Eeew that smell...can anyone help me out?

[Lendlees]

Been lurking here for a week after I decided to buy a used Buddy Italia.
First off, I love my scooter!
But, it has a little problem that I'm not sure how to solve.

It didn't occur to me that since it was stored in a garage that smelled like a couple cases of used Marlboroughs that the scooter would smell like an ashtray at my house.

I've tried everything: coffee grounds, washing it multiple times with water/vinegar/baking soda, leaving baking soda on the seat...all to no avail. It still stinks. Just not quite as bad. I'm now resorting to leaving it outside in the hopes that the smell might go away.

Anyone have any other grand ideas? Thanks.

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

is it really that bad? I never imagined something with that little of upholstery not enclosed as airtight as a car where said smoker would be in could be hold that odor so well. Only thing I could think of is replacing the seat or having the cover and foam replaced. Go with some leopard print

[gr8dog]

Try Fabreeze on the seat, many treatments over many days. It got the lingering odor of my daughters many motion sickness episodes out of the upholstery in my car. Believe me, that's a BADDD odor!

[hardd1]

maybe try a cheap shower curtain liner you find at a dollar store...remove from pkg and ball it up to put under the seat...let it permeate for a day or two....voila, new plastic odor should be evident

[ed85379]

is it really that bad? I never imagined something with that little of upholstery not enclosed as airtight as a car where said smoker would be in could be hold that odor so well. Only thing I could think of is replacing the seat or having the cover and foam replaced. Go with some leopard print

Cigarette smoke is like a disease, a plague, that infects everything it touches with the foul odor. It doesn't surprise me at all that it would stink so much. There is actually radioactive material in that smoke stain as well.

I'm afraid there might not be much that you can do other than wait.. or pull absolutely everything apart and scrub the inside and outside of all of the panels. Febreeze on the seat if they make some that works on vinyl, and you have to hope that it didn't get into the foam inside, though it likely has.

You can sometimes still smell smoke from the walls of old buildings from decades or a century before. So disgusting.

[Tanuki]

Clean the plastic parts of the scooter with windex. That will cut through any reidual tar/nicotine that might be clinging to your ride.

There are all kinds of ways to get the smell out of the seat.
You can use a commercial cleaner like Oxyclean, Febreeze, or Vamoose180T

If you want to try some alternatives to the commercial products here are a few things you can do:

Put five or six charcoal briquettes on the seat, wrap a garbage bag around it, and let it sit for a day or two. The charcoal should absorb the smell.

You can also try the same thing with a orange or lemon peels.

Hydrogen peroxide will also take out the smell - but I wouldn't trust it not to bleach color out of the seat cover.

If all else fails - fill the entire helmet storage area with potpourri.

[michelle_7728]

You might try taking a couple of Bounce sheets and put them under your seat...maybe drape a couple over the top of the seat too...

Don't know for sure if it will help with cigarette odors, but I know it works for getting rid of musty odors, like in a car or a safe.

Stuffing a Bounce sheet in each shoe when not being worn helps with shoe odor also, but that's another topic!

[bigbropgo]

Take the seat of and place it somewhere else. See if the scoot has a smoke smell remaining. If no maybe just get a new seat. The charcoal trick might work also. Smoke smell is a tough one.

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

You might try taking a couple of Bounce sheets and put them under your seat...maybe drape a couple over the top of the seat too...

Don't know for sure if it will help with cigarette odors, but I know it works for getting rid of musty odors, like in a car or a safe.

Stuffing a Bounce sheet in each shoe when not being worn helps with shoe odor also, but that's another topic!

Dryer sheets work great as a bug repellant. We'd rub our arms, legs, neck and face at my parents house in Florida and be out all evening, no bites

[Wheelz]

You could just take up smoking, then you won't even notice the smell

Seriously, I'd mos def try the dryer sheets, they work great if you don't mind your scoot smelling like fluffy clouds, summer breezes, or disgustingly cute stuffed bears.

[kneil67@yahoo.com]

take up smoking then you wont smell it

[Wheelz]

nice ninja'd moment there Kneil! but I beat ya to it!

[juice]

This reminds me of a Sienfeld episode . He just traded in his vehicle .

[Lendlees]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have lots of new tricks to try (except taking up smoking...not an option for an asthma sufferer).

Right now my Buddy is sitting outside enjoying a bit of PNW sunshine and hopefully airing out.

[ed85379]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have lots of new tricks to try (except taking up smoking...not an option for an asthma sufferer).

Right now my Buddy is sitting outside enjoying a bit of PNW sunshine and hopefully airing out.

Oh, that's no excuse. Every asthma sufferer in my family also happens to also be a smoker.

[Lendlees]

UPDATE:

Thanks everyone. The Febreeze/Bounce dryer sheet combo seems to have done the trick. Waiting for new helmet to get completely de-smoked...

Now I just need more practice to get my mileage up and become more comfortable on the Seattle hills.

[Jackie F]

i use a car freshener underneath my seat.
for my helmet, i put a bar a soap underneath when i store it in my closet.

[ScootLemont]

Dryer sheets (I like snuggle) where ever you can stick them.

All 3 of my snowmobiles smell Snuggle Fresh, even over the 2 stroke smell.

Why?
I use dryer sheets in my snowmobiles for summer storage because the mice & squirrels really like the garage at my cabin in Wisconsin. I spent years fighting them until a local guy told me that rodents hate dryer sheets - now every spring a dryer sheet goes in the end of the end of the exhaust pipe, a few under the hood & a few in the under seat storage. It does keep the mice out and my snowmobiles are Snuggle Fresh all year round.