Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 4: Keep a big clean
• Part 2 of 4: Using chemicals
• Part 3 of 4: Using natural remedies
• Part 4 of 4: Other options
• Tips
• Warnings

Does your car also stink of the previous owner's cigarettes? With the right means you can easily remove tobacco odor from your car. Clean your car thoroughly and then use a combination of chemical and natural cleaning products to get that bad smell out. Your car will soon smell wonderfully fresh again.

To step

Part 1 of 4: Keep a big clean

1. Clean the mats with a carpet cleaner and vacuum them. A good old carpet cleaner should do the trick, but you can also use a heavier one if the smell is bad. Then vacuum the mats thoroughly.
   • Even if you can't clean the mats, you should at least vacuum them. That also helps against the smell. You remove all small particles where the smoke smell has been absorbed.
2. Clean the ashtrays. Needless to say, but we'll do it anyway. After emptying the ashtray, spray some air freshener and rub it with a paper towel. A thin layer of air freshener will then remain in the ashtray. That layer is too thin to be flammable, but it is enough to leave a nice scent.
3. Hang an air freshener. If you don't want people to know that you just cleaned your car, or if you just want to hide the fact that your car needs cleaning, this will of course arouse suspicion, especially if the air freshener is very conspicuous. But it really makes a big difference against bad smells.
4. Set the car's fan to recirculation for 30 minutes. Open the doors, turn on the engine, and turn the fan on recirculation while you clean the rest of the car. While you are cleaning the rest of the car and brushing out all the smoke odors, fresh, fresh air can flow throughout the car, improving air quality.
   • If you think it is necessary, replace the heater's air filter. Try to replace the air filters every 20,000 to 15,000 miles or every year. If you don't remember when you last replaced them, by all means do it. That should make a big difference.

Part 2 of 4: Using chemicals

1. Get started with textile and furniture cleaners. Products such as Scotchgard or HG Upholstery Cleaner work great for tackling unpleasant odors. Spray it on the seats, mats, and even seat belts - anywhere you see scraps of fabric. Follow the instructions on the packaging and rub the product into the fabric with a soft brush.
   • You can also choose a product that has antibacterial properties, as it also works well against smoke odors.
   • This might be a bit trickier, but if you take the seats out of your car before cleaning them, you get them even better clean. There is a lot of textile under the seats that you otherwise cannot reach, but where the smoke has penetrated. If you remove the seats from the car you can access them.
2. Treat your chairs and mats with an anti-odor treatment from pets. That may sound crazy, but it works very well. Products made to remove the smell of urine from pets, for example, work wonders. They can tell you more about this at the pet store.
3. Use dryer wipes. Dryer wipes can also help keep your car smelling nice and fresh. Place several wipes or an entire box in the car, under the seat for example. When the car gets warm from the sun, the scent of the cloths is released. And it is even cheaper than hanging up a lot of air fresheners, too.
   • Dryer wipes absorb bad odors over time. The fresh scent will disappear after a while, so replace them with new wipes every now and then.
4. If the odor is very persistent, you can spray a strongly diluted cleaning agent into the grids of the fan. For example, use a very low concentration of bleach or Dettol. Locate the air intake (usually under the hood, just below the windshield) and spray some of the compound into the grilles with the fan on. This removes the odor that has lingered in the shafts.
5. Clean the upholstery with a textile shampoo. Put the shampoo directly on the chairs and / or mats. Rub it in with a brush or cloth (a brush works best). Vacuum up the excess shampoo with a special vacuum cleaner, which you can rent from a hardware store.

Part 3 of 4: Using natural remedies

1. Use baking soda. Baking soda is a natural cleaning agent with so many uses that we cannot list them all here. Especially for your car interior it works great. If you have stubborn odors in the car, you will need a large pack of baking soda, half a kilo. Here's what to do:
   • Sprinkle the baking soda on as many of the porous surfaces as possible. These include the mats, the chairs, the ceiling (try to smear it in the ceiling with a duster) or wherever the smell has penetrated.
   • Rub the baking soda into the fabric. You can do it with a cloth, with a brush, or even just with your hands.
   • Wait at least 30 minutes, up to a day. The longer you wait, the better the baking soda can do its job of absorbing the bad odors.
   • Vacuum up any remaining baking soda after the soaking time. Make sure to pass everything twice so that every grain of baking soda is soaked up.
2. Polish the interior of the car, including the windows, with vinegar and water. Mix 60 ml of white vinegar with 500 ml of water. Put it in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray the windows and trim with this mixture and wipe up any excess moisture. It may smell strongly of vinegar at first, but that smell will dissipate once it dries.
3. Place roasted coffee beans in the car. If you don't like coffee, this may not be the right method for you, but it works well. Place six paper dishes distributed around the car. Place a spoonful of coffee beans on each bowl. Keep the windows slightly open, and if it is a warm, sunny day, let the coffee scent spread through the car. After a day, get the beans out of the car and enjoy your cup… er… car!
4. Use crumpled newspaper. While this isn't guaranteed to work to get all the bad smells out of your car, it does make a difference because newspaper absorbs odors. Make quite a few wads of old newspapers and place them well distributed throughout the car. Wait 48 hours for the smoke to penetrate the newspapers, then remove the wads and put them in the waste paper.
   • This method can work well in conjunction with other methods in this article. For example, put wads of newspaper next to the trays with coffee beans, or place them while the baking soda soaks.
5. Put activated charcoal in the car. You can find activated charcoal (Norit, for example) at health food stores, pet stores, or some department stores. Put a cup of activated charcoal in the car. Wait one or two days for the cabbage to absorb the fragrance.
   • Some products from the pet store contain cabbage, for example products to purify ponds or cat litter.
   • Activated charcoal usually works better than baking soda, so if that doesn't work, try this.
6. Put a little bit of ammonia or vinegar in the car overnight. One or two cups is enough. Ammonia is very strong, so make sure you are not in the car when you put ammonia in it. When you have taken it out, open all the windows and let the car air out for an hour before you start driving it. Repeat this every night for a week until the smell is gone.
   • Vinegar also works if you are concerned about the efficacy of ammonia.

Part 4 of 4: Other options

1. After you have cleaned the car, you can have any residual odors removed with an ozone treatment. Rather than masking the odor, ozone will really get rid of it completely. Ozone oxidizes and denatures the remaining organic compounds that cause the stench.
2. Spend a little more money so that you can leave it to a professional company. There are special companies that can take care of the car for you, so that it is again at its very best.

Tips

• Rub the chairs with dryer cloths.
• If you do an ozone treatment too often, this can damage the interior (e.g. rubber strips).
• Always test the cleaning products on an inconspicuous spot first.
• Do not use too strong means, because you can ruin the interior.
• Also helpful: Cut an apple into quarters and poke toothpicks on the sides so that you can hang them over a cup of water. Spread the apples around your car and leave them overnight (works best with the windows open on a warm day). You may have to repeat it every day for a week.
• Put coffee grounds in the ashtray to absorb the odor.
• Buy a bunch of eucalyptus leaves and hang it in the car.

Warnings

• Ozone treatment can be harmful to the car and your health. It is very important that it is done by someone who understands it.