[x3sm]

Hey guys,

Needing some advice here, so I ended up buying a Panamera for a really good deal, the downside was that it was a smoker’s car. When I removed the cabin filter it was black!! Immediately like 40% of the smell was gone with the new filter and a few days of driving. I then got the interior detailed, but I did not like the job done by local auto spa. I also did the ozone machine method and right now I’d say 25% of smell is still there and on top of that the ozone smell is also there now. Cigarette smell is very specific and even with 25% you can still pick up on it especially when just getting in.

What to do next? I will air it out and ozone smell should desipate, are there leather cleaning products that have some kind of enzyme that will eat the smoke particles in leather? Should I wipe it all down with vinegar? Maybe new car leather conditioner?

Please post your suggestions please!

[cbpip]

Need to clean the ac evaporator to get rid of the contamination stuck to it along with same in the vent tubes. Have used this on a car that was used by a cigar smoker . Key is doing it twice to let it dissolve the trapped stuck on nicotine. If you don't clean the evaporator the smell will not go away. Make sure to remove the cabin air filter before using the FrigiClean and let the foam come up and out the vents.
After FrigiClean use the FrigiFresh through the fresh air intake. Have also used Lysol fresh air spray (linen scent) in same manner through fresh air intake occasionally.
Clean interior with
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002...b_b_asin_title

Ozone machines do very little to remove the odors long term. They also cause degeneration of rubber in the interiors.

https://www.amazon.com/Frigi-Clean-E.../dp/B09WM4YXKH

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/clima...g-frigi-clean/

[Car-Addicted]

IMO cbpip is dead on.
I owned a dealership in the 70 and 80's when smoking was way too common. The AC system is top priority for clean up. Carpets are easy but to get everything out you may have to pull the seats. We also attacked the head liners, most are foam backed with open cell foam. Hard to clean even when pulled down. I do remember replacing one or two to get the smell out of the foam. Back then wholesale auction houses required you to denote any vehicle that has been smoked in and if you didn't the sale could be contested. (learned that the hard way). Good luck.

[Josh-PA]

I have had good luck with Ozium. I focused mostly on the carpets (you should shampoo and wet/dry vac them first) and the air vents. I fired a bunch of ozium behind and onto the cabin air filter and into the cabin vents. You can spray the ozium on the headliner also after a gentle vacuum.

https://www.amazon.com/sspa/click?ie...hdGY%26psc%3D1.

All of the leather and hard materials should be cleaned with good leather cleaner and a little warm water. Again, I'd lather these up and then use the wet dry vac to suck up/out as much dirt and left over ash as possible then use a good leather conditioner on it. The cockpit premium should work nicely on the hard parts.

[erickonphoenix]

or you could start smoking?

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by cbpip

Need to clean the ac evaporator to get rid of the contamination stuck to it along with same in the vent tubes. Have used this on a car that was used by a cigar smoker . Key is doing it twice to let it dissolve the trapped stuck on nicotine. If you don't clean the evaporator the smell will not go away. Make sure to remove the cabin air filter before using the FrigiClean and let the foam come up and out the vents.
After FrigiClean use the FrigiFresh through the fresh air intake. Have also used Lysol fresh air spray (linen scent) in same manner through fresh air intake occasionally.
Clean interior with
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002Z2MZ4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Ozone machines do very little to remove the odors long term. They also cause degeneration of rubber in the interiors.

https://www.amazon.com/Frigi-Clean-Evaporator-Frigi-Fresh-Evaporating-Cleaning/dp/B09WM4YXKH

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/clima...g-frigi-clean/

Awesome!! Appreciate the suggestion, never thought about the ac evap, that explains why when AC/fan is on it gets worse! I ordered what you suggested, again thank you very much!

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

IMO cbpip is dead on.
I owned a dealership in the 70 and 80's when smoking was way too common. The AC system is top priority for clean up. Carpets are easy but to get everything out you may have to pull the seats. We also attacked the head liners, most are foam backed with open cell foam. Hard to clean even when pulled down. I do remember replacing one or two to get the smell out of the foam. Back then wholesale auction houses required you to denote any vehicle that has been smoked in and if you didn't the sale could be contested. (learned that the hard way). Good luck.

Good point, I might replace the headliner if it comes down to it or get it re-wrapped in alcantara. The interesting part is that headliner and pillars had no sign of smoke on them, they are tan color so usually you can see where smoke accumulated, but these were pretty clean, aside from some aging.

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

I have had good luck with Ozium. I focused mostly on the carpets (you should shampoo and wet/dry vac them first) and the air vents. I fired a bunch of ozium behind and onto the cabin air filter and into the cabin vents. You can spray the ozium on the headliner also after a gentle vacuum.

https://www.amazon.com/sspa/click?ie=UTF8&spc=MTo2NzU3ODg5MzcwOTQxNjA6MTcyMTIz NjM2MDpzcF9hdGY6MjAwMDY2NDIwODQ4MTcxOjowOjo&url=%2 FOzium-Oz-Sanitizer-Eliminator-Original%2Fdp%2FB086T517RH%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa%3Fd ib%3DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1L5H0fOcXa7tE6toqWAh0Z0vKp6Q2xdb qgfoMjOOwfBDpbN_OWrUF5r067L1m8w_i-Cll61JCxmgXM-ItFPRbOq6F7B6ofPozk6r63kO5I2H6H8xXNKCYivo-NQQA2dBLEW54IQLEzJaxauhRvSroEMhB3dkhQ8knM-49gq4btitQ5gkHN6gvo56N-ITtcWTI94YhtAr5pcY7LDiE1F9DMMKsQOEMmYoRPsLqZtb6mLK bSUn-1sU7oJ42Z5Re-DLTqAGRhndcb-JaWNxWqWzeGPUjx6kf—2NhIET1thpKI.YPMVpK8Bi_f7JgR7Tu RqWr4tTS56hPBuyzvQbmz9x-s%26dib_tag%3Dse%26keywords%3Dozium%26qid%3D172123 6360%26sr%3D8-1-spons%26sp_csd%3Dd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY%26psc%3D1.

All of the leather and hard materials should be cleaned with good leather cleaner and a little warm water. Again, I'd lather these up and then use the wet dry vac to suck up/out as much dirt and left over ash as possible then use a good leather conditioner on it. The cockpit premium should work nicely on the hard parts.

Thanks for the tip! Did you spray it from outside the car under the hood is where the fresh air intake is for cabin air?

I might also try Zaino-10, I believe it has a strong leather smell.

Originally Posted by erickonphoenix

or you could start smoking?

Hahaha, I actually lol’d

[Car-Addicted]

Good luck. I'm particularly sensitive to cigarette smell. If you can drop back in with your results as this could help a lot of folks.

[omgzirra_exe]

Deep clean the interior again because I'm 100% positive your local detailer did not use a carpet extractor and a steamer.

Step 1: Clean the air vents

Thoroughly scrub the vents and use an air blower to blow out all the cigarette ashes.

Step 2: Work the leather

Since you have leather seats, deep clean them as follows:

- Use your favorite leather cleaner (I use the Colourlock Leather Care Kit). Spray the seats, let it sit for a bit, use a soft brush to work the grime off, and then wipe it down.
- Use a steam cleaner and wrap it with a microfiber towel. If you do not use a microfiber towel around the head of the steamer, it will stain your seats.

Step 3: Clean the carpet

- Remove the floormats, deep clean, scrub, and vacuum them. I suggest using a carpet extractor, which can be rented for $60 at Lowe's or Home Depot with the attachment.
- Spray the carpet liner, scrub, and extract it.

Step 4: wipe it all down.

- Use the steam cleaner to remove ALL the grime on the interior pieces, it is safe to use it directly with no microfiber towel. wipe down with a microfiber towel as you go. (if you have leather on your interior panels, please cover the steamer with a microfiber towel)
- Remove microfiber towel if applicable to get between all the crevice's.
- Finish using your favorite interior detailer (I use Griot's Interior Spray).

Optional: I do recommend this

Run this product in your car with the AC on high circulation mode after deep cleaning: https://biobombs.com/collections/all...47822537949487.

Then, wipe down your entire interior again with an interior detailer.

Use the Colourlock Leather Care Kit to clean and rejuvenate your leather.

This will take you a whole weekend. Have fun!

[dscabra]

Once you've cleaned everything, try using one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[cbpip]

Originally Posted by x3sm

Awesome!! Appreciate the suggestion, never thought about the ac evap, that explains why when AC/fan is on it gets worse! I ordered what you suggested, again thank you very much!



Good point, I might replace the headliner if it comes down to it or get it re-wrapped in alcantara. The interesting part is that headliner and pillars had no sign of smoke on them, they are tan color so usually you can see where smoke accumulated, but these were pretty clean, aside from some aging.



Thanks for the tip! Did you spray it from outside the car under the hood is where the fresh air intake is for cabin air?

I might also try Zaino-10, I believe it has a strong leather smell.



Hahaha, I actually lol’d

Make sure you follow directions on FrigiClean, Must block off / plug the evaporator drain under the car so the product doesn't just drain out. Let it sit for 30- 40 min before unplugging it.

Stay away from the Ozone machines. The reasons you don't want to use it in you car. Not immediately seen but takes a toll on plastics and rubber. It also leaves a coating on surfaces that you'll need to clean.

https://www.satra.com/spotlight/article.php?id=390

[FrankMstein]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

Deep clean the interior again because I'm 100% positive your local detailer did not use a carpet extractor and a steamer.

Step 1: Clean the air vents

Thoroughly scrub the vents and use an air blower to blow out all the cigarette ashes.

Step 2: Work the leather

Since you have leather seats, deep clean them as follows:

- Use your favorite leather cleaner (I use the Colourlock Leather Care Kit). Spray the seats, let it sit for a bit, use a soft brush to work the grime off, and then wipe it down.
- Use a steam cleaner and wrap it with a microfiber towel. If you do not use a microfiber towel around the head of the steamer, it will stain your seats.

Step 3: Clean the carpet

- Remove the floormats, deep clean, scrub, and vacuum them. I suggest using a carpet extractor, which can be rented for $60 at Lowe's or Home Depot with the attachment.
- Spray the carpet liner, scrub, and extract it.

Step 4: wipe it all down.

- Use the steam cleaner to remove ALL the grime on the interior pieces, it is safe to use it directly with no microfiber towel. wipe down with a microfiber towel as you go. (if you have leather on your interior panels, please cover the steamer with a microfiber towel)
- Remove microfiber towel if applicable to get between all the crevice's.
- Finish using your favorite interior detailer (I use Griot's Interior Spray).

Optional: I do recommend this

Run this product in your car with the AC on high circulation mode after deep cleaning: https://biobombs.com/collections/all...47822537949487.

Then, wipe down your entire interior again with an interior detailer.

Use the Colourlock Leather Care Kit to clean and rejuvenate your leather.

This will take you a whole weekend. Have fun!

2x - Once you do all this, use this:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[John in VA]

Originally Posted by FrankMstein

2x - Once you do all this, use this:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Your link doesn't work - what product are you referring to? Thanks!

[///M Power-Belgium]

Soak some vinegar in a small pillow and lay it down in the car on the floor .

[FrankMstein]

Originally Posted by John in VA

Your link doesn't work - what product are you referring to? Thanks!

LOL the one above mine.

[cbpip]

Reason for not using an Ozone machine. Degradation of rubber and plastics. Especially on older vehicles where the plastics and rubber have age on them already.

https://www.satra.com/spotlight/article.php?id=390

[Josh-PA]

One last suggestion: anytime it's parked dry (inside or out) leave the windows and roof open. Getting air circulation helps quite a lot to the point you may want to set up a fan in the garage to blow air through it.

[Limegrntaln]

Light it on fire.

[Wolf 335]

Key areas of concern are:

- Headliner and pillars (foam underneath headliner)
- Carpet (foam underneath)
- Ventilation including the vent passages, evaporator, blower fan.
- Door panels (behind them)

Headliner foam and carpet foam soak up the nicotine/tar and thats where the issues lies.

All other hard surfaces such as vents passages, evaporator , seats and dash can be cleaned easily and are not necessarily a problem once surface is cleaned.

If your budget allows, best course of action would be to replace the whole headliner including the pillars, with new or used non smoker liner.

When it comes to carpet keep in mind nicotine and tar are embedded not only on top of the carpet surface but rather in the foam underneath it.
To do this right you're going to have to remove the seats completely, front and rear, and have someone with a professional strength extractor try and tackle this.
This is not a one time spray and extract. It needs to be repeated a few times on the carpets, to allow the cleaning agent to really penetrate into the foam.
This is why you can't do this on the headliner as it will begin to sag as glue/foam is saturated.

Another thing that i didn't see anyone mention (or maybe i missed it) is door panels.
You must remove the door panels and clean behind them. I discussed this way back with a professional detailer and he mentioned that a lot of smell comes from there as well.
Door cards must be cleaned from the back side and so does the vapor barrier and metal surface of the door.

Definitely not a one day job, but over time you will be able to eliminate 95% of the smell. Good luck and keep up posted of the progress.

[FrankMstein]

Remembers Seinfeld's 5 series that smelled?

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...em=abme%2Ctrie

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Good luck. I'm particularly sensitive to cigarette smell. If you can drop back in with your results as this could help a lot of folks.

I have to say that it’s getting better and better. Especially the fact that it’s sitting in the sun, it’s not that bad anymore. My wife who is pregnant can smell it from a mile away though.. lol.

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

Deep clean the interior again because I'm 100% positive your local detailer did not use a carpet extractor and a steamer.

Step 1: Clean the air vents

Thoroughly scrub the vents and use an air blower to blow out all the cigarette ashes.

Step 2: Work the leather

Since you have leather seats, deep clean them as follows:

- Use your favorite leather cleaner (I use the Colourlock Leather Care Kit). Spray the seats, let it sit for a bit, use a soft brush to work the grime off, and then wipe it down.
- Use a steam cleaner and wrap it with a microfiber towel. If you do not use a microfiber towel around the head of the steamer, it will stain your seats.

Step 3: Clean the carpet

- Remove the floormats, deep clean, scrub, and vacuum them. I suggest using a carpet extractor, which can be rented for $60 at Lowe's or Home Depot with the attachment.
- Spray the carpet liner, scrub, and extract it.

Step 4: wipe it all down.

- Use the steam cleaner to remove ALL the grime on the interior pieces, it is safe to use it directly with no microfiber towel. wipe down with a microfiber towel as you go. (if you have leather on your interior panels, please cover the steamer with a microfiber towel)
- Remove microfiber towel if applicable to get between all the crevice's.
- Finish using your favorite interior detailer (I use Griot's Interior Spray).

Optional: I do recommend this

Run this product in your car with the AC on high circulation mode after deep cleaning: https://biobombs.com/collections/all/products/starter-kit?variant=47822537949487.

Then, wipe down your entire [...]

Thank you, this is very helpful. With vents cleaning, what’s the best way to do that? Romove them? A member here suggested the FrigiClean, which has been ordered.

Originally Posted by dscabra

Once you've cleaned everything, try using one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JAP7388/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did use it, good results!

Originally Posted by cbpip

Make sure you follow directions on FrigiClean, Must block off / plug the evaporator drain under the car so the product doesn't just drain out. Let it sit for 30- 40 min before unplugging it.

Stay away from the Ozone machines. The reasons you don't want to use it in you car. Not immediately seen but takes a toll on plastics and rubber. It also leaves a coating on surfaces that you'll need to clean.

https://www.satra.com/spotlight/article.php?id=390

I heard about the issues, a local detailer with 14 years of experience who does Barrett-Jackson show said you can do it as last resort. I did it in small increments and let it air out. I did wipe it down as well.

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Soak some vinegar in a small pillow and lay it down in the car on the floor .

Question is, will vinegar smell come out?

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

One last suggestion: anytime it's parked dry (inside or out) leave the windows and roof open. Getting air circulation helps quite a lot to the point you may want to set up a fan in the garage to blow air through it.

Yes, I do this all the time and I think this probably helped the most.

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Key areas of concern are:

- Headliner and pillars (foam underneath headliner)
- Carpet (foam underneath)
- Ventilation including the vent passages, evaporator, blower fan.
- Door panels (behind them)

Headliner foam and carpet foam soak up the nicotine/tar and thats where the issues lies.

All other hard surfaces such as vents passages, evaporator , seats and dash can be cleaned easily and are not necessarily a problem once surface is cleaned.

If your budget allows, best course of action would be to replace the whole headliner including the pillars, with new or used non smoker liner.

When it comes to carpet keep in mind nicotine and tar are embedded not only on top of the carpet surface but rather in the foam underneath it.
To do this right you're going to have to remove the seats completely, front and rear, and have someone with a professional strength extractor try and tackle this.
This is not a one time spray and extract. It needs to be repeated a few times on the carpets, to allow the cleaning agent to really penetrate into the foam.
This is why you can't do this on the headliner as it will begin to sag as glue/foam is saturated.

Another thing that i didn't see anyone mention (or maybe i missed it) is door panels.
You must remove the door panels and clean behind them. I discussed this way back with a professional detailer and he mentioned that a lot of smell comes from there as well.
Door cards must be cleaned from the back side and so does the vapor barrier and metal surface of the door.

Definitely not a one day job, but over time [...]

I ordered a strong carpet cleaner, but I’m not sure it will be that powerful. Many times I smelled the carpets, there was no smell at all, literally my nose to the floor. I’m planning to remove all the seats and clean underneath, you never knew there might be cig butt somewhere still.

Originally Posted by FrankMstein

Remembers Seinfeld's 5 series that smelled?

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...em=abme%2Ctrie

lol, hopefully my smell will be gone.

I’ll update everyone after carpet cleaner shows up and I do the FrigiClean!

[2heeldrive]

The only sure way is to replace everything that absorbs odors. Carpet and pad, headliner, etc.

Cigarette smell is very hard to remove.

Or, you could just take up smoking...

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by cbpip

Need to clean the ac evaporator to get rid of the contamination stuck to it along with same in the vent tubes. Have used this on a car that was used by a cigar smoker . Key is doing it twice to let it dissolve the trapped stuck on nicotine. If you don't clean the evaporator the smell will not go away. Make sure to remove the cabin air filter before using the FrigiClean and let the foam come up and out the vents.
After FrigiClean use the FrigiFresh through the fresh air intake. Have also used Lysol fresh air spray (linen scent) in same manner through fresh air intake occasionally.
Clean interior with
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002Z2MZ4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Ozone machines do very little to remove the odors long term. They also cause degeneration of rubber in the interiors.

https://www.amazon.com/Frigi-Clean-Evaporator-Frigi-Fresh-Evaporating-Cleaning/dp/B09WM4YXKH

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/climate-control/bg-frigi-clean/

I’m having a heard time figuring out how to spray in the right place. YouTube videos say you need to drill into evap core. Would it work the same way if I sprayed it into the vents and or through where the air filter sits?