davyk31 Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 The car I recently bought has obviouisly been owned by a smoker. Tried a magic tree type air freshener but now that its effect has died the smokey smell comes back. Seats are leather so smoke should not be too ingrained on them but guess the carpets, headlining etc are affected. Whats the best way to treat this. Is it just a matter of having a decent air freshener in the car and if so what is the best. Do not really like an air fresherner that looks too obvious but open to all ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhyds Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 All an air freshener does is mask the smell rather than deal with it. Your best bet would probably be to deep-clean the carpets and headlining, I assume that normal household carpet cleaner will sort the carpets out, but check with the people on here that know a lot more than me, the headlining leaves me stumped though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelwind101 Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 Hello The smell has embedded in to all the fabrics, your car need a good clean. I would suggest something like Mothers Interior cleaner as its safe on most interior surfaces (not sure about leather). Get a decent scrubbing brush for the carpets, Mothers do a good one too. As for the headliner and general cleaning of non leather seats etc. i suggest Woolite mixed with water. 10 parts water to 1 part woolite. Get a warm bowl water to rinse your MF clean in. Make sure its warm and damp to start with and it should clean your headliner really well. My only reason against spraying Mothers interior cleaner etc. up on the roof lining is that it tends to go everywhere and then drop back down on the seats etc. The Woolite-mix is more watery and stays up there while your rub with the MF. Geoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelwind101 Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 Oh Yeah! For £4 also, in a yellow bottle you can get Megs Odeur Eliminator which is a good product you might want to use afterwards. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorH Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 Depending on the type of headliner you have will depend on the results, some cars use a polyurethane substrate upon which is vacuum wrapped cover of fabric with a foam back, you can tell if its soft to the touch. Others just use the same substrate material covered in non woven fabric without a foam backing. The latter shouldn't allow smoke to cling as much but will be more difficult to clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 Dave - I've just used a good quality steam cleaner on a car I just bought. Beige carpets throughout that came with a really nasty looking stain in the back that looked like someone had stamped on a pack of kids colouring pens. The results were amazing with the carpets coming out great all over. Given how deep the steam cleans I would have thought it would be one of the most effective ways of removing as opposed to masking the smell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 Thanks for all the replies. Will have a go at cleaning soon. What is best for cleaning the leather seats? They probably have a bit of coating of the smell too. i remember using Autoglym leather cleaner years ago on another car but it left a bit of a sticky residue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted March 22, 2008 Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 Gliptone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstevo Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 Lexol is also a choice.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted March 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 where do I buy Gliptone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexc Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 [ QUOTE ] where do I buy Gliptone? [/ QUOTE ] We will have what you need, if you're seats are in faily good condition I would go with the water based Gliptone gentle cleaner spray , very easy to use and very effective! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 How about APC Geoff on the headlining with a couple of MF's ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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