Need Help: How do I get rid of bad smell in my car?

Blind Io is correct to say going to a detail shop is likely the most effective way of eliminating the smoke smell. Cost varies shop to shop, you might want to ask your rental car branches which ones they use for a recommendation and an idea of the cost. As for fabreeze, its better than many deodorizers but its only temporary and depending on how strong the smoke smell is may not even eliminate the smell even when applied.
 
Well, it's not that strong, I just want to get it to smell neutral to apply Girot's leather scent.
 
Unless you ozonate (or otherwise remove the source from) the car, the smell will just come back. Not to mention all the nicotene you need to clean off everything.
 
Get a whole new headliner installed, I bet it would make a huge difference. There is a reason smoker's cars sell for so much less.
 
Activated charcoal would be best, but regular charcoal might help a bit.

I like activated charcoal - played a big part in my old marine aquarium.
 
there is no cure. You need to sell/give the car away

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After you tried the short-term solutions, you'd have to clean the car properly and get rid of what causes the bad smell. You have various opportunity, from the crazy one to something affordable or that you can do by yourself for free.

You can start by a deep cleaning (vapour, for example), either by you or by professional, mainly to clean up tissue parts properly.

Then you could take down and clean separately some easy parts, like air vents, carpets, handles, easy-to-remove trims. I had a great results myself when I disassembled and cleaned the air vents. Half a day's work and tons of nicotine taken out (the first owner was a smoker).

Then you could change some pieces, like the ash-tray, that will always retain a bad smell.

Then... you can go on, if you want, or if you need. Some smells, like dog smell, sometimes don't go away if not after using extreme solutions, like disassembling the entire car interior, cleaning it hard and then reassembling everything back together. I know for sure that this has happened a couple of times to a friend used-car dealer. If you should feel like it...
 
If the vinegar bowl does't do it for you, you can buy an ozonator for pretty cheap. They sound like a gimmick but they do make a noticible difference. We us them at my work to freshen up smelly cars. Leaving it in the car overnight gets rid of light smoking odor. Leaving it in the car for a few days really helps with the ground in stench of hippie BO and skunk weed.
 
^Awesome, thanks, but vinegar and then wet coffee ground and fabric softener sheets did the trick.
 
I just had a complete interior clean-up of my car, including the carpet pieces, the upholstery and the plastic. Cost me 100 Euros. It got rid of back smells quite good, although the cleaning fluids haven't completely dried off by now and that's why my windows tend to steam up rather badly at the moment.

Only one thing is for sure: An old car will never smell like a new car again, because that new car smell is made of evaporations from the materials used in the interior. Once it's gone, it's gone.
 
^There are substitutes, "new car" scented air freshener. And I wouldn't want ACTUAL new car smell as that is toxic.
 
If it is toxic, why isn't it forbidden then? :rolleyes:

The scent of a new car is designed. Car companies have own development teams for that. For example there is a typical "VW smell" and a typical "Mercedes smell".

In any case cigarette smoke (and its residue in the upholstery) is many times more unhealthy, than the vapors from foamed plastic.

On a side note: Why is it that smokers complain about bad smell or bad air? I notice it in my company: "Oh man, the air in here is thick. Let's go outside and smoke one."

:lol:
 
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I've had a car and a kitchen (...don't ask) with smoke smell issues. One word: citrus.

Put some orange peels in open baggies around your car. Check 'em constantly to make sure they haven't molded (that's why you have the baggie--to keep anything ew from getting on your car, and then you just throw them out and get a new baggie). Takes a while, but I can hardly notice that my car was a stinker now (and that's usually only when it's hot--since you're in WA, that probably won't be as big of an issue).

Also: makes a good excuse to devour an entire crate of those little Christmas oranges.

Also also: there's an ozone spray-type stuff they make now that I used on my kitchen. I think they sell it at car shops--one of my neighbors brought it over and said they used it a lot to de-stink hotel rooms, too. That + airing it out a bit = kitchen smells like a kitchen again.
 
Yeah, I kinda like the old Mercedes (what I meant by aged leather) smell that I am used to it.
 
If it is toxic, why isn't it forbidden then? :rolleyes:

The scent of a new car is designed. Car companies have own development teams for that. For example there is a typical "VW smell" and a typical "Mercedes smell".

In any case cigarette smoke (and its residue in the upholstery) is many times more unhealthy, than the vapors from foamed plastic.

On a side note: Why is it that smokers complain about bad smell or bad air? I notice it in my company: "Oh man, the air in here is thick. Let's go outside and smoke one."

:lol:

The different smells are because of the different materials. Cheap plastic and polyester will smell different than soft-touch plastics, wood varnish and leather. Most the "research and development" is in finding materials that don't stink, or finding ways to remove the toxic smell with solutions or finishing techniques.

The evaporates from interior materials is the cause of "new car smell" and those chemicals are toxic in high doses. Cheap cars are the worst and I've gotten headaches and irritated eyes from being in new cars loaded with cheap plastics.

Personally, I don't like the "new car" smell. I want my car to smell as neutral as possible. Another fun thing about the evaporates (and products like Armor All) is that when the car is closed up in hot weather those chemicals form the white film on the inside of the windows that cause them to fog up and make driving difficult at night. That haze is nothing more than the evaporated chemicals that have stuck to every interior surface of the car. That's why I never use Armor All or similar products on my dash or plastics.

As for why it's not forbidden? Probably because they haven't gotten around to that yet. I'm sure they will ban it somewhere between alcohol and installing foam-rubber on all the lamp posts.
 
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Azo colours in candy are shown to be causing hyperactivity, concentration disorders, sudden rage eruptions and allergic reactions in children, yet they are allowed within the European Union. They were banned here but we had to give that up in 1995 after we joined.

Now it's 2009 and after a recent decision products containing Azo-colours shall now carry a warning sticker, but they are still allowed. The food lobbyists (food is what the EU spends most of their effort and money on) are quite good at what they do. Why do they use Azo-colours? Because it's cheaper than natural dyes.

New car smell is evaporating phthalates and plasticizers and it's reasonable to assume inhaling it is unhealthy like any other inhalation of fumes from plastic- and oil-based products are.
 
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