Getting the 'old man' stench out of an old car

**spudboy** · 14th February 2009, 02:49 PM

Well, stench may be too strong a word, but I've got a 30 year old car which I bought from a deceased estate, and it's got 30 years of tobacco and "old man" smell about it. It spent a year shut up in a shed before I got it.

So far, I have
- given it a good wipe down inside (dash, etc)
- left all the doors open under the carport for a fortnight to air it,
- put in a deodorising Xmas-Tree thing, that actually made it smell worse
- scrubbed the seats with Jif (now looks lovely, but still smells)

Anyone got any other useful ideas, short of getting the Karcher onto the insides? Is there some special liquid to wash down things with (like vanilla essence, or coffee beans , or whatever) that will help, or something to absorb the smell?

My missus is refusing to ride in it until it smells better.....

Thanks
David

**pop058** · 14th February 2009, 02:53 PM

what sort of car is it (trying to get an idea of the type of interior materials) ??

**spudboy** · 14th February 2009, 02:54 PM

It is an old 2 door Mercedes Coupe in pretty mint condition.

**Disco Steve** · 14th February 2009, 03:00 PM

what you do is go out for a 3day bender with freinds and get one of them to throw up in the back.
it will get rid of "THAT" smell

**big guy** · 14th February 2009, 03:03 PM

Spudboy

I have a Ozone generator at home that I will lend you if you like.

I own a Cigar bar in town, well used to be a cigar bar anyway.

Ozone (O3) attaches itself to everything pretty much and neutralizes all smells.
It works a treat.

Its fan forced, just plug and play.

Put it in the car, open window slightly and switch on for 3-5hrs.
Than air the car and the stench should be gone.
The air(O3) it produces should not be inhaled for any length of time though.

**Pierre** · 14th February 2009, 03:04 PM

You may find that the thing that carries the most odour is the carpet. The bacteria, etc causing the smell have to be removed

Some alternatives -

1..take it out and steam clean it (hot water extraction). Replace the underlay while the carpet is out .
2..steam clean it in place - make sure whoever does it uses very hot water and a good prespray.
3..mask the odour with a deodourizer obtainable from a good trade cleaning supplier.

Plenty of sunshine will help.

HTH

Pete

**incisor** · 14th February 2009, 03:28 PM

your local cleaning supplies wholesaler will have an odour neutraliser on the shelf.

500 mls of it and a chemical spray head (normally black) will do the deed.

i use one with a slightly citrus after smell.

takes about 2 - 3 weeks to get rid of really really bad smoke smells using it every couple of days...

**Sprint** · 14th February 2009, 03:42 PM

get a young woman in the back...... your missus will stop whinging about the smell, garunteed!

**Xavie** · 14th February 2009, 03:51 PM

I ended up going with odour neutraliser.

I bought a car from someone who smoked in it and I left the windows down for more then 12 months and tried doing everything. It never totally went away but it got slightly better over a very long time. I will never buy a vehicle which has been smoked in again.

It is really bad when it gets through the a/c too. Even after changing filters etc... it still stays.

dirty dirty dirty.

**strangy** · 14th February 2009, 03:59 PM

Gday, try "Febreeze"(Ithink thats the way its spelled) Off the supermarket shelf for the trapped odours.
We use stuff called Ozium in the aircraft works wonders on the airborne smells.

If the upholstery is leather you may be better off with a commercial leather cleaner for that, but, the leather will hold smells for quite while.

Cheers

Mark

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