How To Remove Cigarette Smell?

[Houdini]

I've done a search but come up with nothing. So the question is: has anyone had success in removing the cigarette smell which I'm guessing is pretty common in Japanese cars? I've started to clean the carpets and stuff. I mean who smokes in the back anymore? Jeeze the rear ash tray had traces of ash in it!?

[M I K E]

the thing you'll find is that if they've smoked IN the car then the smell will be through everything. you may be able to clean alot of the smell out or at least mask it but as soon as you turn HVAC on you'll smell it again as it will be all through the ducting also

smoking is such a filthy habit

[GUN_METAL_GTR32]

do what i did and strip the whole interior lol.

seriously but i smoke in my car ocasionally and the smell goes away pretty quick i reckon.

[Sklyn]

^^^^^^ Smokers can't smell it!!! I just gave up last week lol.

M I K E pretty much sums it up well..

Theres odour eaters and all sorts of products so use them after a reeeally good steam clean.

Turn your AC on and spray into the inlets too. Keep perservering and and over time it will slowly go away.

But you can never get rid of it entirely.....

[_Ryan_]

maybe look at interior(carpets, seats, roof lining) dry cleaning? and air freshners in the entrance to the vents?

[zei20l]

damn that sucks about the smell. i requested a non-smokers car, i told them id refuse it if it smelt of smoke

anyway, youll need to use upholstry cleaner on every fabric part of the car. if you have leather seats, have them cleaned, and wipe off every part of the plastic, and change the aircon filter and maybe use compressed air to get some of the smoke/dirt out of the vents. do that bit first so you dont have to re-clean the car

[seanp351]

Try using a product called "Febreeze" spray it everwhere including in your A/C inlet and ducts while running.You may have to do it a few times to get rid of it alltogether.I had good success with it in getting rid of the pungent smell from having a family of rats set up home in a car that I had stored for about 2 years it took a few goes but eventually the smell dissapeared.

[Houdini]

Try using a product called "Febreeze" spray it everwhere including in your A/C inlet and ducts while running.You may have to do it a few times to get rid of it alltogether.I had good success with it in getting rid of the pungent smell from having a family of rats set up home in a car that I had stored for about 2 years it took a few goes but eventually the smell dissapeared.

I've pulled out the car mats, they're nice plush Stagea branded one's but I think there're too impregnated with the smoke smell. Actually the smoke smell isn't too bad but it's mixed with the strong air freshener and so it'll take a bit to get rid of it.

I'm going to get the interior steam cleaned and found a good carpet treatment. Where is the AC inlet actually? I assume under the bonnet somewhere....

[Iron Chef]

In Japan they sell these beads that you put in the ashtray to neutralise the smell - I'm yet to find anything in Australia that does the job as well as they do, so I bring back a couple of bottles every time I go over. They might have some similar stuff at Autobarn or Supercheap or whatever. That, a thorough detail inside, and leave the car with the windows down whenever possible.

[rb30dett]

Have the interior detailed proffesionally get all the carpet and seats steam cleaned. They can deodorise the interior. I have seen a car that was completly covered in tar but it came out eventualy.

[GTR-N1]

Old Grandma's Solution in a loungeroom is to...

Leave a saucer of "Vinegar" around all day!

Plan B = Febreeze

Plan C = Meguiar's 'Car Odor Eliminator

My $2

[Houdini]

In Japan they sell these beads that you put in the ashtray to neutralise the smell - I'm yet to find anything in Australia that does the job as well as they do, so I bring back a couple of bottles every time I go over. They might have some similar stuff at Autobarn or Supercheap or whatever. That, a thorough detail inside, and leave the car with the windows down whenever possible.

I'll buy one of those bottles off you!

I'm going to Japan in Sept but can't wait that long.

[seanp351]

I've pulled out the car mats, they're nice plush Stagea branded one's but I think there're too impregnated with the smoke smell. Actually the smoke smell isn't too bad but it's mixed with the strong air freshener and so it'll take a bit to get rid of it.

I'm going to get the interior steam cleaned and found a good carpet treatment. Where is the AC inlet actually? I assume under the bonnet somewhere....

Put AC onto recirculate and spray the inlet at the passengers side footwell up the front left side of the centre hump you should be able to feel it pulling air past your hand,it will pull it into the system by itself.When your AC is on fresh air intake it should be breathing from outside of the car through the plenum just below your windscreen.therefore unless the smell is outside there should not be any smoke traces in this part of the ducting.Good luck!

[andy65b]

the air con pollen filter is behind the battery. I don't think you can take it out from that side though. If you take the surround off around the battery, wou will see in behind it a fuse box and the pollen filter.

to access it, you need to be at the passenger side. It is up behind the glove box. I have not done it, but from memory to get to it you have to take the glove box out. There are about 4 screws to remove on the upper edge of the glove box and 2 on the lower edge. Once this is out you will see the fan and I believe the filter is just above it.

Cheers

Andy

[BoostdR]

baking soda powder on all the seats and carpet. leave it for a night, then vac it up.

[GTR-32U]

I know I had a car that stunk of Cigarette smell,one day I had to replace the hood lining as it was damaged.Once the old old was out and new was in Cigarette smell was gone for good.Makes a lot of sense as smoke rises and Roof linings are something that are never cleaned

[zei20l]

actually thats not a bad idea BoostdR!

and andy is spot on with replacing the pollen filter. its piss easy, the filter door opens from the left and is a simple clip.

[Appealing]

Sorry to be giving bad news but the main thing that is going to hold the smell is the aircon condensor and fan. I don't know if you can get into it, but you should be able to.

I used to sell chemicals. The best cleaner for cigarette smoke residue is a detergent type cleaner with butyl cellosolve in it, most proprietry interior cleaners have it in, Swipe does. Once you have smelt it you will never forget it. It isn't unpleasant. If you can get into it, you can try spraying some into that area. I'd wipe as much as possible away first. Use a white rag, then you post up photos of all the filth and shit that you find on the Quit website.....

I once did a test for Ansett on the airconditioning system in their aircraft at Perth Airport. The shit that was stuck in the fans was like tar and stunk of cigarettes, (they should have used this for an advert)! Once the fans were soaked in the cleaner for a while it dissolved. It is also fantastic at removing that yucky build up that you get on most interiors from general dirt, (steering wheels etc). If you use it on vinyl you won't believe how good it is. Don't over use it......look it up on google and you will find that it is actually a neurotoxin..... mind you if you bought a smokers car, then your brain wasn't working that well anyway!! ha ha (sorry but I just had to!!)

Anyone notice that the steering wheel in the Stagea doesn't get dirty like say the turn indicator...... it has an anti-bacterial coating treatment, so does the gear shift knob!!!

[GoldZilla]

In Japan they sell these beads that you put in the ashtray to neutralise the smell - I'm yet to find anything in Australia that does the job as well as they do, so I bring back a couple of bottles every time I go over. They might have some similar stuff at Autobarn or Supercheap or whatever. That, a thorough detail inside, and leave the car with the windows down whenever possible.

baking soda powder on all the seats and carpet. leave it for a night, then vac it up.

Another good alternative to those beads is to use carpet cleaning powders. If we have a party, I fill small buckets/tins up with a bit of this to be used as ashtrays, it helps get rid of the smell straight away - using sand is fine for people to ash and put their cigarettes out in, but it doesn't do anything to get rid of the smell.

Maybe try adding some to the ashtrays in your car over the space of a few weeks or however long it takes to get rid of the smell. You'll only need a little bit in each ashtray, and you *might* have to empty it out and replace it until the smell is gone.

Old Grandma's Solution in a loungeroom is to...

Leave a saucer of "Vinegar" around all day!

Plan B = Febreeze

Plan C = Meguiar's 'Car Odor Eliminator

My $2

An alternative to the vinegar is lemon juice as well. A lot of people fill a small bucket (or even an ice-cream container) of water with a bit of lemon juice in it when they're painting their house, it helps to get rid of the smell.

Smoking is one habit I'm glad I've never ever wanted to take up.

[910trx]

+1 Febreeze

+1 Baking Soda

also try the good old glen 20 and spray in the ac vents or proper a/c core disinfectant

used to be a smoker and make my car stink!

try the above

also for fabric upholstery try white spirits in a spray bottle and spray it till the cloth is damp and wipe away, the smell is nutralised and removed - excess dries and lets your car smell like a dry cleaners for a bit - great in removing general muck and stains because it dries quickly too so just go happy with it.

with leather use a leather food - brings back the smell of lether and gets all the crap off, and tabacco and leather is not a bad mix in my opinion

used white spirits all the time when working for a trim shop - love that stuff - works on everything!

*not metholated spirits