Removing smoke odour from a car?

[harpoon]

I just test drove a used car for my wife and its a great car (Lexus RX330) but it stinks of smoke. Is there a way to completely eradicate the odour?

thanks.

[mleskovar]

There are several products/chemicals on the market that do the job. Usually you spray it on the surfaces in the car. I'm assuming you've already cleaned everything in the interior. Stay away from products that are simply perfume. You want one that neutralizes the smoke smell. I did it to my daughter's car and it took a couple days but the smell went away.

[hockeymutt]

yea used the stuff on one of my old cars and dealer never knew i smoked in it stuff did wounders... also you could have the carpets steamed and use a very good leather cleaner.... most of it goes into the headliner

[TOGWT]

Smoke Odours

Its molecules are microscopic and they exhibit a very strong adhesive quality; plus they don't conform to normal cleaning standards. A solvent will not break there bond; a detergent will not suspend them for extraction. More than any other dour problem smoke removal is a process. You cannot eliminate odours by shampooing the interior, and/or spraying a deodorizer. Many odours are caused by micro-organisms such as bacteria, mould, and mildew.

It amazes me that even professionals still think they can eliminate odours by shampooing the interior, and spraying a deodorizer. Nothing is farther from the truth, technically, an odour is an invisible gas, and so it can permeate any material or crevice. Many odours are caused by micro-organisms such as bacteria, mould, and mildew. Not only does shampooing not eradicate these odours, it spreads them over a much wider area!

You eliminate dour-causing organisms with very specialized chemicals. Look for stains, if there are no stains, use the process of elimination; it is very effective when searching for the source of an odour; floor or seats, mats or carpet? If the vehicle has velour upholstery, a spill can penetrate on contact. If it is vinyl or leather, it will run to the deepest seam.

The most important aspect of removing (as opposed to using a product that will cover it, only for the dour to return later on) or at the very least mitigating an offensive door is that you must find and remove its origin. If you thoroughly clean the interior and it still smells you have not removed the material which is generating the smell. You can use an ozone machine, steam / extractor, scrub, and vacuum etc but if you do not remove the origin the smell will remain.

Always check the following; cabin air filter, a/c condensate pan and drain pipe smells and odours (use 1z Klima-Cleaner Air Conditioning Cleaner- it’s an effective means for removing odour-causing bacteria, smoke fumes, fungi and other germs)

Use a product that chemically alters the proteins that odour-causing microbes feed on (Auto Internationals Odour Terminator- ValuGuard) most odours will be eliminated; this is non-toxic, non-allergenic, fast acting, without a cover up scent or an offensive perfume smell. Removal of smoke, pet odours, virtually any organically caused mal-odour in carpet, seats, headliners, upholstery and heating and air conditioning ducts. As with all smell and odour removal check the cabin air filter, change as necessary

An extract from “Automotive Detailing, Inside & Out”, a knowledge base for the perfectionist © TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2009, all rights reserved.

[vanbmw]

I read a post about an "IONIZER" that takes smoke out of the car. Soemone claimed it worked really well.

[Lester]

The only way is to take out the carpets and headliner and burn them. Smoking ruins everything,

[135forthewin]

I've got an ozone generator that I've left on in several cars overnight, seemed to do a pretty good job of removing all odors. Just don't breath too much of that stuff in haha.

Then I just took some of my favorite smelling leather cleaner (zymol has the best "new car" smell IMO) and did all the leather surfaces.

Good luck!