As a smoker myself, I know how hard it can be to get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke from your cars interior. Luckily, over the years I have found some effective odour neutralising methods which not only work for smoke but for other odours too. I can just hear the nagging words now, "Why don’t you just give up" echoing through my head.

Without further ado, I’m going to explain some of the effective methods of cigarette smoke odour removal I have picked up over the last 12 years of my driving career.

1. Vacuum Seats & Carpet

First off, clear out any rubbish from the car to provide a clear working environment. Pull back seats up and vacuum underneath. Replace back seat and continue to vacuum the rest of the interior - carpets and seats. If your vacuum has a soft brush attachment, use it to clean off dust from air vents and around buttons and switches. Use the crevice tool to remove dust from hard to reach small spaces.

2. Shampoo Upholstery

Use a hot water extraction machine such as the Numatic George which is what i use myself. It is quite a simple machine and has plenty of suction for extracting the dirty water back from the fabric. This particular model retails at around £180 if i remember correctly. Using a shampoo which has anti-tobacco formulas will help to reduce the odour but doesn’t always get rid of it. If a hot water extraction machine is not available, either rent one for little money or use a spray shampoo cleaner from your local auto parts store.

3. Odour Neutralising

To fully remove the cigarette smell, spray on a enzyme based, odour counteracting spray which has living organisms in it which consume the proteins of the smoke odour.

4. Cleaning Plastics

Clean the plastics of your interior with a light household cleaner until all stains and dirt if removed. Soak used ashtrays in the same cleaning agent for an hour or two.

Summary

Following the above steps will prepare your car, odour free, ready for dressing with your chosen polish. Be sure to test chemicals on hidden areas before applying to interior.

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