# What is the best way to get (minor)cigarrette smoke smell out of a car?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 30, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719 "2003-01-30T21:20:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/1 "2003-01-30T21:20:05Z")
I just bought a used car. It has a minor odor of cigarette. Nothing major, but I’d like to get rid of it.
I don’t really want to make the whole car smell like something else…just get rid of the odor that is there.
What is the best way?
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### Author:  [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/2 "2003-01-30T21:37:42Z")
I quit smoking a few weeks ago, and a few days afterward I noticed how much the inside of my pickup REEKED. I Armor-All-ed all the leather and plastic in the cab, shampooed the rugs, cleaned the windows, and used Fabreez on the fabric. It seemed to do this trick.
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### Author:  [@Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smashed_Ice_Cream)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/3 "2003-01-30T22:18:05Z")
I’ll second the Febreeze idea, and add put an unscented dryer fabric softener sheet somewhere like under your seats. (You can use a scented one, but it _will_ make your car smell like laundry.)
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### Author:  [@banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/banks)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/4 "2003-01-30T22:22:28Z")
Febreeze works temporarily for me, but after about a week the smell comes back.
My mother keeps telling me to get a can of maxwell house-type coffee, punch a few holes in the lid, and leave it in the car. She claims it will eat the odors. I’m skeptical, but it’s coming down to about the only option that hasn’t failed yet.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/5 "2003-01-30T22:32:46Z")
Febreeze the fabric. Ozium the air. Baking soda the carpets, and then vacuum.
Coffee will overcome many odors, but it doesn’t remove them.
There is also those packages of activated volcano rock, which take a while, but work.
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### Author:  [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/6 "2003-01-31T01:50:12Z")
Go to an auto parts store and get a can of “Tuff Stuff” upholstery cleaner. Clean all the seats and the headliner with it. Works like a champ. 😃
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### Author:  [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/7 "2003-01-31T02:01:09Z")
Nothing works like opening your windows and all your vents and ripping through the fresh country air at 60 mph for a solid hour or two.
Get that breeze happening and blow your car into a state of cleanliness.
Obviously, empty your car of absolutely EVERYTHING which can be blown around before hand. (Especially your ash trays!)
Certainly, if you’re a regular smoker, it’s quite astonishing how “numb” your sense of smell becomes.
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### Author:  [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/8 "2003-01-31T02:31:14Z")
Try using Odo-Ban. That stuff works wonders on all kinds of smells and disinfects too.
> **[Home](https://odoban.com/)**
>
> American made cleaners, disinfectants, and odor eliminators you'll love. Trusted since 1980. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
I think it’s the same stuff they use in hotel rooms to remove smoke smells. I could be wrong but it’s similar anyway.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/9 "2003-01-31T02:38:05Z")
Thanks for the advice, everyone.
Where would I get ozium and activated volcanic rock?
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### Author:  [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/10 "2003-01-31T02:56:40Z")
You can get activated charcoal (which is what Heloise recommended in a column back in 1998) at a pet store…I had forgotton about that.
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### Author:  [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/11 "2003-01-31T03:12:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \*
> \*\*Thanks for the advice, everyone.
>
> Where would I get ozium and activated volcanic rock? \*\*
I’ve found Ozium in the auto section of my local Wally World, as well as in most automotive stores. It’s a very small can, and works like a charm 🙂
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### Author:  [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/12 "2003-01-31T04:16:22Z")
One of the reasons I quit the nasty weed:
My sister (non-smoker) and I had to change cars one weekend. She went to pick up my nephew in my Camaro. My nephew got in the car and said: “Mommy, this car smells like Uncle Rico’s beard!”
My solution? Well, 6 months later I bought a new car and didn’t smoke in it, does that count?
BTW, I just passed 3 years with no cigarettes! I’m so proud of myself!
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/13 "2003-01-31T04:43:51Z")
Watch out for the air conditioning. It can trap the smell of smoke for months if not run during the air cleansing process.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/14 "2003-01-31T17:07:54Z")
I cleaned the smokers smell in my house buy building a few fires in the fireplace. Worked great too, I don’t think you could do that in the car though 🙂
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### Author:  [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/15 "2003-01-31T17:16:28Z")
Seconding **don’t ask** here. My ex-boss was a heavy smoker (he’s dead now…coincidence?) and we never did get the tobacco smell out of the air-conditioning system.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-minor-cigarrette-smoke-smell-out-of-a-car/151719/16 "2003-01-31T17:19:09Z")
IIRC the car talk guys recommended wadding up a bunch of newspaper, like enough to fill the car, and leaving the car in the sun. Also, clean _above_ where the ashtray goes in. The plastic above may well have residue from an overfull ashtray getting shoved into place.