yet another cigarette smell removal project

[delicioso!]

Hi folks,
finally took delivery of our new l400 the other day, woot woot, only to be quite turned off by the really strong ashtray smell throughout and yelowish haze on some of the fabrics. we have a newborn and 2 year old and inlaws to share this van so my wife and i were a little down (plus 3 cigarett burns, crap). anyway, that's life and i have to, HAVE TO, get this odour out before taking the inlaws and kids out for a spin w/o being embarrased. so did some seraches here and decided to try these products..but they have to be, or i'd like them to be non toxic and all natural.



so i took to the isles at can. tire and heard great things about FOLEX, carpet cleaner, then i saw the NATURE CLEAN nearbye and t hought i'd used that for all the upholstery/seats/sides/roof liner..(both seemed least "chemically" on the shelves) so i went to it with the folex and started with the grease stains(?) along the capt. chair tracks. sprayed and rubbed and it came off in seconds, woah! wiped with cloth and voila. (sorry no before after pic). really impressed, it came off like magic.

anyway, i tried the folex on the orange hue on the back sides...and again, voila, came right off! i thought that stuff was never going to come off!
before

spray and rub


after


this one's more noticeable



the visors where the yellowest, some came off, but still discoloured..



pics don't do it justice, the stains are definitely noticeable in person, the roof liner in the back was the darkest, figure the smoke would travel back and just linger in the back longer i guess... there's also yellowing of the plastic bits/vents up above from the nicotine.

i also sprayed the tops of all the seats with teh FOLEX and i was able to get the colour that much better i thought
anywho, after all this, i sprayed the entire interior of vehicle minus the glass and plastic bits with the Nature clean odour/stain remover, just spray and walk away (says not to rub or wipe off), took almost 3/4's of the bottle! says that the stuff would clean up/deodorize in 48 hours.. we'll see!

then i took 3 small towels and soaked them in vinegar, and left on the floor in a plastic container, read somewhere that it'll absorb smells too.

anyway, when i was done, had the wife take a wiff of the inside to let me know if there was a change, i've been inside for close to 3 hours scrubbing and wiping and my nose had adapted... she says that she couldn't smell ashtray anymore, just vinegary/cleaner smells....

keeping fingers crossed that i have at least taken the majority of the stink out...

anyway, if anyone can chime in on stuff they've used, i'd greatly appreciate it. will also try setting some damp charcoal down on a container and leaving inside as well and see if that absorbs any more. will do what i can before spending 200 bucks on a steamcleaner job at a detailer...

i've had okay results with febreeze in my old pathfinder, but maybe that just masked the smell, but with young kids and long drives, i can't fathom the idea of leaving everyone inside and smelling all that 3rd hand smoke smells..

also read somewhere that i can spray some deodorizer through the outside air/vent intake under the hood/passsenger side with the AC/fan on high then heater/fan on high (with outside air in/not recirculate) to try and clean/deodorize the ducts, etc... will try this next.

anywho, will keep ya'lls posted if our noses are happy in a few days.
cheers.
romey

[delicioso!]

by the way, i think the removable floor mats smelled the most, took those out and sprayed them with the nature clean, then i'll probably use that arm and hammer carpet stuff and let sit before vacuuming off.

[jessef]

I know of two places that will get rid of smoke properly guaranteed.

One is in Burnaby and the other in Langley. Both charge around 200-250 and believe me, it is worth it.

Usually takes them a few days so you'll have to leave your rig with them.

First they do what you did, shampoo the entire interior, seats, floors, headliner, etc ...
Let to dry.
Then they put a breadbox sized box inside your vehicle. It's layered with multiple filter and is basically like a smoke bomb. Neat to watch. It's a long process that involves using your AC and recirculating vent system to attack and kill bacteria, mould, smoke traces from your vent system and all the cloth, plastic and places where you can't get to (between headliner and roof).

I'm not selling it. I know it works.

Our Pajero back in 06 was the first. The worst JDM smoked in vehicle I've ever been in. Maryna wouldn't even get it. Literally.

I took it there and they had it for 3 days. A week later small amounts of smell still (I'm sensitive to smoke and they said it was really bad and I'd have to come back) and I went back again. Since then, we've slept and camped inside in wet humid and hot and dry conditions (when the old smells really come out) and I never smelt smoke again.

Best money I spent on our vehicles.

It is a chemical ozone machine they use which is the only way to effectively remove mould and smoke front in between the interior panels and body of a vehicle.

After it was done, I brought it home and aired it out for 2 days.

That was it. You couldn't tell a single puff was done inside that rig and I'm uber sensitive to it.

[delicioso!]

great to hear jfarsang! thanks for the tip. yeah, read about those ozone machines too, pretty neat. i'll have to ask around for any decent and honest detailers around here in the greater toronto area, yeah, about 200 bucks for the carpet steam service. i hear you on the worst cigarette smelling vehicle, i was afraid my wife wouln't want to drive this thing, and we bought it for HER mostly then i back on the land cruiser.

[jessef]

a steam clean or shampoo will not get rid of the smell for the long term.

When it gets hot in the summer and the heat builds up between the roof and the headliner, you'll smell the smoke. Same with when it's cold and wet outside.

I would search around for a detailer that does guaranteed smoke odor removal.

[delicioso!]

yeah, that'll be my last resort, i'm stubborn like that, lol. just remembered we have a honeywell air purifier with heppa filters, ionizer thingy (which i hear helps) and UV light to kill bacteria, will try that too with an extension cord inside and run it for a couple hours or more (making sure it's level inside), so far i'm in less than 20 bucks with the sprays and elbow grease, can't complain. i guess it's the ozone thingy that the pro's use.

[westendah]

As my partner is a manager of an Aromatherapy shop here in Van, I suggest trying essential oils. I know they work amazingly well, can be anti-fungal, antibacterial, and hypoallergenic while being 100% natural. As for the ozone generator, I had a neighbor in the flood and restoration business, he had half a dozen ozone generator fans to remove smoke and flood damage odor from rooms and buildings. Renting one or two of these machines for a day or two may also work quite well as it seems to be how the 'pros' do it!

The generators my neighbor used looked like this one:


The units can be purchased here (I am sure they are widely available):
http://www.cobbcarpet.com/wrest.html

[delicioso!]

cool, i always saw those at arenas and pools, didn't know some could be ozone generators and not just heavy duty fans. hmm, wonder if facilities at my work have some i could borrow...great, another option. i'm sure one will do in such a small area. thanks westendah! and i like the essential oils idea too, in what form? like an air freshener thing that you just leave inside? i bought an all natural mint flavour thing but that's going in last as an airfreshener.

[jessef]

Oils and air fresheners are wonderful but they only mask the smoke odor that has absorbed into the cloth/interior.

To truly rid your interior, it must be neutralized. The ozone machines do the job.

If you already took care of the shampoo etc .. Inside, then just have a detail shop run the ozone machine on your rig. Should be half the cost 80-100 or so.

If you can get a hold of one, that would be your best bet. Just make sure the filters inside and chemical treatment is fresh and not old otherwise it can do worse.

You can tell I can't stand cigarette smoke !

And in my opinion, for the cost you buy a Spacegear for and use it everyday or for camping and sleeping in, $100-200 is a drop in the bucket to breath normally inside.

[thedjjack]

I am a do it self kind of person...

However years ago my boss at a bicycle shop took a new to us shop Astro van in to get the cigarette smell out....best $200.00 spent.

Honestly I wish cigarettes worked fast some times

[westendah]

... i like the essential oils idea too, in what form? like an air freshener thing that you just leave inside?

I am not an expert on essential oils so I suggest dropping into a natural aromatherapy shop such as the one my partner manages, Saje on West 4th. They should be able to help, and I believe they have a cigarette-lighter plugin oil 'diffuser' which works quite well. Good luck with your odor removal project!

[delicioso!]

thanks again fellas. yep, will try the local natural store, but jfarsangs right, these mask odours which is why it's my last move. well, been sniffin my nose in the rig every now and then, stuff is drying out, vinegar soaked towels still damp...but the cig smell is very very faint now (how long that lasts, who knows). saw the smoke bomb things on youtube, nice idea (crack the spray open, let her rip, close the door and let the full blast AC and/or heater on and leave to circulate). then ozone. but i'm not so keen on these chemicals when i plan on putting an infant and toddler in there, that scares me in the same way, at least all i've used so far is natural/non toxic stuff and vinegar, then maybe charcoal, maybe coffee grinds on the floor, and baking soda...frig, i'll have a coffee cake baked in there by the time i'm done, lol!

cool!
http://www.air-zone.com/autorestorations.html

[FalcoColumbarius]

As my partner is a manager of an Aromatherapy shop here in Van, I suggest trying essential oils. I know they work amazingly well, can be anti-fungal, antibacterial, and hypoallergenic while being 100% natural. As for the ozone generator, I had a neighbor in the flood and restoration business, he had half a dozen ozone generator fans to remove smoke and flood damage odor from rooms and buildings. Renting one or two of these machines for a day or two may also work quite well as it seems to be how the 'pros' do it!

The generators my neighbor used looked like this one:


The units can be purchased here (I am sure they are widely available):
http://www.cobbcarpet.com/wrest.html

That is a fan. It is often used for drying out floors where there has been a flood, there is one downstairs in my place that I used when I found a pond in my sitting room.

A great way of removing odour from a carpet is baking soda, $5.00 at London Drugs for a box of Arm & Hammer.

Falco.

[delicioso!]

lol, that IS a flippin fan! haha. what i need to do to get natural ozone is to drive around with the windows open during a thunder storm or just after it rains, i read that smell you smell is actually ozone, lol.

[trecar]

thanks for the info went out and bought the folex today, holy shit amazing i tell you. Hands down way better that shampooing. excellent product.

Trevor