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Not Volvo specific (applies to other car a friend borrowed for several months) but he is a heavy smoker and apparently smoked every waking moment in my Dodge truck. What is latest technique to eliminate smoke smell? I suspect not many Volvo owner smokers, although I am sure there are a few.Latest suggestions?
BMWJohn in Avon Indy
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A cigar smoker owned my wife's car. It was not real bad, just bad. The smoke particles will adhere to every surface in the car, most you will never see.
Wash all the nonporous surfaces, anything you can access. Fabric headliner? If so, I'd avoid anything but light Fabreze sprays. For fabrics, especially the carpet, sprinkle on a liberal amount of baking soda, rub it in, then spray lightly with Fabreze. Let dry completely then sweep and sweep again. I use this in a corner of the house where the dogs sleep.
Light subsequent sprays of Fabreze, windows open on nice days and the smell will be gone, in a year or two.
Tom
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My experience has been that you will never get rid of it. I've had several cars over the years with this problem. They were all really good deals that I couldn't pass up, but in the end I regretted each of them.
The latest was a Dodge Stealth. I pulled the front and rear seats, the center console, and the carpet in the front, rear, and cargo area. I soaked it all, scrubbed it with dish soap, carpet cleaner, and pet odor eliminator, let it dry and put it all back together. As someone else mentioned, on a warm day the car still smelled.
The problem is that the smoke goes everywhere. It's in the headliner, and the dashboard, and all the padding hidden everywhere in the car, and the seatbelts, and the air vents. You can never get it all. You can never even get half of it.
I used to work for a used car dealer, and part of my job was buying cars at the auction. I was given very specific instructions to not buy any car with cigarette smell or dog smell. You just can't get it out.
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I've heard from a back-woods family member that if you get a basic form (no pre-lite hickory stuff) of Charcoal Briquettes and set them on 2-3 cookie sheets, sprinkle with water and leave the car sealed up in the sun it'll work....
My sister uses dryer sheets laid out on the fabric.
I'd actually look into calling one of those "Crime Scene Cleaner Up Companies" and see what they use.
2ยข
--
'92 244 w/ M47 (Hydra, ipd bars and springs, bilstein, urethane bushings)
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I have desmoked a couple of cars in my time.
First go get a bottle of white vinegar and mix it with 10 parts H2O to one part vinegar. Use the stuff from the grocery store or sneak some out of the kitchen.
Spray in on everything in that car and wipe it down. Do the plastic, windows, roof, back deck, hit it all top and bottom. Then wait a bit do it all over again and let it soak in really good this time, you want the fabric and the carpet wet to the touch. Get up under the dash, both sides of the floor mats, and under the seat bottoms and the carpet. Also don't forget that the door panels are covered in fabric. Spray a generous amount up in the AC vents and down into the area where the condenser sits. Roll down the windows and let it sit out in the sun until everything is dry. Slip the key in and let the fan blow air out the vents. Unless you just love vinegar in the face I would slip outside while doing it. This will not hurt or fade any fabric and will not hurt any window tint in the car. Lots of other chemicals they use for this will.
Than go down to a local home store like Home Depot and look in the cleaning section for the commercial deodorizer sprays. Follow the directions on the bottle or can and let it air out after you do.
Works like a champ and one nice sunny day it all it takes.
Good Luck,
Paul
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Best thing is to unbolt the seats, and then use a small carpet cleaner wand to do all the carpets. Wash every surface with a good cleaner. Spray 9 ( I use it on my boat) works quite well and rinses away easily. Don't mask the smell - clean the car.
Just why would Volvo owners be less likely to smoke? Too busy trying to find the laces in their Birkenstocks? Busy trading carbon credits? Exchanging secret handshakes with other ne'r do well Greenpeace dilettantes? Trading crop circle calendars? I don't understand.
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Your best bet is a can of Febreeze used liberally. NOTE: If you have even a HINT of Asthma, don't even consider Oust... it can be a killer!
jorrell
ps. A few applications might be required.
--
92 245 291K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!
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No Febreze anywhere near me!!! I sneeze when I walk down that aisle of the store!
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George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!
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I had a car professionally cleaned to get rid of the smokers smell. It cost a couple of hundred dollars. After sitting in the sun for a few hours, or on a really rainy day, you could still smell cigarettes after the detail company allegedly cleaned every surface. I would shampoo the carpets, upholstery and wash the headliner. Febreeze might help, but I'm thinking if you are really sensitive to the smell, you might be out of luck.
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The P.O. of my 242 was a chain smoker, the car came with a full ashtray of butts. It took a few weeks of daily dousing the seats and carpet with auto febreeze, it's auto specific I guess??? Worked great, but took a couple weeks. I would douse everything when I got to work in the morning and again when I got home for the night. Went through 2 whole bottles of the stuff, there is another product you can get at pet stores called Natures Miracle. It will get rid of pet odours and even cat piss after it's dried in a carpet, last resort I'd try that. it comes in a squirt and spray bottle.
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Natures Miracle is what I use to clean car carpets when doing restos, it is a wonderful product, even at $25 a gallon. Use it with a steam carpet cleaner. Excellent results!
jorrell
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92 245 291K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!
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Before you spray any product such as Febreeze all over the interior, make sure you really like the smell of the product. After several smoke-smell removal attempts, my 240 smells like a $20 a night motel. I have had to steam clean the interior to reduce it without adding new unpleasant smells.
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Reminds me of the book, The Cat In The Hat Comes Back. You might need some VOOM! All kidding aside, I don't think you are going to get a fresh scent without a lot of work, if at all, and you do need to be careful that you don't just mask the smell with something else or turn the smell into something else.
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