Interior
How to get smoke smell out of a car
Smoke is not a smell sitting in the air. It is tar on the headliner, the vents, the seat fabric and the cabin filter, and it comes back every warm day until those are cleaned. Here is what works, in order.
A customer once told us the truck came back "with no smoke smell at all," and it is in our reviews because it surprised her. It should not be surprising, but most attempts fail, because they treat the air instead of the surfaces. Smoke residue is a film of tar and particles on every porous surface in the car, and the smell is that film warming up. Clean the film and the smell is gone; mask it and it is back by July.
Where it lives
- The headliner. Smoke rises, and the fabric ceiling holds more of it than anything else in the car. It is also the surface everyone forgets.
- The vents and ducts. Smoke is pulled through the HVAC system every time the fan runs, and it coats the ducts.
- The cabin air filter. A smoke-soaked filter re-smokes the car every time the fan comes on.
- Seat fabric, carpet and the seatbelts. Porous, and the seatbelts are another one everyone forgets.
- The hard surfaces, which are easy, and the glass, which has a visible yellow film.
What does not work
- Air fresheners and sprays. They add a smell on top of the smell.
- Odor bombs on their own. They can help as a last step after cleaning; on a dirty car they mask for a week.
- Vacuuming. Necessary, nowhere near sufficient.
- Baking soda, coffee grounds, dryer sheets. Folk remedies for a chemistry problem.
What works
- Remove everything loose, including the mats and anything fabric.
- Vacuum thoroughly, including the headliner with a brush head.
- Clean the headliner with a fabric cleaner and a light hand; it cannot be soaked or the glue lets go.
- Shampoo and extract the seats and carpet with hot water, twice if needed.
- Clean every hard surface and the glass, where the yellow film is.
- Replace the cabin air filter. Ten dollars; skipping it undoes everything.
- Treat the ducts with an odor eliminator run through the HVAC on recirculate.
- An enzyme or chlorine-dioxide treatment as the last step, with the car closed up, to neutralise what the cleaning did not reach.
When to call us
When the car was smoked in for years rather than months, when you have tried the sprays, or when you bought it used and want it to be yours. Our odor and smoke treatment is the full process above, with a hot-water extractor and the right chemistry, and we will tell you honestly if a car is beyond it; very few are. Book an interior detail with the smoke add-on. Interior detailing.
How long until the smell is gone?
Immediately after the treatment, with a faint cleaner smell for a day or two. If a smoke smell returns on the first hot day, something was missed, usually the headliner or the filter, and we come back.
Does it work on marijuana smoke?
Yes, the same process. The residue is similar and the headliner and filter matter just as much.