Getting Cigarette/Bad Smells out of a Car
10-03-2010 | 08:04 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 29
From: Tucson AZ
Car Info: 2006 2.5i Wagon
Getting Cigarette/Bad Smells out of a Car
Ever buy a used car and wonder if the Marlboro man owned it before you? I just did and have been searching the internet for ways to eliminate the smell from my newly acquired ride. The following is a combination of tips/tricks I found online as well as things I have used in the past to get rid of foul stenches. Enjoy.
First, clean all the glass inside the car with Windex (or the cheap knockoff stuff) it just needs to have amonia in it to be most effective. If you are cleaning tinted windows then you will want to avoid an amonia based cleaner but maybe repeat this step twice to compensate. Or just remove all the tinting film as the cigarette residue will be on it and not the glass itself. Use paper towels or rags dampened with the window cleaner and make sure you get the whole piece of glass, then follow with a dry paper towel to clear away excess cleaner. Look at the towel/rag after cleaning, if it has any yellow staining then you know you're getting all the nastyness off your windows.
Second, clean all plastic surfaces with a mild cleaner/degreaser. I prefer Simple Green as you can dilute it as much or as little as you feel neccessary. If you bought your "new" car from a used car dealer then they probably just wiped the inside down with Armorall, Black Magic or some other interior polish that only "prettys up" the inside but doesn't clean it up. Get into every nook and cranny, get as deep into vents as possible, glove boxes, cup holders, seatbelts, the little thing that holds the headrest inside the seat, literally every piece of plastic. Use things like toothbrushes, q-tips, paper towels, etc. to get into tight spots. Cigarette smoke loves to adhere to plastic, so does coffee and soda (obviously).
Third, upholstery time. This is the hardest part because it can be very labor intensive, especially if you don't use a steam cleaner. Turtlewax makes a good upholstery cleaner and that is what I used this time. But it takes a long time to do all that scrubbing and is a pain to clean the headliner with. A steamcleaner does pretty much everything for you but it is a much more expensive route albeit more effective. I personally only used the Turtlewax for doing the floor carpeting and plan on renting a steamcleaner for the seats and headliner.
Fourth, the cabin air filter. Just replace it if you can, otherwise you can use an anti-bacterial spray to neutralize whatever has been collected on it. I read online that many people use Lysol, I however used Ozium as it has always treated me right in the past. My friend once smoked a cigarette in my car and immediately after sprayed Ozium and I never noticed ( I am a non-smoker if you couldn't already tell). Whatever you use, make sure it isn't scented or you will hate yourself later. DO NOT use a traditional air freshener as this will only temporarily mask odor and not eliminate it. Turn on you a/c or heater, set it to recirculative, put the fan on high and then spray the antibacterial agent near the floor on the passenger side (this is generally where the cabin air intake is located. You can also use the fresh air setting and spray into the outside air intake generally located just beneath your windshield. I did both and took turns changing what vents were delivering the air (defrost, feet only, face only, etc) that way any excess cleaning agent passing through the filter would get into all the interior duct work. Please do this step in a well ventilated area.
Finally, after all this cleaning try to drive with your windows down or moderately open whenever possible. Fresh air can never hurt. Also if you still have some really deep seated smells in your carpeting or upholstery, try Natures Miracle.
My best friend owned a car with no driver side window (it was his first car and cost like $400) and one night a cat got inside and pissed all over the back seat. It was such an awful stench. I sprayed a whole 16oz bottle of Natures Miracle in his car and by the next day there wasn't even a hint of the **** smell.
So there you go. Feel free to add to this with any suggestions. I have read a lot of interesting ways to eliminate odors in cars and I'm sure some of you guys have tried them, so if they work I would love to for you to share it.
First, clean all the glass inside the car with Windex (or the cheap knockoff stuff) it just needs to have amonia in it to be most effective. If you are cleaning tinted windows then you will want to avoid an amonia based cleaner but maybe repeat this step twice to compensate. Or just remove all the tinting film as the cigarette residue will be on it and not the glass itself. Use paper towels or rags dampened with the window cleaner and make sure you get the whole piece of glass, then follow with a dry paper towel to clear away excess cleaner. Look at the towel/rag after cleaning, if it has any yellow staining then you know you're getting all the nastyness off your windows.
Second, clean all plastic surfaces with a mild cleaner/degreaser. I prefer Simple Green as you can dilute it as much or as little as you feel neccessary. If you bought your "new" car from a used car dealer then they probably just wiped the inside down with Armorall, Black Magic or some other interior polish that only "prettys up" the inside but doesn't clean it up. Get into every nook and cranny, get as deep into vents as possible, glove boxes, cup holders, seatbelts, the little thing that holds the headrest inside the seat, literally every piece of plastic. Use things like toothbrushes, q-tips, paper towels, etc. to get into tight spots. Cigarette smoke loves to adhere to plastic, so does coffee and soda (obviously).
Third, upholstery time. This is the hardest part because it can be very labor intensive, especially if you don't use a steam cleaner. Turtlewax makes a good upholstery cleaner and that is what I used this time. But it takes a long time to do all that scrubbing and is a pain to clean the headliner with. A steamcleaner does pretty much everything for you but it is a much more expensive route albeit more effective. I personally only used the Turtlewax for doing the floor carpeting and plan on renting a steamcleaner for the seats and headliner.
Fourth, the cabin air filter. Just replace it if you can, otherwise you can use an anti-bacterial spray to neutralize whatever has been collected on it. I read online that many people use Lysol, I however used Ozium as it has always treated me right in the past. My friend once smoked a cigarette in my car and immediately after sprayed Ozium and I never noticed ( I am a non-smoker if you couldn't already tell). Whatever you use, make sure it isn't scented or you will hate yourself later. DO NOT use a traditional air freshener as this will only temporarily mask odor and not eliminate it. Turn on you a/c or heater, set it to recirculative, put the fan on high and then spray the antibacterial agent near the floor on the passenger side (this is generally where the cabin air intake is located. You can also use the fresh air setting and spray into the outside air intake generally located just beneath your windshield. I did both and took turns changing what vents were delivering the air (defrost, feet only, face only, etc) that way any excess cleaning agent passing through the filter would get into all the interior duct work. Please do this step in a well ventilated area.
Finally, after all this cleaning try to drive with your windows down or moderately open whenever possible. Fresh air can never hurt. Also if you still have some really deep seated smells in your carpeting or upholstery, try Natures Miracle.
My best friend owned a car with no driver side window (it was his first car and cost like $400) and one night a cat got inside and pissed all over the back seat. It was such an awful stench. I sprayed a whole 16oz bottle of Natures Miracle in his car and by the next day there wasn't even a hint of the **** smell.
So there you go. Feel free to add to this with any suggestions. I have read a lot of interesting ways to eliminate odors in cars and I'm sure some of you guys have tried them, so if they work I would love to for you to share it.
.
11-08-2010 | 11:54 PM
#5
this is an awesome fourm, my friend had an old BMW in his garage that had been sitting for a while and had a horrible old smell in it, he cleaned everything, so he thought and it still had a hint of the smell so i showed him this fourm and he cleaned more and cleaned the dash and the smell is completely gone! when he cleaned the dash a bunch of yellow was coming out of it.
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