getting rid of cigarette smell in cloth interior

[WOP'R]

brother bought a car in which the prev owner smoked inside.

Any idea on how to get rid of the smell without replacing the interior!!??

[MNmopar]

Wash anything that you can wash, including the windows and all plastic surfaces.

Febreze (sp?) the crap out of everything that you can't wash, and don't forget the headliner and carpet.

A portable carpet cleaner should work pretty well on the seats although I've never tried it personally.

[butchsuppe]

I've used carpet cleaner and a shop vac on my seats + carpet. I smoke alot in my car plus cart the dog around in it. Works good.

[135sohc]

Take the covers off the seats and toss them into the washer. Cold water, gentle cycle and woolite. maybe do an extra rinse cycle. You'd be amazed at how clean they'll come out.

Hang up to drip dry

Remove the carpet, hang it up and use a pressure washer to clean it off.

[shrapnel]

That smell is almost similar to cat piss in a house. Your not getting rid of it until you remove everything. Take a good look at the interior of the car. Do you want to just have this as a ride around bullshit vehicle or something you feel comfortable in? How about when you go out on date and you pick up a girl you really like and she sits in your smelly --- vehicle? I have an 85 shelby charger and a mouse got into the vehicle over the winter and pissed and ---- everywhere. Granted, mouse piss is worse than cigarette smell, but trying to get built in odor out of carpet is useless. I removed every nut and bolt down to bare metal and washed everything down with clorox clean-up(awesome cleaner). The smell is no more and new carpetest and seats are going in. Think about it, if it sounds like too much work then f**k it, but it is a great way to learn more about these cars.

[black86glhs]

I agree that it is no fun riding around in an ashtray. I wipe down everything and if I can't remove it to wash it, I take a degreaser(White lightning or other such cleaner) and using a scrub brush, go at it on the seats and carpet. I use fabreeze on the headliner since they come apart so easy.
My .02.

[turbovanman²]

Do as suggested then call "Citruso", they use an orange based cleaner, it will remove any odours, stains from the carpent and upholstry.

BTW, your short block is done,

[WOP'R]

thanks for all the tips!...ripping the interior apart may be a no go as time is an issue. We'll bring it to a shop to get it all shampoo/cleaned then ill come in and shampoo it again then ill start by using products.

We'll see how it goes...first i gotta order a new power window module..

Thanks Simon!!!!
what about the head give me a PM so this thread doesnt get cluster f@cKed
btw went to mission last night and my buddies mr2 ran 13.6...not bad for a straight engine swap and no mods....the itch turned into a rash and its driving me nuts!!

[WLKivett]

I have a Subaru RS2.5 that the previous owner smoked in to the point the head liner was brown (it was originally light gray) I used a Spot Bot to clean the head liner in place then sprayed Febreze everywhere several times. No one can tell it's been smoked in now.

[layapatch]

If you clean the carpet take the front seats out and clean the carpet under the seats, smoke gets everywhere!

[zin]

I don't know about cars, but hotels will run an ozone generator in a room for a few hours (no one inside obviously), and that will kill the cig smell. If the smell is from a non-vapor source (cat piss/etc), then I don't know if it would have a lasting effect, but something to consider.

Mike

PS You can rent the ozone generators or have someone that specializes in smoke damage do the work for you.

[stitcherbob]

My favorite cleaner for "previously-enjoyed" cars is Spray Nine from Knights. I use it on all of the vinyl and hard surfaces to melt the brown cigarette tar out of the grain. Change you rags often, they will be dirty! I use a soft brush on bad areas like kick panels and armrests.
The previous entries had good suggestions for the cloth parts. I don't know about the ozone....it can ruin foam rubber and plastic over time but maybe is OK for short time use.

Soak the ashtrays in metal prep if rusted metal or a bleach solution if plastic....they have to be spotless in my cars as I don't smoke

[mpgmike]

+1 on the ozone. You can get an inexpensive ozone machine from www.amazing1.com that is either 12 vdc powered or can be plugged into the wall with a 12 adapter. They're about $120 assembled, or you could buy individual pieces and build it yourself for much less. I've used their ozone products in the basement to get rid of must and mildew, and I've used their ozone products for other applications. Not very expensive compared to most of the advertised brands. (FWIW, I have Ecoquest air purifiers and love them, even tried selling them for awhile. Sold them like hot-cakes, but it wasn't fulfilling to me & I dropped it. I'm motivated by science and cars.)

Mike

[GLHNSLHT2]

I probably bought the worst smokers car ever. The 1st time I looked at it there was seriously 3+inches of ash everywhere! The lady didn't use the ash tray and wouldn't flick the ashes out the window. She was nice enough to vacuum it before I got it but that is all. I took the car's interior totally out. EVERYTHING! I used a carpet cleaner vacuum on the carpet. And the cans of upolstrey (spelling) cleaner with the little plastic bristle brush on the end on all the cloth pieces, seats, door panels etc. I wiped everything down with armorall wipes. Once again EVERYTHING! There was a layer of TAR from the cigarettes on every plastic/glass etc piece in the car. It was GROSS. Rubber gloves were a must. After that I reassembled and let the car sit in the shop with the windows down. Every other day I would come in and soak it down with Fabreeze. I did that for probably a month. Now you can't tell it was ever a smokers car. I can only imagine what the poor lady's lungs looked like. The water out of the steam cleaner on the carpet was black for like 6 buckets. The armorall leather and window wipes were brown to yellow. But the car is spotless now and I can live with it. Wasn't too expensive to do, just time and space consuming.