Getting rid of cigarrette smell in car

balsingh

I have just bought a used car - was a great bargain so i couldnt resist. The only problem is that the previous owner did smoke in the car so there is a bit of a smell in the car. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it? The seats are cloth so maybe a good valet and get the seats steam cleaned??

The only worry I have is that I can never get rid of it? Could that be the case?

saintjanet

A professional valet will get rid of the smell In the meantime you could try some febreze,that will help.

balsingh

saintjanet wrote:

A professional valet will get rid of the smell In the meantime you could try some febreze,that will help.

Thanks!! I was worried that it would remain in the car forever no matter what I did.

Podder

I had the same problem with my car when I bought it. Give it a thorough clean inside including the headlining and then light a couple of incense sticks which will overpower the smell of smoke. Febreze is good also Autoglym car freshner spray.

Eagle_1

If a Valet is gonna work out a bit pricey for you why not just clean the car yourself. We bought some upholstery foam stuff and it was brilliant, you just put it on the interior and gently scrub with the nozzle thing and leave it for about 30 mins. you then just hoover it off, worked brilliant in our last car. Also just get a bucket of water, some flash or similar and clean all the dash/doors etc, that will leave the car smelling lovely.
also if you use a car freshner use the Ambi Pur in After Tobacco, works a treat.

balsingh

I spoke to my valet guy today. He said that for £20, he can get this "SMOKE BOMB" which you set off in the car and it supposedly de-odourises the car very well. He valets all the used BMWs at the local dealer and he has taken some of the worst smoke infested cars and made them smell like new!!

plane_boy2000

Not heard of the smoke bomb thing - sounds good. I had an Audi and I never managed to get rid of the smell. After 3 years it still used to appear if the car was left parked in teh sun.

pianeet

the valeters at my brothers garage use these basically it is a small tin of air freshner which you invert the lid, close the doors and leave it for 20 minutes and your car smells of air freshner,i am pretty sure if you empty all the contents of a normal can of air freshner you will get same results,,i know the valeter will tell you that this neutralizes the smell and does not mask it ,but trust me the smell will come back,as other posters have said buy a cheap steam cleaner (about £20 in argos) and do the whole interior

highguyuk

I agree, sounds like the Smoke Bomb is just a powerful air freshner!

Frebreeze comes highly recommended. However I'd be tempted as its a new car for you, to get it valeted and let them deal with the problem at first.

I clean my own car religiously, and enjoy doing it, but I do think its nice with a new car to have it done by experts to start with

like-saving-money

if you want it doing properly i would reccomend calling a valeter and asking if they use an Auto Smart Aromatec the smoke odour is mainly in the roof lining but little bits of fag ash fall everywere like behind the dash and down the back of the rear seat, these smoke bomb things are rubbish i used to own one and now it is in the bin as it was rubbish (the odour only lasted a week maximum) i have now invested in one of these



The system uses dry vapours produced from essential natural oils to neutralise and permanently remove malodours such as those produced by tobacco smoke, animals and food.

Unlike conventional air fresheners, the dry vapour intensively produced by the Aromatek system penetrates deep into the porous surfaces within the vehicle firstly neutralising the stale odour and then emitting Aromatek's own fragrance for months to come.

In all cases of deodourising the most important factor is initially to remove the source be this spillage, food or pet hair.

Once the source is removed the vehicle is then deodourised with the Aromatek unit using the Neutrox cartridge. This cartridge is made up of over 32 natural essential oils designed to chemically neutralise and permanently remove odours including those trapped within upholstery, carpets and headlinings.

Once complete the vehicle interior can be optionally refreshed using a fragrance cartridge again applied by the Aromatek system. These are available in either Orange, Vanilla or Leather scent.

so if you want it doing properly find a valeter that uses the aromatek as this uses an odour rather than smoke, the smoke ones leaves a nasty residue all over the interior of the car

if you need any help on finding a valeter in your area please post your question on our forum http://www.britishvaleters.org/phpBB2/index.php here we have a public section for the general public to ask there question and get a professional answer

hope that this helps in anyway :beer:

Equinut

I used to put a bit of real lavender buds, picked from the garden, in the ashtray of the car, that tended to neutralise a lot of the older smells so you might want to try that too!