That awful smell in my car

[leah9]

I'm wondering if anyone can help me get rid of the ashtray smell in my car? I never noticed it as a smoker but now that my sense of smell is coming back... AAAAhhhh! I can't stand it. I've tried everything I know and it's still there. It seems to be coming from the A/C or heater vents. It's driving me crazy.

[SaraSmile]

I saw this air freshener that you stick in your vents, think I'm going to try those. I had to use the defrost a few nights ago, even after 50 days of not smoking in there it still smells awful! Just think, we used to smell like that! GROSS!

[laura60]

There's a product you can get at just about any hardware store called Atmosklear. It's used by real estate agents who want to sell homes of smokers and former smokers - it's also used by people who restore homes after a fire. It comes in either a pump-spray bottle or you can buy the liquid in gallon size. You can spray down the interior of your car, or you can add the liquid to a steam cleaner or bucket and wipe down every surface (I'm pretty sure it's ok on leather but check the instructions anyway).
After it's dry you won't have a smelly car anymore - I do put dryer sheets under the seats just cuz I really like the scent!

[jennie3]

I cannot live with out febreze.

[maria9]

Make sure you have a/c set that it draws air from outside, not just recirculate the air inside. Also, I too swear by Febreeze and when you can clean and vacuum it and try to open the windows also when possible. The best part is that it will never smell like that again!!!!!

[leah9]

Thank you all for the ideas.
I'm going to try everything.
I can't stand smelling that.

Thank you so much.
Best off success to all.

~Leah

[rj_]

If you have a home depot try and find something called Zep smoke eliminator, in the cleaning section,
fire up the car, fire up the heater, spray a lot in the car including directly on carpet, and cloth areas, and in the air until the car looks like it has a cloud in it, close it up and let it idle with the heater running for about an hour.

worked for me.

This in not an endorcement for a particular product, just saying it worked, other products may work as well in the same fashion.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

put some cut apple slices in the ashtray and don't eat them.

[janette]

I used Oziium in mine (Walmart carries it in the auto section) - it's an odor neutralizer as opposed to a "scent" that covers up odors. It worked pretty good - I also have a Yankee Candle car freshener (Clean Cotton) hanging in my car just 'cause I like it!

[bobbie-christenson]

try frebreeze on your seats then put like your favorite odor candle strong smelling one in your glovebox working in mine, good luck bobbie