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  1. Also, be very wary of using vinegar extensively. It's corrosive and may mar chrome and other metal parts. It also can combine with cigarette smoke components to make more toxic components that are more difficult to remove and very strong smelling. Airing out for a long time in a hot environment works better, meaning for months or longer outside in a protected situation where it won't get wet or filthy. Perhaps a diluted solution of vinegar and water that is very quickly rinsed off with pure water might be okay. But, don't steam the inside of a car or place a big pan of vinegar in the car if you don't want to come back to lots of damage after a few days or maybe less. The key is to dilute it and rinse it thoroughly if you use it at all. As for baking soda, it's very weak compared to activated charcoal when used to absorb odors. Even the activated charcoal if just set in the vehicle might reduce the smell of the air quite a bit, but when you remove it, you may find that there is a lot more odor where that came from and it will move into the air and stay there when there is nothing present to capture it. So, I'd definitely use activated charcoal between uses of the vehicle to make it more tolerable to drive, but to speed up removal, you need a filter fan to push the odorous air through a large activated charcoal filter or several over a long period of time. The hotter the environment, the more will be released into the air. So, you might feel as though you deodorized a vehicle well in January only to find that it's overwhelmingly stinky in July. This may be what some sellers count on if they are experienced such as dealerships selling traded in smoky cars. The smoky smell can be so heavily embedded in the plastic, vinyl and fabric components that it will take years to remove completely. It really depends on how bad it is and what the components are made of. The thing that has worked best for me so far are 1) heavy steam cleaning (heat plus water to soak up the chemicals released and cloths to wipe it away), 2) hot weather with open windows. A fan blowing air through the car may greatly magnify the effect, but windy days help a lot too, and 3) using activated charcoal (a LOT of it) to absorb noxious odors especially in warm environments before replacing the charcoal or refreshing it in the hot sun all day if you can do that. Also, remove everything you can't steam clean well and adequately get the smell out of. Sacrifice it and, after the car is much better, replace if you really feel you need those items. Be careful not to drive with open windows if you have the kitty little with activated charcoal exposed in the vehicle as the clay dust is bad for your lungs. Seal up the container when driving or you might be able to stabilize the containers and leave them open if you have them in the back away from people and you have all the windows shut without air circulation or very little. Just remember to open them back up before you park the car each time. Note that some people will not buy a car that has a heavy chemical smell to it as it seems as though someone is trying to cover up something worse. So, the temptation to spray something toxic but temporarily effective in masking smoke might backfire.
  2. Beware of Febreze and scented products as some are toxic and merely trick your nose into not smelling what is still there, until it wears off.
  3. Heat will cause the chemicals that cause the odor to be energized and released into the air. While the process might be slow, filling the car with hot air with some way for it to escape with the odor-causing chemicals will release a lot of the odor over time. This works best in a hot, dry climate with an industrial fan blowing air out of the back of the SUV and all the windows open or perhaps the front windows open for air to come in and the back gate window open so the huge fan can blow air out. You might be able to simulate this in a hot garage, but then you need to have a way to get that out of your garage without it making your garage smell like that. I can't speak to the safety of putting a heater fan in the car and then, once it's good at hot, cracking some windows to encourage the hot air to escape and cooler air to go in. It's probably best to use several methods, some repeatedly, if you have heavily imbedded smoke odor. Be patient, taking are not to ruin the components of the vehicle in the process. One method I'd recommend before you do anything is to very carefully clean the inside of the car, removing all dirt, removing extraneous items you can treat separately or replace, and getting under and behind absolutely everything. Heat with steam to dissolve and carry away substances can go a long way toward removing odor. Another tactic should be if possible to remove items from the car, including seats, panels and so on if necessary to clean them separately, possibly even having seats restuffed while having the upholstery very carefully and thoroughly cleaned and deodorized. Remove the carpet or vinyl flour liner as well and clean wires and other exposed components. A strong fan in a hot climate can remove a lot. Still another tactic, though expensive, is to use a high end chemical air cleaner run in the vehicle while it's not being used to create ultra clean air that basically sucks chemicals into it and captures them in the activated charcoal filters. While this could cost a lot in filters, the cost would be very little compared to the cost of a really nice vehicle. I'm talking about high-end chemical removing air cleaners meant for 1000sf of residential space. (You can also do this in a room that is chemically contaminated or that has items that are chemically contaminated in the room for an extended time. Close up the room well so that the ultra clean air stays in the room and anything off-gassed from the contaminated items will be captured by the charcoal filter. Those large, costly air cleaners also heat up the space a bit if you're running them on the highest settings, giving energy to the toxic chemical molecule, allowing them to separate from the car components and fill the air before being captured.) While one can cover up the smell of smoke for a little while, the chemicals required to do that are typically toxic. If they are not toxic, they are typically short-lasting and costly. It's better to remove the toxins with heat, moving air, chemical filters in the presence of heat, steam cleaning (heat plus water and something to wipe it off), and moving air. In the meantime, get some UNSCENTED kitty litter with activated charcoal bits in it. It's usually cheapest in large buckets from Chewy.com. Put that in the vehicle and use a ladle to stir it up and bring fresh litter from the bottom of the bucket. Or spread it in a shallow large tray placed in the back of the vehicle or on the floor. The more trays the better. Keep the windows open as much as possible when outside, but when in the garage use the kitty litter to reduce the leakage of toxins into your indoor space. Here's a tip a about the use of charcoal filters and activated charcoal in unscented kitty litter: If the environment is hot enough, the chemicals might be released into the air. For example, you can buy bags of activated charcoal to put in your car. Use a lot of them if you do this. But, then you can reactivate them by putting them out in the hot sun (if you have that environment) to release some or all of the toxins before putting them back into the car. I made the mistake of putting some on top of my Bronco and then driving away, depositing them somewhere along my route. So, maybe put them on the hood and point the hood toward the sun so you'll remember to remove them. Note that everything I'm suggesting is nontoxic and relatively safe. While it might be necessary to use an ozone generator to get faster or more complete odor removal, these methods do not expose you to ozone, a hazardous gas for which there is no safe level of exposure. I would use it if I had a separate garage that was not attached to other people's garages. I might use it when my car is parked outside if I rigged up some kind of energy source, though I'd be concerned about the Bronco and the ozone generator generating the wrong kind of interest in my city environment and not being there in the morning. I don't want to leave it unlocked to air out or drive it to air out in the garage. The garage I rent is open on the ceiling to a space that all the garage stalls share, so that would put ozone at some level into the breathing air of other people and in their cars at some level. I'm new in my area but I wouldn't mind asking a friend to let me use their separate garage to do this if they didn't mind parking their vehicle outside or, more likely, if I could do this outside at the back of their property with the ozone generator on the ground and a hose feeding the ozone into the car that is otherwise sealed up to concentrate the ozone gas. Then, I would remove the hose, seal up the door again and let it sit like that for a little while before lowering the back gate window and walking away for a while to let the ozone seep out, opening side doors a little while later and then later rolling down windows and closing the side doors to keep the battery from running down in my classic Bronco. (It's never been smoked in, but someone stored some smoke saturated things in it and now it's bear to get out. It's far better than it was after heavy steam cleaning, lots of airing in hot climates, and lots of time, but it's not acceptable to me yet. So, I may use ozone treatment when I have access to the right setting and see what that does. I'm willing to disassemble and remove some parts of the vehicle to clean them separately and make it easier to clean under them and also get the seats restuffed to remove the contaminated foam which is finally starting to compress after being in the hot sun a lot. I'd try everything that is safest before going to an ozone cleaner and then be very careful. Doing this in an attached garage will certainly allow some of the toxic gas enter your living space.
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