What do you think of my strategy for this specific interior job?

[Samcrac]

Hello, I've been a long time follower of this forum, but this is my first post. I recently bought a second hand smaller sized SUV (2015 Lincoln MKC). The car is not that old, but unfortunately, the interior has that wonderful cigar odor to it. I have been a detail fanatic on all of my personal cars, and this car is not that old, but has a fairly dirty interior for its age. It definitely will clean up nice, however, I want to run by my mental strategy on cleaning this one and eradicating the odor. For reference, in the past I bought one other car that had a smoke odor, and I used one specific product that left a new scent (Meg's odor eliminator spray) in the car I couldn't stand, so I had to get rid of it. My goal here is to clean things up, and remove as much of the smoke smell without adding any new scents. There are a few steps I feel kind of puzzled on exactly what to do. Any comments on any step is absolutely welcome though. Thank you!

1. Vaccum everything thoroughly.
2. Wipe down all hard surfaces with a vinegar water solution.
3. Clean all leather surfaces with a leather "cleaner."

4. This is where I get stuck, the cars interior is not filthy as it's not old, it just is in dire need of a vacuuming. Would you guys recommend I shampoo the carpets? What do you recommend that has no lingering fragrance? Would you recommend an extractor or just a basic shampoo?

5. Clean headliner (again, what solution would you suggest that has no lingering odor)

6. Run ozone generator and/or use one of those sodium chlorite bombs.
7. Treat leather surfaces with conditioner.

[Eldorado2k]

You got rid of a car just because it ended up smelling like Megs New Car Scent Air Refresher? You know that scent goes away in just over a month maybe 2 right?

But vinegar's cool? Lol.
Leather conditioner smells, so you might wanna think twice about that 1. Lol. I'm just messin with you now:)

FYI: Megs air refresher has different scents available.
If it was me I'd steam clean the interior, especially the leather. Then drop 1 of those Megs air refreshers that you hate.

[Paul A.]

I think he got rid of that product, not the vehicle. I could be wrong.

[Eldorado2k]

I think he got rid of that product, not the vehicle. I could be wrong.

But those cans air refresher are 1 time use, so I think he meant the car. Lol

[srpurdy]

You hate new car scent but want to spray vinegar in the car? I would take new car scent over vinegar. I just recently put vinegar in mine to remove some salt stains that I was too lazy to remove for that exact reason. Vinegar can stay there for weeks. I would suggest finding an apc with almost no smell and use that.

[Samcrac]

I did sell the car itself. It was not a meguiars bomb, it was the spray. The spray smell never went away, even with additional ozone treatments. What all purpose cleaners do you recommend that have no lingering fragrance? Natural leather smell, not the artificial stuff, is fine. Anything natural doesn't bother me, it's any sort of chemical fragrance.

[Eldorado2k]

Told ya. Lol.

[Eldorado2k]

What all purpose cleaners do you recommend that have no lingering fragrance?

I'd recommend Meguiars D101 All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate. It has a light fresh scent that dissapates quikly. Doesn't linger at all and works great @10:1 dilution ratio for just about all interior surfaces.

[Paul A.]

Told ya. Lol.

I sit corrected.

[CC268]

Wuttt? You sold a car because of an air freshener? Wowzers...

[GSKR]

I'm not being sarcastic,but why did you purchase a cigar smelling truck.Try some lexol cleaner or Connelly leather cleaner.

[shadwell]

Seems to me you kinda already know what is available to you to work towards lessening the odour..

Its normally a progression through them until you reach a point you are happy with..

For me, the best result improvement I had was on a fabric interior merc CLK.
This was using Megs APC (D101) on all hard surfaces, the grime that lifted was remarkable... and grotesque...
For the carpest (because it was a coupe) I removed the front seats and did the carpets fully
Seats also with APC and an extractor (seat belts too as these hold a lot of stink very close to you).
I did the same on the fabric sections on the front and rear door trims..

The headliner was where i had to change method as i felt the extraction would damage it.. so i misted apc and used steam with towells to keep eveythting as dry as possible.. it worked but not as well as i would like..

And finally replacing the cabin air filter and sending steam through the ventilation system made a big improvement..

With all that (and about 4 hours) it was improved perhaps 90%.. it has improved another 5% or so with winodws open and airing.. the rest can be improved upon with an air freshener, but you will always know at some point someone smoked in it...

All the best with yours.

[BrilliantFinish]

They sell enzymes you can spray in the car

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

[Sharply Dressed]

I'd use steam as mentioned with APC wipe down. I like pushing steam through the vents and then turning on the heat as to help dry up any moisture