cigarette odour problem

[artrix]

Hi just bought a nice and cheap vt its a well maintained car and a bargain... trouble is the past owner was a smoker and it does have a bit of left over smell. Is there any sure fire way I can get rid of the odour as its the only thing wrong waith a really nice car.
cheers

[HamaTime™]

Spray alot of Lynx in the car!

[Haydz]

clean the crap out of it. get the carpet/ seats steam cleaned. some of that oust stuff. that kills germs.

anything is worth a shot. also when you can leave all the doors/ boot open to let the air flow thru the car. could help with getting rid of your smell.

[mz81vs]

What about the febreeze stuff or maybe glen 20. Those are supposed to neutralise odours right? But i'd wait for a sunny day and put all the windows down and leave it in the sun. The sun is has natural disinfectant/antibacterial properties.

[artrix]

thanks for the input

[dozenmatta]

Take the seats out and get them dry cleaned and leave them out in the sun.

Wash the carpets with carpet cleaning product.

leave the windows down as much as possible .

Maybe a ice cream container full of bicarb too under seat might help absorb some.

[mz81vs]

The bicarb is a good idea. I second that.

[Morton]

Just wash every surface, and the smell will go away.

Clean the windows with glass cleaner, clean every bit of plastic trim with a product, shampoo the carpets, and shampoo the seats. Then spray any de-odouriser into each ash tray, and it should be sorted!

Commodores have their own smell anyway, so give it some time after your big clean, and it should start to smell like musty watery dampness in no time

[artrix]

thanx guys lots of good tips cheers

[TVR-190]

buy some aftershave and put it in the carpet

[Cobez]

As said, steam clean it over a few times, even get a detailer to do it, they will go to town on it. I'm an occasional smoker, but have never had a single smoke in any of the cars i have owned / driven for this reason. I don't smoke in my house either. That smell it's just a pain in the ass to get rid of, gets in your clothes, couches, car everywhere.

I smoke outside and that's it. And if i was to buy a car a smoker owned and smoked in, i'd be making them either get it detailed to get rid of the smell, or deduct the cost of the detailing bill from the purchase price.

[Calaber]

One area often overlooking inside the car is the roof lining. The smoke tends to permeate into the roof area worst of all because it rises and the roof cops loads more smoke than the rest of the interior. Also, because it is closer to your head than the rest of the trim, the stink is more noticeable, especially if you are a non-smoker.

Make sure your cleaning efforts address the roof lining thoroughly. You need to be careful though, because vigourous washing of the roof lining can see it pull away from the foam underlay, so don't rub it heavily, just lightly enough to clean the surface dirt off. The, after the interior has ventilated thoroughly, spray some of the smell absorbent products you can buy throughout the interior and give the roof lining a light go as well.

[Maxxiz]

Im a detailer and have previously been a drycleaner.. Whoever said take the seats out and dry clean them.. That wont work lol.. A drycleaning machine is like an oversized washing machine.. you cannot put a seat in it. Hire one of those carpet cleaners from woolies or wherever and get the smaller 'upholstery' wand. Get a bucket of hot/warm soapy water and cover the carpet and seats in it. Get a scrubbing brush and scrub it everywhere. Use the machine to vacume up the water. Do the same with the seats, wetting them then scrubbing and vac. Then just wet all the other fabric trims slightly (not drenched) and scrub and vac them again. Then either leave the heater running a while with the doors closed or leave it in the sun for a bit with the doors and windows open. Finish off with some air freshner and you should be sweet. Using air freshners/deoderisers/colgnes will only mask the smell for a day or so..
Good luck

[VN_chris]

What about the febreeze stuff or maybe glen 20. Those are supposed to neutralise odours right? But i'd wait for a sunny day and put all the windows down and leave it in the sun. The sun is has natural disinfectant/antibacterial properties.

yer thats wat does it, me and my mates somked the argile in my VN (lebo pipe) the center console is perfect for it, and it stunk of strawberry tabaco so i cleaned everything and left it in the sun with the boot and doors open and i cant smell it any more.

[artrix]

thanks everyone for your ideas i will give them a go..,cheers

[NZVK308]

sell it back to the smelly old coot

[VjamesY]

I had a similar problem with my car, original owner was obviously a heavy smoker...

As mentioned, I cleaned the carpet, seats and all trims thoroughly

Chucked one of these fabric softener tubes under my seat, they are cheap and have a very nice strong smell. http://www.bananablue.com.au/images/...93228664_1.jpg

and also tried getting as much fresh air in the car as possible for a while by opening windows heaps and thrashing air con etc

[TMM]

One area often overlooking inside the car is the roof lining. The smoke tends to permeate into the roof area worst of all because it rises and the roof cops loads more smoke than the rest of the interior.

+1. It would be worth taking the headliner out of the car to clean it as it'll dry much easier, and you don't have to worry so much about dripping dirty water all over your interior. If it's really bad just replace the headliner material altogether.

[artrix]

still battling the smell its amazing how you think you have it gone then a day or 3 later it reappears............