Carbon/charcoal cabin air filter recomendations

The previous owner of my tacoma decided he'd smoke in it. With the windows up.

I need a good charcoal cabin air filter to help get the rest of the smell out. I've wiped everything down and done my best to clean the fabric. I did get lucky with the carpet since he decided to leave the plastic on. However, I should pull the headliner out and soak it for a bit.

In the meantime, a good charcoal or carbon cabin air filter would help a great deal.

Any recommendations?

 

I have gotten the charcoal filter from Walmart (fram fresh breeze), it works well. I think it was around $15 too.

 

Baking soda sprinkled on all the carpet and seats, vacuum, repeat.... Spray lots of frabreeze, and never roll up the windows whether parked or while driving

 

Ill second the Fram Freshbreeze.

Fram stuff is typically junk, but their cabin filters do work.

 

I put a fresh breeze in it, but I was hoping to get a straight charcoal one. The FB does work okay, but I know some of the high end cars come with some very stout charcoal ones that work amazingly well.

I'll keep up the freebreeze as well. I will try the baking soda trick too. I've got a 14 month old that I would like to keep healthy. It was bad at first, but I'd say it's down to maybe 5% what it was, I'll keep fighting it till is gone. If nothing else, I'll pull the seats and headliner out to hose them down.

Thanks for the help! Anymore suggestions would be awesome!

 

Might also consider cleaning HVAC system, have seen some threads on here about it, maybe a spray-based cleaner?

 

Yeah, I forgot I already sprayed some in there. It did help. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do that again. I even used one of those freshener bombs right before doing that.

 

Find a car wash with a carpet shampooer and clean every piece of fabric you can reach. I have done that before and it helped a ton. On the plus side there shouldn't be any safety concerns, just annoyances.

 

When I detail the inside of my truck, I always Lysol all the vents. It kills any of the funk sitting the HVAC system that gets past the filter.

Another thing you may want to do is start tearing the interior apart to clean it really well. My buddy bought a T4R that was smoked in. There ended up being a mountain of cigarette ash under the center console. Stuff youd never find unless you started tearing stuff apart. No matter how clean you get everything else, if you have something like that hidden, the smell will never go away.

 

The one good thing, he only drove it 22k miles.... so hopefully there isn't very much accumulated.

 

I have owned charcoal cabin filters in the past, I had the misfortune of buying them in a lot of 3. I couldn't wait until the last one was gone and I'll never buy another one. I put them in my Camry and they smelled swampy on initial startup and sometimes gave you an odd feeling like there was charcoal dust blowing out of the vent. I wouldn't be opposed of trying a fabreeze filter, but for now I only use $6 eBay filters.

If it's real bad, see an apolstry shop or an auto recycler. I had a neighbor who owned an auto recycle yard, if they had a car that was in a fire, they had an aerosol bomb that they set off inside with the windows up. These removed the smoke smell and temporarily made the car smell like bubble gum.

 

Zep makes an odor eliminator kinda like febreeze. Available at Home Depot I think. More industrial strength than febreeze.

 

Here's one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-16-oz-Smoke-Odor-Eliminator-ZUSOE16/202858239

Here's another (the one I've used): http://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-Commerc...iminator-Blue-Sky-Air-Freshener-Spray/3621270

 

Thanks for the links.

I went ahead and put the fram fresh breeze with charcoal in it today. It seems to be helping tremendously already. I do have some ozonium smoke eliminator, but it burns my skin and eyes even when I use as directed. I even waited overnight to get back into the truck, I could still feel it on me at the end of the day. Maybe that zep is better

 

I use a product made for pet urine called "Natures Miracle"

You get it at pet stores, it's kid safe and works great, spray it heavy all over and let it soak in and dry......

 

I first I thought you posted "made FROM pet urine". Glad I read it again. I never thought to use that..... that may be a good idea

 

lol....it worked great...

I hate thinking it may stink but I can't smell it because I'm used to the smell....

 

I've been researching the crap out of this topic because the PO of my 2005 was a smoker.

For starters, I also installed a charcoal filter:
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B00XQ0Z39Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's cheap, but it does the trick (and it's available for Prime shipping).

I also use the Ozium spray. Spray it in the late afternoon and let it sit overnight (if you REALLY want it to get everywhere, recirculate the air for a couple of minutes; just DON'T BREATHE IT IN when you shut the engine off!). In the morning, roll down the windows and let the car air out before you take off for the day. Doesn't ELIMINATE the smoke smell, but it does keep it at bay for a while.

The best ting to do is take it to a detailing shop and have them use a steam extractor. That's the only way to TRUELY remove the smell from cloth surfaces.

Once the smell is gone and your interior is clean, spray some So2Pure coating on your cloth surfaces to prevent the smells from returning:

$24 CARPRO SO2Pure Odor Eliminator - Neutralize Odors, Cigarette Smoke, Gas Fumes, Exhaust Gases, Chemical Off-Gassing or VOCs, Even Pet Smells from Car Fabric & Plastic - 120mL (4oz)

https://amazon.com/dp/B004UMBIPU/re...UTF8&colid=NBERES7I4E29&coliid=I3DQDMR4JSMXB1

 

Got the zep stuff, a fresh breeze, and some freebreeze. That worked decently but I could still feel and smell the nasty yellow stuff on me after I was in the truck for a while.

Today I pulled all of the seats out and hosed them down. Used some carpet cleaner on them and sucked it up with a wet/ dry vac. Waiting for it to dry as I type this. I also cleaned under the seats.

This should do it.

 

If that and cleaning the air con/heater ducts don't work take it to a professional cleaner or carpet cleaner and have them clean the interior using their machine. After the inteior is completely dry use an ozone generator (follow the directions and don't overdo it as you can cause damage). Air out the cab thoroughly after ozone treatment then wipe down all surfaces with interior cleaner.