How to Get Rid of Tobacco Odors in Cars

Tobacco odors can make a car smell like an ash tray. Here is how to get rid of that stench.

Steps

1. Clean your mats with a carpet cleaner and vacuum them. Even if you can't clean them at least vacuum them. This alone may help the smell.
2. Spray fabric refresher on all car fabrics. If you can, get an antibacterial one, as these tend to work better with all smells. Spray on seats, floor mats and even seatbelts.
3. Regularly clean out the car's ashtray. After cleaning it out, spray some ordinary air freshener into it out rub around with an absorbent kitchen paper. This will leave a thin layer of the air freshener in the ash tray. It's not enough for it to be flammable but enough to have a pleasant scent.
4. Always have a hanging car freshener or one of those fan ones that clip onto the car's air vents.
5. If the odor is particularly pervasive, consider spraying a highly diluted cleaner (lysol, very low concentration bleach water, etc) through the heater ducts. Do this by finding the air intake (typically under the hood right close to the windshield) and, with the fan on in the car, spray with a water bottle. This will clean out some odor that's stagnated inside the ducts.

Tips

• Don't use too strong a cleaner or you could ruin your upholstery or dash
• Test all cleaners in an inconspicuous place first.

Things You'll Need

• Carpet Cleaner
• Air Freshener
• Paper Kitchen Towels
• Fabric Refresher
• Vacuum
• In-car Air Freshener
• Spray Bottle
• Cleaner