The previous owner has smoked in my car, and its a rather unpleasant smell, (as a none smoker) i've Febreze'd it to death, but not really got anywhere with it.

Any ideas how to get rid of the smell?!

Cheers guys n girls

 

I read somewhere that a bowl of white vinegar left in the car overnight will absorb the smell. Worth a try.

 

Think I heard something like too so worth a try.

Doug

 

i'll give that a try at weekend :-)

 

Also if it doesnt work , you will be able to use it on your chips the next day lol

 

You could also try an anti-bacterial 'bomb', which is used with the A/C to get rid of odours. The vinegar is worth trying first though as its cheaper.

 

Baking powder or charcoal spread out on a tray left in car over night, are a couple I have heard

 

You need to thoroughly clean all the interior fabrics and plastics. Use a diluted APC, around 1 part APC to 20 parts water. Apply with a soft microfibre, then use a clean damp microfibre to remove the residue. Include the rooflining, taking care not to soak it, as this can cause the rooflining to sag. Include seatbelts and any panels you can remove, clean behind them. If you have a wet vac, use this on the seats and carpets. If you have alcantara, don't soak the seats. You're better off doing a little at a time and regularly rather than going hell for leather and soaking the interior. Once the residue has gone ( the yellowing) the likes of bicarbonate of soda spread on DRY fabrics come in. Now the weather is better you can spend more time with the windows down which will help remove the odours. Finally, a California Scent freshener, flavour of your choice will mask the odour without leaving your car smelling like a mini cab. It takes a while, but well worth it. Bob

 

Couldn't have put it better myself

It's also worth seeing if you can borrow an extraction type carpet cleaner, and a steam cleaner. I've read a few threads over on Detailing World where the steam cleaner used on the glass has caused the water to turn very yellow and helped a lot with the smell as it's not an area you'd think of.

The carpet extractors allow you to take out the smelly water rather than letting it re-dry in the car. Hope this helps mate

 

Go on Ebay and enter 'car odour fogger' and buy one of those.

After you have used it, there's an auto-glym spray called odour eliminator, which you can then spray all over the carpets, seats and roof lining.

An interior steam clean also works a treat....but AFTER the fogger!

Greg

 

i was planning on removing the interior, everything apart from the dash, as i really don't wanna take that out tbh.

I've got a carpet cleaner, so was going to use that.

What is APC?

I've also got a steam cleaner which i'll use on the windows :-)

Cheers everyone

 

APC = All Purpose Cleaner

You can buy car specific stuff from the likes of Meguiars. A lot of people use stuff like Stardrops, or Daisy from Tescos.

 

thank you :-)