Any ideas how to remove the cigarette smoke smell from the interior of a car?

 

do you smoke?

 

I would try Febreeze and then leave all the windows and the sunroof open as much as possible, including over night in the garage, for a few days.

 

That is a tough smell to get rid of and it depends a bit on how long the car was smoked in (ie. if for several years, I doubt you will ever be able to get rid of the smell).

I bought a used Z28 Camaro years ago that had been smoked in for 5 years. It was professionally cleaned by the previous owner and I then tried every cleaner I could think of - to no great avail, the smell was reduced but still there. I had the car 2 years and sold it. The smell is in the leather, the headliner, carpets and all porous surfaces. Very hard to get out.

You might talk to a professional detailing shop.

 

Here is what worked for me..... I cut open three lemons and four oranges (perhaps more) and had it in the car from Friday to Monday with windows closed. Days later.. it was 'lemoney' but eventually no cigarette smell! and the lemon odor (which is NOT unpleasant to me) faded away anyway... I did try Febreeze but I was not fully satisfied.

 

I use to "flip" cars when I was in college and would frequently encounter "smoker cars".

Coffee grounds work like a charm. I've never had any cars with leather seats (mainly Civics and Accords) but coffee grounds always worked very well. I'd open a fresh can of coffee and leave it in the car for about 48 hours. The coffee grounds neutralized the odor very well. Very, very Minimal cigarette smell.

 

But how did the coffee taste afterwards?

 

...I've also had some luck with a large open (giving maximum surface area) tray/dish/pan filled with ammonia. 24 hours in a completely closed car removed any residual odors. It's best to have the car in a garage (not in the sun).

 

A friend of mine owns gaming company that runs video games, pinball, juke boxes, pool tables, darts etc... he had a pinball game that was in a location that had a large fire. The pinball game survived but when it was removed from the location it reeked of smoke. I remember him saying that it was remedied by use of an ozone machine. I found a post on another forum regarding cigarette smoke removal, with specific chemicals to use, they also recommended ozone. Here's the link http://www.audiforums.com/m_136668/tm.htm Good Luck.

 

The best way is to use an OZONE machine, but they are often times expensive and hard to find. What I have personally done is extracted the entire interior with hot water, then use 1Z Klima for the vents and CLEANair in the car.

http://www.autogeek.net/clairgefoair.html
http://www.autogeek.net/1z-einszett-klima-...-freshener.html