Cigarette Smell

[nc211]

Tried to search, but you wouldn't believe how many hits "smoke smell" comes back with!! Looks like Lexus has a smoking problem. Hahaha...

Anywho, just bought a 05' 4Runner, cloth interior. It is very apparent that the previous owner was a smoker, and the dealership tried to cover it with odor killer spray, which is worse actually. I have one of those Brissell steam cleaners with all the attachments, was thinking about using it to clean the seats and carpets. Would you recommend using it on the headliner as well? Very gently on the headliner, not to soak it to mess up the glue? Or simply use the normal vac to pull out the odor from the liner. Or do you guys have something different that you've done in the past that worked. The seats need a cleaning, I can tell. And the Brissell is one bad-mamba-jamba when it comes to cleaning! I've used it on my light cream colored sofa and chair a few times, and it's amazing!

Thanks amigos!

PS: I can add any kind of detergent needed into the machine. Think Woollite would be safe for the seats? Or just stick with the water only, let it sit in the garage with the windows down for a day or so to dry.

[SW03ES]

Thats a tough one. Cigarette smell is one of the hardest smells to remove, bar none. Use HOT water in the Bissell and clean everything, under the seats, clean ALL the plastic with the Woolite mixture, clean out all the bins and everything.

I wouldn't use it on the headliner, just vacuum it well and spray it with a odor neutralizer like Odor Gun. Nothing with a smell.

Worse comes to worse you might need to pay to have it ozoned, but that will remove the smell for good.

[nc211]

Ozoned.... interesting suggestion! I recall back when I was with the credit union, i provided financing for a very small start up compnay called enviro-fix. The dealerships would hire these guys to come out and "eliminate" all odors in their used inventory, including in the air vents.... I think I've got a discount benefit with them...

[SKperformance]

You can buy a small zone purifier for the car and leave it running over night.

Use Mr.clean magic eraser to clean the interior to brand new and then use an A/C mould remover to get rid of the smell from the hvac which always makes it smell.

[mburnickas]

Ozone at some high PPM will remove it, I have done it. Cigar I feel is harder.

[nc211]

SK, we're on the same page, I just finished wiping down the plastic panels, dash and glass with Mr. Clean....took 5 sponges! And after the 5th or 6th ringing of the sponge, I had to toss the water for new. It was yellow. All doors, back area, and every piece of plastic and glass look brand spankin' new. I new it was a smoker's car because the inside of the sunroof was coated in smoke. A tell-tale sign. It doesn't smell that bad, they obviously had the window down when they smoked, bit it's there. Much better now though....

On a side note SK, I was in your neck of the woods last week for the Canadian open. We have a bunch of golf course loans in your area, and I was on inspection for three of them, plus a few gallons of wine, and the open.... Funny story that you'll appreciate.... stayed in Markem "Markum, Markam, whatever..."at the Hilton on Warden Road"aka Embassy Suites". Rented a car from Avis at the hotel to head down towards SW Toronto, Milton area... Going down the 407 at 8:00 am, half hungover from the night before, half swimming in my coffee. EVERYONE IS SCREAMING PAST ME, and tailgating the hell out of me. I'm thinking "damn land of Celion Dion! Screw you guys!!!! I'm going 70 for cryin' out loud!!!""""........wait for it......you know what's coming...just wait for it.......

A few clicks down the road, I see the speed limit....says 100. I didn't believe my eyes, so I pulled out my glasses and waited for the next sign....all the while really ticking off everyone, as I add sugar and cream to my coffee....and then I see it...100... Now, I'm thinking to myself "Jesus, they drive fast up here!" Then, as I go to adjust my cruise control, I notice the dashboard says........wait for it.....you know what's coming......

KILOMETERS per hour, not MILES per hour! I was going about 40 mph on the 407 in rush hour traffic!

So.... DAMN AMERICANS!!!!

[SKperformance]

LOL

You should have let me know it would have been nice to share some wine and a Cuban ! LOL

[Mike Bearden]

First thing is to change out the cabin air filter.

I have great luck with Lysol in getting rid of odors in the vent system. Warm up the car...turn on the heater at full speed...spray the Lysol through the air intake at the rear of the hood...

a lot of Lysol...try it several times and do the same with the AC on and close up the car overnite.

Febreeze for Cars does a good job on carpets.

[TOGWT]

Tobacco smoke- is one of the most difficult smells to remove from a car, as the smoke permeates almost every interior finish. Start by cleaning the carpets and upholstery with an extractor and 303 Carpet & Spot Remover TM. Clean leather, vinyl and all interior glass surfaces with approved cleaners, once the carpet has dried for 24 hours, sprinkle with baking soda, rub it in to ensure that it penetrates the fibres and leave it for about a week, then vacuum the carpet to remove. The baking soda should absorb the remaining odour in the carpet. As with all smell and odour removal check the cabin air filter, change as necessary.

Place an open container of fresh ground coffee under each seat or foot well, coffee works astonishing well at absorbing cigarette odours.

[mburnickas]

My take is coffee, febreeze, etc will not remove it. You need ozone to do it and remove the smell. All these options stated above will only mask it.

[SW03ES]

Coffee DOES absorb odors kind of like Baking Soda. Its worth a shot...

Although then your interior will smell like a Starbucks...

[mburnickas]

Sure it does absorb a little but it will take like 2 years, add more smell and really will not kill the smell. Just saying I have been there and coffee did little to nothing. Ozone did it in 3 hours. Done and more onward. but if you want to try it, have fun.

You cannot compare coffee beans to ozone. Not even in same ball park. Ozone kills destroying the offending organisms, bacteria, mold etc. Not gonna happen with $3 coffee.

Problem I see is Starbucks will bend you over, bigtime!:)

[nc211]

Thanks for the input fellas! I think what I need to do is have it steam cleaned before anything. I tried my Brissle at home, but I think it puts down too much water into the fabric, and i don't want a mold issue within the seats. But the section that I did use it on, made an impressive difference in the cloth. I need to take it to a professional with a more high-powered steam cleaner. I think once that is done, the rest should be easy to take care off. It's not as bad now as it was when I bought it, but it's still there, quite noticably too. Love the truck though, good decision and buy. Hate the electronic throttle, but getting use to it a bit. Price you pay I guess for the excellent build quality of Toyota in general.

[nc211]

Well, a little update. My big bissell steam cleaner broke a few weeks ago, so I replaced it with a smaller version, called the bissell little green machine. It's basically just the hand wand version of the upright models. Got sick and tired of lugging that big ole' thing out everytime a small spill happened around the house. I don't know if the old one was tired, or the hand wand attachment was broken and I didn't realize it, or technology improved these machines over the past few years, but the little green machine works 10 times better than the attachment of the old, larger one. So, I decided to try the 4runner cleaning again yesterday. Holy Crap, that thing cleaned the seats and carpet back to new! All I used was hot water, no cleaning solution. The used water was freakin' nasty! Just cleaning the front passenger seat and rear passenger side seat produced dirty water that was so brown, you could barely shine a light through it. It was freakin' disgusting, to say the least. The funny thing though, is the smoke smell had gone away after about 6 weeks from the purchase date. I used about a dozen dryer sheets over the months to help eliminate the odor, which worked quite well. But I always felt like the fabric was just dirty. It didn't seem dirty, but in my mind, it felt dirty. Well, now I know the truth, it was absolutely covered in smoke residue, and I'm sure some dirt too. My digital camera's battery is completely dead, so I couldn't take any pictures. But the best way I can describe what the dirty water kept looking like every time I emptied the tank, would be to compare it to a cup of hot chocolate. Just nasty.

Now? The fabric is fluffy, car smells new, and you can see the actual pattern of the material, even some of the square pattern inserts that are shinny. I'm actually stunned at the results, and very pleased with the little green machine, which is linked here: http://www.bissell.com/Featured_Product.aspx

Again, I don't know if my old one was just worn out, broken, or poorly designed. But these new ones, have some serious water pulling muscle. Took the car about 2 hours to completely dry.

But, you guys still agree that I shouldn't use the bissell on the headliner though, right? You guys still say it'll most likely cause the glue to fail?

[backwoods lex]

Spraying Tuff Stuff all purpose cleaner on a microfiber mitt (about $1 at any dollar store) has worked wonders for me in the past. Just a little light pressure and it should come out like new again.

[SW03ES]

The little green is a great tool, I've got one.

[nc211]

Yeah man, they're a "must have" in my opinion. They sell other's that have the internal heater for the water, that heats it up an additional 25 degrees. But in my opinion, the water tank is so small anyway, that by the time the water starts too cool down to the point of losing it's effectiveness, it's time to refill anyway. So, wasn't worth the extra $60. I bought mine at Best Buy for $59.99 a few weeks ago. The wife was ticked! Said we didn't need to spend the money to replace the old machine. I told her there was no way in hell I was going to live in a house that has cream colored carpet and cream colored furniture with 3 cats and a newborn baby without one! Since she drive the 4runner now, she saw the wisdom of my knowledge when she sat in the 4runner. I'm out of the dog house, and back in charge! Hahaha....for now....

[SW03ES]

I had one with the heat and it got worn out (we've got pets haha) and we replaced it with a Bissel SpotBot which didn't work as well.

We replaced the spotbot with another little green, this time without the heat (couldn't find one with heat, they're being discontinued for the SpotBot which is a shame because it sucks. I almost bought two little greens) and it works just as well. I just put hot water in the resevior.