Hey all,

I did a search for this info but there is very little out there, most of it deals with cleaning exteriors. So how do you get rid of interior odors? I'm in a 98 3.0 CL and the previous owner was a smoker and I'd like to try to get rid of whatever odors there are as much as possible. I don't want to mask the smell with an air freshner.

Thanks.

you will be amazed with what a open box of baking soda will do over a few days. Just clean the inside as good as you can - carpet and seats, then get a few boxes of baking soda and put them inside your car with the windows up for a few days (or nights) - worked for me at least.

Go to autotopia.com and research there, car detail fanatics.

Thanks for the tip ou sig.

123456SPEED, http://www.autotopia.com/ looks like it's been removed, there is just one of those generic search pages there now.

In my experience, if you don't want to mask the smell, the only thing you really can do is leave the windows down as much as possible. After about 24 hours straight, clean the leather with a good upholstery restorer.

Short story:
My mom used to own a 84 Buick. One time she came home from the grocery store but we forgot one of the bags when unloading the trunk. Just so happens that bag had a pack of chicken breasts in it. Soon after my mom's car started smelling like shit So it sat in the trunk for at least a few weeks until we discovered that it was causing the smell. Needless to say, removing the bag did not remove the smell. It was horrible. We tried all kinds of fresheners, but to no avail.

Eventually she just parked it in the garage for the weekend, left the doors open and the windows down and the trunk open. Then on Sunday night we went out and scrubbed the leather as best we could to give it a new car sort of smell. And we just used febreze on any cloth interior. worked like a charm.

www.autopia.org is the actual site, not sure why its not .com, but that should work for you.....
Good luck!

B

welcome to the forums Fingereleven.

alot of good info in these forums... we have a Special Interest detail section called Wash and Wax.... https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/

I recommend you take the mats out of the car and wash them with soap and water..rinse them real well and let them completely dry.

Do you know where the smell is coming from?..... what do you smell?..moldy?

Smoke is very hard to get rid of. I smoke, but don't smoke in my CLS 'cause I had a hard time cleaning my last car up when I went to sell it.

I cleaned the interior with ammonia and water a couple of times, and left the windows open for a couple of days. Fabreeze on the carpets helped too.

One of the main problems is that smoke gets everywhere, but you can't clean in the heating/air system, so as soon as you turn them on, you're going to get whif of the smoke smell again.

Leaving the windows open and a good cleaning should get rid of most of the smell tho'.

Good luck, and welcome to the forums...

i put my mats in the washing machine one time and it left them spotless. and if you use a nice smelling detergent it will add a slight scent. but i'm guess since it was a smoker the stench is in the air conditioning/heat. some people dont know to turn off the circulation button when they smoke.

Thanks for the help guys, I think that between the info here and on autotopia, I should be fine.

Do a search 'smoke' at the forums at autopia.org. I found lots of info there.
Here's one post.

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 and vinyl 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.

Don't forget the headliner, as this is the source of most of the tobacco smell. Vacuum the headliner and then without saturating the material use 303 Carpet & Spot Remover TM to clean, as this is the source of a lot of the smell. Once the cleaning is complete spray the interior fabric surfaces with Febreez Auto Freshener

check the dealership, mine does special a/c tune up with cleaning all vents and cabin air filter, so u will get rid of that smell when u turn your a/c or heat on. my 2 cents

this worked wonders for me
i smoke in my car daily and one time i left
my sunroof cracked open and to my luck it started to rain'n
long story short my car stank like mold
so i spryed this ozium and closed the all windows fo r a nite
and the smell was gone the next mornin..u can get this @ walmart or target
also hospitals use these to sanitize the air.