Remove Tobacco Smell

[Pexinfo]

Hi Everyone, this is my first post.

I bought a 1977 Starcraft this year, in excellent condition with one exception. The original owners were serioius smokers and the whole unit reaks of that old tobacco smell .

Any ideas how to remove the odor?

Thanks,
Al

[Jim Stewart]

I have heard of people using this and it working.

Odor Eliminator & Stain Removal Products

[Rick Long]

You can mask it ... but you'll never get rid of it.

Citrus scents work best... orange, lemon.

Wash everything.. use a lemon scented wood cleaner. You'll have to wash the windows with soap and water several times and then glass cleaner, to get the film off. Clean the heater and the air conditioner filters and ducts.

You have a ton of work ahead and it still might smell at times...

[RobRV]

I Agree with Rick 100% !

[kenyonman]

My wife came up with a great cleaner. Although as posted above nothing works 100%. This is mixed in a 1 qt spray bottle. 1 cup white vinigar, 1 cup ammonia, 1 TBSP dish soap and top off with water. This even works great on red wine and other carpet stains as well as scrubbing down walls etc...

[WindsorDave]

We have had great luck with saucers of plain white vinegar temporarily left lying about. Whether it's smoke resulting from a fireplace damper being accidentally left closed, broiler smoke, cooking odors, the vinegar somehow absorbs the smell and it disappears. Naturally you would not want to do this while underway. Also because of the confined space of a motor home, you would not want to do this while you were staying inside.

Based on past experience a motor home takes three saucers about the size of those used to serve a side order of applesauce in a restaurant. Set them out for a couple of days while the motor home is parked and not occupied. Any residual vinegar odor disappears quickly following removal of the containers. It make take longer in your case where the unit was saturated with tobacco smoke for an extended period.

That said, I'd give the vinegar a shot. It's cheap and has worked very well to remove odors of all kinds.

Good luck!

[Batman_777]

A very good cleaning of everything seems to be the best process. Anything else is a cover. The cleaning and the cover-up might do well until the smoke odor fades in several months....

[Lynnvt]

Since this is a popup you want to be careful about what you put on the canvas. I imagine much of the residue is in or on the canvas. Cleaning everything very thoroughly with just soap and water first seems like a good idea. There seems to be some good advise on the net, just Google "removing smoke odor".

[Freebird23]

If you know some one that deals in used cars , they may have a ozone gen.,or someone that has a fresh air unit in there house.Just be careful as ozone and some rubber don't play well together.We have a fresh air unit we put in the camper after it has been stored(works great)

[TW]

Try this one:

Mix a strong vinegar mix with water and soak a dishtowel in it. Leave it overnite hanging in the RV. Helped us with a used MH a few years ago...

TW

[GOLDWINGER2]

Simple Green everything, let dry and air out then use Febreze.
J

[JJHoneck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pexinfo Hi Everyone, this is my first post. I bought a 1977 Starcraft this year, in excellent condition with one exception. The original owners were serioius smokers and the whole unit reaks of that old tobacco smell . Any ideas how to remove the odor?

Now you know why we charge a $100 fine when people smoke in our non-smoking hotel suites. It's a time-consuming, tough job to deodorize anything that smells like tobacco.

Here's what we do at our hotel:

1. Vacuum everything. If you've got canvas, run the vacuum head over every square inch.

2. Wash EVERYTHING down with a sudsy ammonia mix. A squirt of dish soap, a splash of ammonia, and hot water in a bucket.

3. Run an industrial ozone generator in the unit for one (or more) hour(s). If you don't have one, they are available for rental. (Or befriend your local non-chain hotel/motel/B&B owner, and buy him a 6-pack of good beer. )

4. Put the mattress(es) out in the sun for a day or two. Sunshine eats odors. You may need to replace the mattress(es) if it's too saturated.

5. Shampoo any carpet with a professional carpet cleaning machine. Discard any throw rugs, drapes, etc., as they're probably not going to look right after laundering.

6. If you have any painted walls, you may have to paint them with Kilz primer, and then paint over with a final coat of good latex paint.

Good luck.