“How do I get the smell of smoke out of the car?” – vehicle owners ask themselves this question at the last moment when the vehicle is going to be sold.
Non-smokers in particular are bothered by the smell of cigarette smoke in the car. And who can blame them? After all, nobody wants to have the feeling of moving around in something that smells like a pub. But many smokers also find the smell of cigarettes, which quickly settles in the upholstery, on the windows and the dashboard, unpleasant.
In order to counteract this and to show vehicle owners how they can get rid of unpleasant smells in their car, we have put together a few tips and tricks in this guide on how to remove the unwanted smell of smoke from the car.
How difficult is smoke smell removal?
In order to rid a car of the odor that has set in after many months and years of smoking, it is usually necessary to clean the entire interior.
Smoking car: Just removing the smell is often not enough
The following problem will probably be familiar to every smoker who does not want to do without the fags while driving: Tobacco residue, ash, and plastic coatings from cigarette packs can be found almost everywhere.
It is therefore not just about removing the smoke from the car, but rather about a thorough cleaning of the vehicle interior.
Unfortunately, simply emptying the ashtray and airing it out isn’t enough. Basically, smoking cars are a lot dirtier than those of non-smokers. Therefore, you have to put in a little more effort if you want to remove the smoke smell from the car. You can find out how to do this below.
Getting to the root of the problem: cleaning the inside of the car
Sometimes a lot of effort is required to remove the annoying smell from a smoker’s vehicle. One thing in advance: You should plan a little more time for this option if you really want to remove the smoke smell from the car.
After all, your vehicle should be “de-nicotinized” from the ground up.
The order in which you proceed with the following points is up to you. However, if you want to remove any smell of nicotine, your car should undergo the following procedure:
Step 1. Clearing out the interior
To get the smell of cigarettes out of the car, you should work your way up slowly. Therefore, a thorough clean-up action is the top priority in car care. Clear everything out of the vehicle; not only rubbish or other things that have accumulated over time, but also the items that are to be put back in later.
Very important: empty the ashtray!
For this action it is advisable to park the car in front of the garage, in a backyard or directly at a gas station. Since a vacuum cleaner is used in the next step, the latter is particularly recommended.
After you’ve also pulled out the floor mats and tapped them out, you’re one step closer to your goal of removing the smoke smell from the car.
2. Remove coarse dirt with the vacuum cleaner
Now it’s a matter of removing ash residue, tobacco crumbs and the like from the car. Make sure you really vacuum every little crack, not just in the footwell, but also on the front and back seats, as well as the trunk. You should remove the dirt from all the cracks.
You should then turn your attention to the floor mats again. Lots of tobacco often settle there. If you want to remove the smell of nicotine from the car completely, you should try to be as thorough as possible and not just vacuum away the surface dirt. This is the only way to create a foundation on which to build.
3. Clean all surfaces in the car
The next step to removing the smell of smoke from your car is to clean any interior surfaces. As in other closed rooms, the nicotine will sooner or later settle in the car, leaving a sometimes sticky, yellowish film.
Therefore, arm yourself with a cleaning bucket, washing-up liquid and a cloth or sponge and carefully wipe the surfaces on the doors, the center console, the steering wheel and the dashboard. On this train, you should also pay attention to the ashtray.
Simply wiping it with a damp cloth is not enough if you want to remove the smell of cigarettes in the car. One option that promises more success is soaking the ashtray in soapy water. After you have washed everything off, you should rub the surfaces dry immediately.
If you want to remove the smell of smoke, the car should first be thoroughly cleaned.
4. Clean windows to get the smell of smoke out of the car
Nicotine can not only settle on the surfaces inside the vehicle – the windows are also affected in most cases. Therefore, these must also be subjected to extensive cleaning in order to remove the smoke smell from the car.
There are special cleaners for car windows, but you can also use normal clear cleaner. Spray the agent on the windows from the inside, let it work for a short time and clean the respective area with a sponge or a cloth.
Afterwards you can use a towel or alternatively some sheets of kitchen roll to dry the slices. Be very thorough with this step as well and don’t just limit yourself to the front or front side windows.
The rear side windows and the rear window should also be cleaned to remove the annoying smell of cigarettes in the car.
5. Don’t forget carpets, upholstery and vehicle covers!
The last step to remove the smell of smoke from the car is cleaning the upholstery of the car seats, the carpets and the ceiling of the car. In order not only to remove the cigarette smoke from the car, but also the annoying smell itself, you should avoid using fragrance sprays at this point.
These usually only ensure that the odors are covered, but not completely removed. You should therefore rather rely on a special car shampoo, which is sprayed onto the affected areas and vacuumed off after a certain exposure time. If this point is finally ticked off, you have reached the end of the basic cleaning and should already have rid your vehicle of the smoke smell a little.
Depending on how dirty the respective car is, this action takes between two and four hours. If you still haven’t managed to completely remove the smell of smoke from the car, you have the option of using various other tricks after the cleaning action just described in order to still reach your goal.
Remove the smell of cigarettes from the car by using home remedies
Even if there are numerous home remedies that are intended to ensure that the smell of smoke in the car can be removed, they in no way replace a thorough cleaning. Only if there is still a slight smell of smoke in the air afterwards can those affected try to finally put an end to it by using various home remedies.
But what helps against the smell of cigarettes in the car if even meticulous cleaning has not led to the desired result? At this point, there is often talk of leaving a bowl of ground coffee in the vehicle overnight. The coffee should, so to speak, “absorb” the smell of smoke and thus neutralize it. However, you should not use the powder to make coffee afterwards, but dispose of it.
To remove the smell of nicotine in the car, you can also place a bowl of vinegar or sliced apples on the dashboard and leave it inside the car for 24 hours with the windows closed. Flour or rice should also have the ability to neutralize nicotine and bind moisture.
In addition, you can use a bowl with two teaspoons of baking soda and lemon slices. To do this, cut a lemon into slices, place them in a bowl and drizzle baking soda over them. You should also leave this mixture in the car for a longer period of time.
However, depending on how strong the smell of smoke is that needs to be removed from the car, the agents mentioned must be used over a longer period of time and renewed daily. Fragrance trees or special sprays usually only cover the smoke smell instead of removing it.
In particularly serious cases, you have no choice but to have the interior cleaned professionally to remove the smoke smell from the car. The procedure for this option is explained below.
If all else fails: ozone treatment by a professional
In order to remove the cigarette smell professionally, the car or the interior is subjected to a so-called ozone treatment. The car must be completely sealed for this. A special device is then used to inject ozone gas into the interior. This gas then remains in the vehicle for 24 hours.
It has the ability to bind not only the smell of smoke but also other smells and thus remove them. In addition, it decomposes after a certain time and becomes oxygen. As a result, your car will smell as if it were new.
The treatment with ozone does not pose any danger to the vehicle’s material. However, some studies indicate that the resulting chemical compounds are harmful to the driver or passengers. If you want to remove the smell of smoke from the car in this way, you must However, you should reckon with costs between $60 and $100. However, especially if you are considering selling the car, this money could be worthwhile.
Conclusion
In order to remove the smoke smell from the car in the long term, however, you should consider whether you should schedule a little more time and take a break at regular intervals instead of continuing to fill the vehicle with smoke. Because if you simply continue to smoke in the car after each time-consuming cleaning, you are only fighting the actual problem, but not its cause.