how do you get cigarette smoke out of car upholstery?

[blessedwithboys]

i just inherited a car from a relative who was a chain smoker (thus, the inheritance of his car haha). the interior was almost entirely covered in a layer of ash. i vacuumed it and wiped down the hard plastic parts. i emptied 3 bottles of Febreeze for Auto on the seats and carpets.

i've also been leaving the car in my driveway with all the doors open as much as possible.

if i can avoid paying a pro to come clean it, i'd like to, mostly to save the money. but i also want to use crunchy products if at all possible.

any recs? thanks!

[goodygumdrops]

You replace the seats !!!


No seriously, I would have a professional clean it and I don't even think it would be guaranteed that they would be able to get the smell out of the upholstery

[RiverSky]

Have you called around to find out how much it would cost to have your upholstery and carpets steam cleaned? I would guess that you could get it done (at a local full service car wash) for $80 or less. Febreze will only really cover it up, or add perfume to it, and it won't get deep into the foam of the seats, where the smoke did indeed go.

Other measures you can try, which will improve but not remove the smoke are:

- putting a couple of bowls of baking soda in the vehicle for days on end, little plastic containers would work. the baking soda will soak up some of the odors.

- putting a couple of bowls of coffee grounds in the vehicle for days. Once, we had a very bad odor in the vehicle from some raw meat that was left inside the car after a grocery trip, and a bowl of coffee grounds removed the smell when nothing else would.

- a cup of white vinegar sitting in the car will also help with the odor.

- take a spray bottle and fill it with 100% white vinegar, and spray it on every surface of the car, including the ceiling, seats, carpets, under the seats, and every hard surface. Wipe it off the harder surfaces with clean cloths or paper towel but let the vinegar air dry on all of the other surfaces.

[tinuviel_k]

You can rent an ozone generator and run it in your car for several hours.

http://www.howtodothings.com/automot...or-on-your-car