[racergrl]

I'm being lent a car from a friend for a few weeks while I'm out of town, and it's one she hasn't used in a while, but the smell of her cigarettes in the car is HORRIBLE. I'm sure she wouldn't mind me cleaning it up a bit, and I plan to after I'm done with it to thank her anyway, so does anyone know what I can do about the smell?

[mobilityuser4]

I don't know. I came to the thread hoping there would be suggestions. I just bought a van and there is ash all over the floor and carpet. Makes my allergies work up.

[jason]

You could try putting a few pieces of charcoal in a cup and put it in a cup holder so it does not spill. Baking soda should work too.

Shampoo the cars interior, all carpets, floor mats, and clean any surface you can with shampoo. Clean the windows on the inside. Sprinkle baking soda on the dry carpet, and work it in, leave for about a week before vacuuming up. Clean the leather with a good quality leather cleaner. Vacuum ashtrays. Place some baking soda in there for about a week.

[joyrider05]

I had a wonderful night with my friends. We visited the nearest nightclub in town and drank alcoholic beverages. This morning, I found out awful smell on my car. I guess it's a mixture of beer and cigarette. I think of putting vinegar in a glass and leave it overnight on my car to remove those awful smell. Hope it works.

[sparky]

You could try air fresheners to mask some of the smell if it's that bad, leave the windows open for a while and let the fresh air through.

[fastcarsrule]

Put some unused coffee grounds in a filter and let it sit overnight or over a few nights depending on the smell's strength. If it is a bigger car or van you might want to put a few of these in. Then clean all the surfaces with cleaner. The coffee trick works on all strong odors like burnt popcorn smell too!

[carl]

Tell her to quit smoking so the smell goes away. LOL. Seriously, a good shampoo, vacuum, and a healthy dose of baking soda should do the trick.

[Slowpoke]

I have heard a lot of solutions to remove smells from the inside of the car from baking soda to charcoal to opening freshly-baked bread and leaving it in the car. All I can say is, based on experience, give baking soda a try. If it does not work, use either vamoose or lysol air neutralizer.