ODOR Removal
 

I needed a good used truck. Found a1997 Silverado, 103K miles, great condition, but the previous owner is a smoker. I have cleaned every hard surface at least 4 times. Sprayed the vents, defroster vents, and heater vents. Will be replacing the carpet this weekend as well as steam cleaning the cloth seats. Any other tips to help rid the odor?

Nilodor. Spray some in the cab, and some through the A/C intakes if you've got A/C

Ozium.

Burn some dope...it'll smell way better than stale Salems. Just saying.

See if you can find some large flowers, which can overwhelm the smell. Maybe a Titan arum.

there should be a cabin air filter in there somewhere too......

about 2ml of bleach in a spray bottle full of distilled water. fine mist.

Spread a box of baking soda on a baking tray. Leave it in the car with the windows rolled up & it'll help.

Another option is to cover the baking tray with tea-light candles. Light candles, close windows & leave, but keep an eye on it & a fire extinguisher handy!

I used both of the above on a Subaru I once owned that had been smoked in. Worked pretty well!

New car smell in a can under both seats. And leave the windows open all the time especially in sunny weather. Of course if it had a decade of smoking going on in it this may not be cutting it. Amazing - imagine the guy's lungs!

George

@110lbs do you think it would fit?!

Ozone generator, see if your local rental place has one.

50 Lb Bag of lump charcoal in a cardboard box in the back seat, open

Takes a week or so. It absorbs the odor. it's clean and cheap.

Cook a steak on it when your done. It really works I have used it for used cars many times with success.

You must remove the source first French fries, dead critters, burger wrappers.

Unwrap a small bar of hotel soap and place under the seats, it will do wonders.

+1
Find the inlet for the air conditioning and heater.
Put the system on full recirc and spray short little blasts of Ozium in the inlet with the fan running.
You can get an automotive product that will foam and supposedly clean the evaporator coil, but I don't know how effective this would be.

It would overwhelm the smoke smell

While working at a car dealership, we would open a new can of coffee grounds and leave it in the car for several days with the windows closed. The Coffee would absorb much of the odors without just masking them. We may have done this again after the detail too.

There is an odor absorbant made for boaters that works really well. Good for diesel as well as tobacco smoke, in my experience.
The one I've seen is similar to this product, though I think it may be a different brand.

No odor on the hard surfaces.

Headliner, seats, carpet.

Ozium works very well.

Charcoal, baking soda and coffee all do the same thing, absorb. You'll probably need to repeat after a month or two.

Woollite in a gallon of water. Use that to wub the seats down and then vacuum it up with a wet dry. Why replace the carpets?

I'll try the woolite. Carpets are dirty, carpet replacement is only a 140. Easy afternoon job.