How to Keep Your Car from Smelling Like Smoke in 2023

If you love your car as I do mine, then you would love to know how to keep your car from smelling like smoke and how to keep your car smelling good all the time. Isn’t it?

For a car freak, nothing can be as important as maintaining his/her beloved vehicle in the best possible condition, inside out. However, there are some reasons why you might see yourself failing at the attempt, especially when it comes to the cabin.

You would agree that the cabin is quite a stuffy place and cleaning it is always a big task. Right?

The floor mats, glove box, and the storages in the center console often seem too difficult to get rid of. However, the most pungent and unpleasant odor that you will get comes from cigarette smoke.

how to keep your car from smelling like smoke
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The odor from cigarettes is to stay in your car’s cabin for an eternity, or till the time you don’t get rid of it.

A lot of people think removing smoke smell from a car is a big task. However, if you know the best ways and act like a pro, nothing is impossible. And that’s why we are going to explain how to keep your car from smelling like smoke.

In order to remove smoke smell from car, there are some basic car cleaning tips you need to follow. This will surely help you eliminate the undesired odor and make room for a more pleasant welcome inside the cabin.

You might also like: 14 Best Car Air Freshener for Smokers 2023 – A Detailed Guide

How to Remove Smoke Smell from Car and Make Your Car Smell Good

Here are some most essential tips for removing smoke smell from car. These cigarette smell remover tips are very effective and the results would be prominent. Here we go:

The Basic: Remove the Source of the Odor

The best way to get cigarette smell out of a car is to remove the source. You might not buy this, but if you litter cigarette buds and ash everywhere on the floor mat and at every corner, even the most expensive air fresheners won’t help much.

Hence, the foremost thing you should consider doing is cleaning off every single cigarette bud and vacuum-cleaning the floor mat and other corners to get rid of the ashes.

Shampooing Would Help, for Sure

If you are considering removing the smell of smoke from a car, you might have to work a little extra. Perhaps, shampoo wiping all surfaces isn’t easy and is very time-consuming. However, considering that the smoke can settle anywhere inside the cabin, it would be very wise to ensure that all the surfaces are wiped properly with a good fragrance shampoo.

This is one of the most diligent but very effective ways to get cigarette smoke smell out of a vehicle. So, if you want to keep your car smelling good just like it used to be at the beginning then you should try it out.

A Cup of Vinegar is Effective

A lot of people don’t consider vinegar as a great solution but it gets the job done. It is one of the best ways to remove smoke smell from car interior as it tends to cover up the pungent odor. All you need to do is pour some vinegar in a cup and keep it in the cup holder overnight.

You might want to keep the windows shut to avoid the entire garage smell like vinegar. The next morning, when you are back inside, the smell of smoke will be a lot lesser as vinegar has a very dominant odor.

Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are also a very innovative way to remove smoke odor from car interior and works similar to vinegar, albeit more effective. What you need to do is keep some ground coffee in a cup and place it inside the car for some hours or overnight. When you get inside the car the next morning, you will notice that the smell of smoke is replaced by coffee smell, which is, of course, better than cigarettes, any day.

If you are a very busy person and if you ask me, how to keep your car from smelling like smoke then most probably I would recommend you to try out this simplest solution.

Use Citrus Fruits

Citrus fruits are known for their rich fragrance, be it on shower gels or face washes. Hence, you can use it as the best way to remove smoke smell from a car. You don’t have to take any extra efforts here.

All you would need to do is collect the peels of oranges and grapes leftovers in a cup and keep inside the cabin. It will surely work great in order to remove the smell of smoke and bring in the pleasant citrus fragrance.

Cinnamon-Water Combo

Cinnamon has a very pleasant fragrance and a lot of people like it. However, the process of using cinnamon to keep the smoke smell away is a little complex. What you need to do is add a few cinnamons in water and boil it.

Take the boiled mixture in a cup or bowl and keep it inside the car till it cools down to normal room temperature. But yes, don’t forget to close the windows to ensure the utmost effectiveness.

Let Baking Soda Work Its Way

Baking soda is also a well-known way to remove smoke smell from a car. However, before using it, you need to ensure that the floor mats and other corners are not wet. Next up, sprinkle baking soda generously everywhere to ensure maximum effectiveness. Let it sit for around 15-20 minutes before vacuum-cleaning it. It is one of the best ways to remove smoke smell from a car.

In our previous guide, we have also discussed the process of using baking soda for cleaning car headlights. So if you want to know how to clean headlights with toothpaste and baking soda then check out from here.

Charcoal Can Do the Trick

A lot of people aren’t fans of covering up one smell with another. Hence, using charcoal can help far and wide. What you need to do is simply put some charcoal chunks inside the cabin for a few hours and let it absorb the pungent and unpleasant smoke smell.

Once you remove it, you will have a very neutral smell from the cabin, something that a lot of people love.

Nothing Can Beat the Effectiveness of Old-School Cleaning

One of the best ways of keeping the smoke smell from occupying your car’s cabin is getting it cleaned often. Nothing can beat the effectiveness of regular cleaning and deodorizing. After all, all of the settled-down ash is best removed with you use foamy washes and shampoos.

Also, another very important tip to get rid of the smoke smell is to avoid smoking inside the car. Of course, a lot of people crave smoking. Hence, to get rid of it, all you would need to do is pull over to the side of the road, have a fag and get going again. However, you need to make sure that you are not pulling over at a no-smoking zone.

Final Words – How to Keep Your Car from Smelling Like Smoke

After having gone through the different ways of removing smell of smoke from car, it would be easier for you to get rid of the unpleasant odor without spending loads on some of the best car air freshener spray and other cigarette odor removal products like these:

Last update on 2024-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Most of these items that you need to get cigarette smoke smell out of a car are present right in your house at this very moment, so no need to worry too much about it

Using these car care and car cleaning tips at least once a week will ensure that you are not greeted by the pungence and unpleasant smell of smoke each time you enter the car or go for a drive with your friends and family.

If you found this guide (how to keep your car from smelling like smoke) useful for you then feel free to share it with your friends and family members on social media networks too so that they can also get rid of cigarette smell from their car interior very conveniently.

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About Amy Cuban

I am an automotive enthusiast who loves to be around cars. I enjoy working on cars in my spare time and love anything related to automobiles. I like using different types of car accessories, car gadgets, and innovative car care products.

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