Auto Shocker ClO2 car interior odor eliminator by Biocide Systems

Had a bad smoke smell in my recent auto purchase. I used the product overnight, smell is gone and stayed gone.

I am really sensitive to smells and have used these for many years to remove odours from my car. It does leave a strong chlorine scent which will dissipate over time but be aware that can be an irritant for the first little while and make sure to air the car out thoroughly. It works pretty well, although some scents are more stubborn than others. The price point is a little too high (especially as sometimes you need two) but if you're in a real bind then it's worth giving this a go!

My wife and I found her dream car in terms of model, options, and color, which was kind of a unicorn since it was a combination of multiple rarer choices. However, we were then dismayed to discover that the interior smelled of cigarettes. We ended up buying the car anyway since it wasn't overpowering, but I immediately set off looking for a remedy. Most answers were that it would never come out even after expensive and/or time- and labor-intensive treatments since smoke adheres to practically everything more strongly than solvents can dissolve, and since it's a gas it can even get under fabric and porous leather -- but then somebody mentioned this. Further research on this specifically indicated that it had succeeded for people who had tried several other remedies with no success, so considering how simple and inexpensive it was, we gave it a shot. WOW! The smoke smell is now COMPLETELY gone, replaced briefly with a faint chlorine smell (like a swimming pool) from this since it's chlorine dioxide, but that goes away after no more than a few days and then there's no smell at all. This does NOT just layer a new smell on top of unpleasant odors. It actually reacts with the odor-causing particles in the car to neutralize them, and since this is a gas just like nicotine, it can go everywhere nicotine can to chase it down. We let this thing sit in the car for 22 hours in a garage and followed all of the included instructions, including jumping into the car to turn on the AC in recirculation mode (and then closing it up the again with the Auto Shocker still inside) for the final 15 minutes when the gas concentration is highest. Also, since the cigarette smell was also in the trunk area and we had fold-down seats, we wanted to treat that area too, but folding the seats all the way down would prevent their surfaces from getting treated, so prior to starting this treatment, we daisy-chained some zip ties together, ran them through the LATCH child safety seat loop behind the seats, and then around the metal headrest supports on the seats -- thereby suspending the rear seats partway down. Next, we covered the front, rear, and side glass with beach towels and a bed sheet since the product notes that UV makes it less effective (though this may have been overkill.) Finally, we changed the cabin air filter to an activated charcoal version just for a fresh start, although the car had a new standard air filter when we got it anyway. On most cars that requires no tools or expertise at all, and there's probably a YouTube video for whatever car you have. Just don't confuse the cabin air filter (aka microfilter) with the engine air filter! The results were better than we had dared to hope since we didn't think perfection was possible for something so inexpensive and simple, but that's exactly what we got. My wife is now over the moon since her dream car is now no longer tainted. HIGHLY recommended! (Note that after using this, just for completeness we also used Einszett 961108 to clean the AC evaporator core in case that reintroduced any smells into the cabin. That requires removing your AC blower fan, which is also pretty easy, but a mechanic could do this if needed. However, the overwhelming majority of the improvement came from this Auto Shocker, so you could also just use the Einszett 961108 if you find the smell coming back only when your AC/ventilation is running.)

Most effective odor removal

Inherited a heavily smoked in truck used this product over a 24 hour period and worked great, you smell a faint hint of chlorine but so far no more smoke smell..