After that new car smell wears off and is replaced by the smell of daily use, odors become a difficult task to remove from vehicles. Thankfully, using off-the-shelf products can make it easy to remove unwanted odors from your vehicle's interior.


Photo by AMagill

Unpleasant odors, like cigarette smoke, are difficult to remove from clothes, furniture, and car interiors. So whether you're a smoker or pet owner, often times your vehicle's interior will adopt an unpleasant smell over time. Wired's How-To Wiki suggests using powdered baking soda and powdered charcoal to help remove smells like smoke from your vehicle. While damp baking soda absorbs odors better, it's more difficult to clean up. You'll find that cleanup is easier when using both dry baking soda and charcoal since you can vacuum it up.


Sprinkling the powders in easy to reach places—like floor mats and seats—will work over time to absorb odors from your vehicle's interior. Naturally, the longer you let the powders set, the more odor absorption will occur.

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Remove the Smell of Cigarette Smoke in a Car | Wired How-To Wiki