HOW TO DEODORIZE A HEAVILY SMOKED IN CAR ??

Lost cause. Several years of use with windows open and AC set to outside air will lessen but not eliminate it. All the products I have known people to try produce a blend of tobacco stench and cheap perfume stench that I consider even worse than the tobacco stench alone.

Don

" snipped-for-privacy@peoplepc.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@79g2000cws.googlegroups.com:

I've never found a way.

My previous car had belonged to a heavy smoker. I had the seats and carpets steam-cleaned, and scrubbed the plastic headliner and all the interior trim with detergent and water. Made a difference, but never got rid of it completely.

Take it to a detail shop and let them handle it. Worked well on the last company truck I had.

Possibly, renting an ozone generator and leaving it in the car for an hour or so would work, but I don't know. Let it air out after that, too much ozone isn't good for you.

Clean all interior surfaces of the vehicle including the headliner (that is a very tricky business so make sure to take it to someone who has done it before) then drive it regularly The cleaning will cut the smoke stink by probably

75%. The remaining smell will eventually go away by itself but it will take at least 2 years before anyone who is sensitive to smoke smell will not complain immediately as soon as they get into it.

Note also that cigarette smoke sensitivity is partly "in the head" as it were, for most people. There's few who are actually really physically allergic to it. Most people who claim to be have convinced themselves that they are and once they believe they are allergic, they will develop allergy symptoms anyway. 40 years ago everyone smoked and few people complained. And this is coming from someone who has never smoked in his life (at least, not tobacco)

Ted

It may not be what you suspect. Mold can build-up in the Heater/AC vent system and give off a simular odor. Your local Autozone and other parts stores sell a product that you squirt into the outside air intake that will eliminate this odor and the mold. Since it sells for only a couple bucks, it is worth the try.

Good Luck,

Hank

I don't know about the ozone generator, but getting a full detailing didn't completely get rid of the stench. The cigarette small was always leaching out of the padding in the seats, especially in the back when the kids got in and bounced around before settling.

Matthew

Fill the ash tray up with Baking soda. Or go to Home depot or Lowes and they sell in the section of Air Filters, a bag that looks like rocks. I will filter the air as you drive with the A/C on, heater on, or a window open. but will take time. Clean the Car top to under the seats. Put baking soda in the Ash Tray, and sprinkle baking soda on the seats and on the carpets( Yes the carpet piece at the rear window) over night or better yet over the weekend. Then Vacumn it up.

The smell the original poster complains about must be really bad. If he works in a septic tank and complains about cigarette smell, I think there is other issues. :-)

Hank

Are you saying that he is smelling butt odor in any case;>)