Smoke, Smell, Remove

How to Remove Smoke Smell from a Car

Getting the Smell of Cigarette Smoke Out of Your Vehicle Cigarette smoke is one of the most pervasive odors there is and one of the most difficult to remove from close quarters like your vehicle. I’ve seen smoke smell get behind door panels and discolor the white vapor barrier inside. Smoke build-up sometimes forms a yellow coating that sticks on the inside windows, windshields, and paneling of your vehicle. It leaves a residue that infiltrates the fibers in fabrics, carpeting, and porous materials like foam. That means smoke smell embeds itself in your seats and in the carpeting and floor mats. Furthermore, smoke residue gets caught in the heating and air conditioning ventilation system, and your air intake manifold may be contaminated or even blocked and recirculating third-hand cigarette residue.

Caused by bacteria, odors can only be removed if the source of that odor is removed or eliminated, and the residual is cleaned. Spraying deodorizers and perfumes will only cover up the smell temporarily. And many times the heavy mix of perfume with still-existent cigarette smoke residue produces an even more sickening odor.

Whether you are a smoker, or you have inherited a vehicle with a residual smoky smell, there are essentially three steps involved in removing the smell of cigarette smoke permanently.

1.  Deeply clean every surface of the interior. Remove seats, door panels, and any dashboard or console coverings where cigarette residue could have seeped underneath. Get every spec of ash and residue out of the carpet and mats with a powerful steam cleaner that has excellent suction for removal of residual water. Clean all seats, even those rarely used, with an appropriate fabric cleaner or steam vac. Clean every hard surface, armrests, ashtrays, drink holders, etc., where ash could have fallen and become trapped.

2.  Ozone the vehicle three (3) times. Ozone treatments oxidize organic contaminants, similar to how chlorine purifies water. An ozone generator converts oxygen in the air into ozone (O3), perfectly measured into proper concentrations and contact time to ensure decontamination. We use equal amounts of “airing out” time in between treatments.

3.  Finish by spraying Neutra-Scent throughout the car and even into the ventilation system, to eliminate residual smoke and bacteria-causing smells. Neutra-Scent is formulated to encapsulate malodors at the molecular level so odors can be removed at their source without introducing a new scent.

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