicotine on the evaporator. If the smell is embedded in the car upholstry, I would also use the can of the ZEP on the interior. Thsi is the cheapest way to do it but the best way is to find a detailing shop that has an Ozone machine which will kill any smell in the vehicle, this will cost you more but is really good.

Answer 3

Several answers to this dilema.
You need an odor REMOVER,not a deodorant.You NEED to get that
accumulated odor removed from your a/c ducts.
Years ago I bought a used camper.Cooking odors,cigarette/cigar/pipe
odor,blah,blah.
Visited a local camper factory & they put me on to a product called X-O
Concentrate that can be mixed & sprayed,no scrubbing or removal nec-
essary.It's totally organic,no harmful chemicals.It's a little pricey @ $30
per qt.but a qt.lasts a long time.We use it in the house,vehicles,& the
camper.Got a bottle of it 7yrs.ago & still have a 3rd of it left.
The other tip that they passed on to me was to use tin pie pans with
charcoal briquets in them to absorb odor/changed out once a month.Can
be put under the front seat of your car/behind furniture & on top of the
cupboards in the home.Works great.
Lot's a luck.

Answer 4

Remove the rugs ,upholstery,scrub all the vents and ducts and sell it.There are some industrial strength deodorizers that will mask the smell pretty well , like a product called CD.It is not real hard to find .If you can't find it in a regular grocery store then try to look in a commercial janitorial supply store.Personally, I can smell people smocking in a car in front of me while I'm driving on the freeway when both our windows a re closed.I've tried everything I could to lose that smell but all I've ever been able to do is mask it.

Answer 5

Clean it. Use a household cleaner and wash the entire inside, top, sides, seats and replace the floor mats. Don't forget the windows. A lot of nicotine sticks to the windshield.

Answer 6

i'd take it to a detailer. they have a lot of products for this and will do the entire car.seats, carpet,headliner, everthing. it may cost about $75-100 but well worth it.

Answer 7

Take your car to get a thorough cleaning. Shampoo and all. That should help

Answer 8

make someone clean the evaporator coil.