GEN 1 Smoke Smell Removal

[Steven_Born]

I agree with the earlier statement get a good ozone unit or UV and let it run. This will eliminate the odors. Be careful both ozone and UV are oxidizers so they can cause white or oxide spots.

 

[MJM]

Hey guys, previous owner smoked in my truck and the smoke smell isn't terrible but you can still smell it when the truck sits in the sun. Has anyone had good luck getting the smell out? i have had it detailed a few times but i think the main culprit is the head liner and from what i've heard they aren't easy to clean. How hard would it be to remove it and be able to clean it on a bench? Also, has anyone had good luck with any cleaning products to use on the carpets and headliner? There is a company in Seattle that charges 300+ to run some fogger machine that they claim will eliminate all odors or your money back. i'm a little skeptical if they don't clean the carpet and headliner first. I've had the ozone thing done during the details and never noticed a difference. I've also had some charcoal odor bags in there for about a year and still not much difference. I'm thinking the next step is doing some actual work and getting the headliner cleaned. Any tips or experience would be helpful.

 

[MJM]

Try a product called “Zero Order”. Especially effective on porous surfaces. It works extremely well on hard surfaces as well but leaves residues that easily wipes off. It is the best odor remover that I have used.

 

[Herk91]

Hey guys, previous owner smoked in my truck and the smoke smell isn't terrible but you can still smell it when the truck sits in the sun. Has anyone had good luck getting the smell out? i have had it detailed a few times but i think the main culprit is the head liner and from what i've heard they aren't easy to clean. How hard would it be to remove it and be able to clean it on a bench? Also, has anyone had good luck with any cleaning products to use on the carpets and headliner? There is a company in Seattle that charges 300+ to run some fogger machine that they claim will eliminate all odors or your money back. i'm a little skeptical if they don't clean the carpet and headliner first. I've had the ozone thing done during the details and never noticed a difference. I've also had some charcoal odor bags in there for about a year and still not much difference. I'm thinking the next step is doing some actual work and getting the headliner cleaned. Any tips or experience would be helpful.

Replace the headliner.

 

[magaraptor]

Ozone machine will do it, I run it for like 24 hours, it kills all bacteria that creates the odor.

 

[jimmyjamm]

The common way dealerships do it is a combination of steam, chemical and Ozone. The process is specific, much like the video link that JohnyPython posted, and expensive. It used to cost $500-$600 (like 10 years ago) to do just the smoke removal smell, so nowadays probably twice that.

 

[Oldfart]

I bought a used Corvette years ago, I ended up replacing all the carpet and backing to get ALL the smell out. It took the better part of a year of leaving it in my garage with the windows open for it to come out of the seats and the rest of the interior, no matter how I cleaned it. I would never buy a used vehicle again with smoke smell in it, or the equally great dead ***** covered in pine scent smell either.

 

[melvimbe]

I bought a used Corvette years ago, I ended up replacing all the carpet and backing to get ALL the smell out. It took the better part of a year of leaving it in my garage with the windows open for it to come out of the seats and the rest of the interior, no matter how I cleaned it. I would never buy a used vehicle again with smoke smell in it, or the equally great dead ***** covered in pine scent smell either.

Was the dead ***** smell from the same corvette or a different vehicle?

 

[Mike T]

You know what, I bought a used F-150 one time that had been smoked in, smelled frickin horrible. I heard all of the common stuff, it’s in the headliner, seat foam etc, it’ll be impossible to get out, ozone machine etc. I had a buddy that had a detailing shop for years. He said “scrub the headliner, seats and carpet with a decent cleaner, then......put an open can of coffee on the floor and leave it a couple of weeks. I thought yeah, right.... sounded like some urban myth. Scrubbed the cloth, It was better but still there. Put the coffee in and left it, several weeks later you couldn’t tell it had been smoked in. I was flabbergasted.... try it, you don’t have much to lose.

 

[dj30417]

I know my prior truck was horrible heavy smoke smelly, I did it and didn’t care. I smoke in my current truck and I’m told it does not smell smokey by someone who despises smoke. Weird thing is old truck had leather seats this one unfortunately has cloth seats. I use an ozone machine in my apartment for the rare occasions I smoke inside but haven’t seemingly needed to use it in my truck. I can attest to it working in other vehicles we’ve bought that were heavy smoke smelly. I always run it 24 hours and the smell is gone. I even used it on a pos that smelled like cat ***** and it worked along with changing the cabin air filter.