# Smoky car interior...help?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 30, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416 "2004-03-30T22:41:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/1 "2004-03-30T22:41:27Z")
My car has a persistent cigarette-smoke smell from the people who owned it previously. Does anyone know a good way to get the smell out? Preferably a cheap, do-it-yourself way?
I tried giving it the baking soda treatment, but now instead of having a smoke odor, it just smells like nicotine biscuits.
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### Author:  [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/2 "2004-03-31T02:11:08Z")
Try O3 (subscript 3). I think it actually has ozone, which is great at oxidizing things. Unfortunately it’s also great at ruining rubber, so use in moderation. Plus, it likes to oxidize you when you breathe it.
Just put 03 odor into Froogle, and you’ll find stuff about this. Just don’t believe the stuff about sleeping in an ozone filled room.
(IIRC. Maybe. YMMV)
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### Author:  [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/3 "2004-03-31T04:08:40Z")
Take out everything you can from the car: if you can get the seats out, so much the better!
Air it out as much as possible, which is why you want to get as much out: that will expose more surfaces to air that otherwise wouldn’t get much air circulation.
Spray any and all surfaces with your favorite odor-killing item. Try to find one that is specifically for tobacco smoke. (Yet another reason to take everything you can out: the more areas you can attack, the better.)
You may never be able to get all of the scent out, depending on how deeply it has premeated the car and how much you’re able to take apart to get at awkward areas. (Like the back of the backseat, or the underside of the seats.)
* * *
\<\< Let’s do lunch. Have your minion call my minion. \>\>
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/4 "2004-03-31T04:38:09Z")
Febreeze made the interior of my helmet a lot less stinky (sweat, not smoke), and it has a pleasant scent. I think they may have a special formula for smoke.
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### Author:  [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/5 "2004-03-31T05:17:17Z")
I love Febreeze. If you try it spray it on every surface, especially the headliner. And check the ashtray. Sometimes if it is the kind that goes up in the dash, you will find that it has spilt ashes up in the dash. Frankly it is very hard to get rid of smoke odor.
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### Author:  [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/6 "2004-03-31T08:38:13Z")
This happened to me too. I had a used car that I thought would never smell clean. I took out the ashtray and soaked it in a pinesol/water mix for a few hours. This probably helped, but the big thing was that there was a lot of ashes and a couple of butts sitting behind the ashtray slot. Once I vacuumed those out, the smell disappeared within a couple of weeks.
YMMV.
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### Author:  [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/7 "2004-03-31T08:40:07Z")
And for those of you that didn’t notice, I didn’t read all of **mike1dog’s** post.
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### Author:  [@Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faucet)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/8 "2004-03-31T09:00:12Z")
If it’s cloth interior have it shampooed a few times and then park it somewhere with all doors and windows down for as long as possible. It will air out and smell a whole lot better trust me.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/9 "2004-03-31T09:16:47Z")
Febreeze will work. Just don’t forget the air conditioning system. Spray some into the intake vents while it is running. Most lingering smells in cars are hiding in the A/C.
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### Author:  [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/10 "2004-03-31T14:42:51Z")
I smoke. And what I do is leave the windows down at nite. Works pretty well.
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### Author:  [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/11 "2004-04-01T01:21:16Z")
As a smoker married to a non-smoker, I can also vouch for the ability of Febreeze to destink smokey fabrics.
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### Author:  [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoky-car-interior-help/237416/12 "2004-04-01T01:53:37Z")
Febreze even makes a product specifically designed for car interiors, which, in my opinion (I know, I know) works even better than the regular Febreze for cigarette odors. In any event, Febreze works amazing wonders.