The best way to avoid having your vehicle smell like weed is to not smoke weed in it, obviously. However, for many people that live with others who don't approve of smoking cannabis, their car may be the only place they can go to for a toke.
If you're visiting someone that doesn't allow smoking in their home (and let's face it, unfortunately, that's many), you may have to retreat to your car to indulge. One major piece of advice: don't smoke and drive.
Like tobacco smoke, the smell of weed can permeate everything in your car. However, you can get the smell out of your car and keep it out if you use the right products and follow a few simple tips.
What Causes Weed Smell To Linger?
People who smoke weed in the car and want to keep others from smelling the evidence often smoke with the windows up. If you do this — known as hotboxing — smoke fills the vehicle. It permeates fabric surfaces like upholstery and carpeting. It can seep into every crack and crevice, leaving an odor on everything it touches.
Even if you roll a window down, the smell of weed is powerful. It's not going to just float peacefully out the window. When the smoke is gone, the smell of dank sticks around.
Steps To Remove Existing Weed Smells From Your Car:
-
The best first step to remove as much existing smell as you can is through a thorough cleaning with deodorizing products. Wash down all exposed surfaces in your car: the dashboard, visors, door panels, windows, and any other surface you can clean with a wet cloth, including inside the console and glove box. If you have rubber or vinyl floor mats, wash them as well.
-
Clean all upholstery and carpet, including carpeted floor mats, with a deodorizing shampoo. For the headliner in your car, wipe it down thoroughly with a deodorizing cloth without soaking it. Soaking it can cause the headliner to come loose and sag. If your headliner isn't stained or discolored, a simple spray deodorizer may do the trick.
-
After you have removed as much odor as you can through the above steps, sprinkle baking soda into your carpets and brush into fabrics to help remove any lingering smell. Let it sit overnight, and vacuum the baking soda residue the next day.
Use An Ozone Generator For Persistent Odors
If you've cleaned your car thoroughly and the smell of weed remains, get an ozone generator. Ozone generators are used by commercial cleaning companies to remove odors. Ozone, known chemically as O3, is one of the most powerful sterilizing gases in the world.
Ozone is an unstable gas, so when it comes into contact with other molecules, such as odors, bacteria, viruses, etc, oxidation destroys it. For this same reason, it is also deadly. Ozone gas is seriously dangerous, and it can kill you just as carbon monoxide is known to if you're exposed to it for too long. Do not be in the vehicle when an ozone generator is running, and always allow it to air out before you get into the car.
Using these cleaning procedures will help tremendously with removing any existing smell in your vehicle. If your car has been exposed to heavy weed smoke, you might have to repeat some steps twice to get it smelling even better.
Preventing New Weed Smells In Your Car
Once you get your vehicle all sweet-smelling again, you might want to think twice before you smoke weed in it. However, the time may come when you need to smoke in your car, no matter how much you love that new car smell.
Here are a few more steps to take to prevent your car from smelling like Snoop Dogg's clubhouse again.
-
If you can, while smoking in your car, turn your fan on, and keep the windows down. When you run the air conditioner or fan, it prevents the smoke from being sucked into the insides of the air conditioning and heating system, which helps keep the air units cleaner.
-
There is an air filter, (usually located underneath the glove box) that can be changed out. Refer to your car owners' manual to find out where your car's filter is located. Keeping this filter clean can help rid your car of unwanted smells the filter has absorbed like marijuana, tobacco smoke, and even that late-night stop at Taco Bell.
-
Use products that absorb smells. Keep an open box of baking soda in your car, just as you might do in your refrigerator. Baking soda will lose its ability to absorb after a couple of months, so replace it regularly. You can also use a cup of white vinegar or even vodka to absorb smells. You can leave them in the vehicle overnight, or even for a couple of weeks, but they need to be changed regularly. Charcoal air purifier bags are also helpful.
-
If you want instant smell-removing results, an Ozium spray can help a great deal in addition to baking soda or any other precautions you're taking. If you keep a stash box in your car, a small bottle of Ozium spray is a great addition. Another option is investing in a small car air purifier. They are very affordable, and connect to DC 5v power supply with a USB cable. Using an air purifier will reduce smells immediately, and can be one of the most effective ways to keep weed smell from permeating your car's surfaces in the first place.
Keeping your car clean and free of smells can help retain its resale value. A strong smell of weed can make it harder to sell or trade in your vehicle, so keep your car, truck or van free from smoky smells. That way, if you decide to sell or trade in your ride, you can get top dollar, and continue to enjoy smoking weed