Valet to get rid of cigarette smoke smell

SomeDude · 13-11-2024 01:56PM #1

Hi All,

We bought a 1 year old car that has a smell of cigarettes/odour neutraliser. The car has fabric seats and the previous owner has seat covers over all of the seating.

What’s the best process to get rid of the smell? Is it to get the fabric steam cleaned? Would that damage the fabric?

Any suggestions welcome. Ideally we’d like to bring it to a reputable cleaning service. We are based in Wicklow, but would travel to south Dublin area for a good service.

Thanks in advance!

mikeecho · 14-11-2024 11:43PM

You could try ozone treatment.

Newtown90 · 14-11-2024 11:46PM

Had similar - took mine to a detailer who steamed, wet vacc'd and Ozoned it… still smelt funky when I picked it up after 4 days with him but much improved

Atlantic Dawn · 15-11-2024 12:09AM

And when you get it all cleaned make sure you then change the pollen filter or you will just be pumping that same dirty air around the car again.

Stallingrad · 15-11-2024 11:11AM

It's very hard to remove. That stuff impregnates everything from the headliner to the carpet. A steam clean of the whole car, ozone with pollen filter removed as suggested above may work. I had a look at a dealer demo car with 2000km that had been valeted, stank inside of cigarette smoke, total deal breaker.

15-11-2024 11:33AM

I smoke but I don't smoke in my car or my house as I hate the smell of stale cigarette smoke. A car having been smoked in is always a deal breaker for me when I'm buying.

It's a very hard thing to completely remove from a car as it gets absolutely everywhere. There are products on the market specifically designed to kill the smell and are used as a shampoo to clean all fabrics (including the headliner). That followed by an O-Zone treatment and cabin filter swap will make it a lot better but I'm sorry to say it will never be fully gone.

trindade · 28-11-2024 10:28PM

Hi, I made a similar post at the beginning of the year... I paid 42.5k for a RAV4 SOL, bought at Denis Mahony dealership.
The car was damp and had a strong fragrance of some odour remover product when I first saw it. The salesman told me it wasn’t from a smoker.

The day I picked up the car, after driving for a few minutes, I felt the smell again, and it started to bother me. After the good fragrance of the valeting products faded, the smell really got to me. I could feel it on my hands and clothes… It was gross.

I tried everything and even went back to Denis Mahony, where they said they used ozone and did everything (or so they claimed, I’m not sure). It didn’t work. I was very upset, and the cynical manager said he couldn’t smell anything.

In the end, I was so frustrated that I returned the car and bought a new Corolla Touring Sport for a similar price. I really didn't want the Corolla TS but it would fit my needs as I needed a bigger family car to fit a buggy…

So, after staying 15 days with that RAV4 and extensive research, including with all vallet companies in Meath/Louth/North Dublin, I can say this:

The correct procedure is to vacuum and wash everything twice, and you’ll need a carpet cleaner. When I say everything, I mean the floor, roof liner, doors- literally everywhere.

Between the washes, you have to use a good ozone machine. (Be careful—it can damage the plastic materials in your car.)

After the second wash, you’ll need ozone treatment again.You might need aditional ozone sessions.

Even professional valets won’t guarantee it will be 100% removed. Honestly, I don’t believe it ever will.

Valet to get rid of cigarette smoke smell

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