Removing cigarette/cigar smoke residue, ozone machine?

A few years back I found my dream Jeep. The problem was the owner was a smoker, didn't notice it at first but as it warmed up it was very noticeable. The dealership promised they could remove it, so much they would refund my purchase if I wasn't satisfied - I figured I had nothing to lose. I could have left it with them or do it at home using Auto Shocker Quick Release To be honest I was less then thrilled and figured I'd be taking the Jeep back. But I followed the directions, in fact let it sit for a couple of days instead of the 24 hours. Then vented it Sunday night. Monday morning, I couldn't smell any smoke. That afternoon, when temps were in the 80s, I took it for a drive and nothing. I was honestly shocked that it worked, but very happy about it it. For the price it might be worth a try, you an find it cheaper on Amazon too.

As far as ozone machine, you have to know what you're doing a little.

You never want the machine *in* the area you're ozoning. The intake always needs fresh air to pull in. I usually open a window, wedge the machine in, and use cardboard to close off the rest of the area.

You want the ozone running for a while (half a day), and then let it sit for a day at least before running it again. The material you're ozoning matters a lot. Thick cloth material/chairs will take much longer than concrete/wood/less porous surfaces.

The issue would be air movement inside the rig. How is the ozone going to circulate everywhere? Put a small fan to blow the ozone around. Make sure you're getting the ozone everywhere you can.

In my car I did 4 hours ozone, let sit 12 or so, ozone again.

After you're finished, depending on how many cloth surfaces you have, it could take a very long time for the ozone smell to completely dissipate, which isn't a huge deal generally.

I used an ozone machine to get some mouse odors out of a popup camper one time. I ran the machine for 2 days after scrubbing everything down with soapy water. The combination of scrubbing and the ozone machine really surprised me. All of the mouse stink was gone. And mouse stink is much worse than cigarettes.

Ozone works. Years ago had an apartment that needed special cleaning. At the end the insurance company set an ozone machine to rid the final odors. Ran a few days maybe a week. All was good after.

Follow up question: if I go with an ozone machine can I leave the heat on to suck ozone through the furnace and ducts? Same thing with the A/C? (Two different treatment times)

That Auto Shocker looks interesting too... I may pick up one of those to try when I can’t leave the RV uninhabited long enough to ozone it..,

Try setting out dishes of coffee grounds,. We had a forgotten boiled chicken bone on the stove that turned into the worst burnt smell everywhere throughout the house. We read that coffee grounds absorb smell so tried that. We also put a mesh bag full of activated carbon on the HVAC air intake. A couple days later all of the smell was gone.

Ozone does work and it's used by professionals all the time, but do some research on how to use it properly. Ozone works by adding an extra oxygen atom to O2 making it O3 and thus very unstable. You have to remove the 3 P's (people, plants, and pets) because you can't breathe O3 and it can cause lung irritation or damage. Once the ozone is produced it reacts with a pollutant, bacteria, virus, or mold, and breaks it down into less complex (and typically less harmful) molecules through a process called oxidation. Ozone that has not reacted with other molecules will decompose into oxygen over time. Fortunately the half life of O3 is very short. Fully vented an RV would be safe to enter about 15-30 minutes after the machine is off.

As others have stated, ozone works well, and you can buy an ozone generator for cheap on Amazon. You absolutely don't want to be in the room when the ozone generator is running or for a few hours afterwards. Many have timers so you can set them and not reenter the room for the timer period plus a few hours longer for the ozone to decompose back to oxygen. Otherwise, run the ozonator on an extension cord from outside, and unplug it, wait a couple of hours then open the doors and windows.

One other thing to be aware of, the ozone oxidizes organic molecules, which includes plastics, particularly soft plastics and elastomers. If you use too much ozone you can end up destroying rubber, elastics and even synthetic fabrics.

My son inherited a car from a heavy smoker. We sceptically tried the product below and I was absolutely amazed that it worked so well. Might need a few cans for an entire rv.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/meguiar-s-whole-car-air-refresher-spray-new-car-0372630p.html#srp

Interesting posts. I will remember in case I need a smell cleaning.