How to get weed smell out of car – 2 simple steps!

It can be tricky to know how to get weed smell out of car because cannabis proteins are very small and sticky. So they get everywhere, just like cigarette smoke, and are hard to remove.

While we are not advocating that anyone smoke weed, especially in a car, the fact is that a number of states have now legalized it, so the problem of how to get rid of the lingering smell is becoming more and more common.

Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to get rid of the weed smoke smell and cannabis odor in your vehicle. Follow these tips and your car will be smelling fresh in no time.

Issues with bad smoke smells at home? Check out our how-to guide for removing smoke odor from your house? .

How to get weed smell out of car

Key points:

• To remove the weed smell completely, you have to remove the source of the problem. Avoid wasting time with products and methods that either (a) treat the air or (b) just cover up the smell.
• Homemade products can work, but usually only in situations where you have a light odor problem. Products like vinegar can attack and break down the smoke proteins, but setting out bowls of vinegar and sprinkling baking soda will never be as effective as professional products designed to eliminate the cannabis proteins.
• Because cannabis smell particles get everywhere, it is often difficult if impossible to wipe all the areas down where they are located. This is why I recommend a combination method, wiping first followed by a gas treatment, which will effectively remove all of the sources of the weed odor problem.

1. Clean all surfaces that may be holding onto the smell.

Open all the windows and doors and let fresh air circulate for a few minutes. If it’s cold outside, turn on the heater to help circulate the air. Make sure the air vents are set to bring in the fresh air and not recirculate the air. Keep in mind that ventilation dilutes the odor molecules in the air, and won’t actually remove the source of the smell.

The next step is to focus on removing the source so that it stops producing the odor.

You can also try using an air purifier to help remove the airborne odor molecules from your car.

Vacuum the floors and seats, and carpets. Wipe down all surfaces with a damp cloth. You can use a dilute solution of vinegar to help remove any of the sticky odor proteins. At this point, you are trying to remove any dirt, ashes, or debris. Sprinkling baking soda on the carpets prior to vacuuming can also help get rid of the cannabis smells.

2. Once the car is wiped clean, use a product to neutralize the cannabis smell and weed odor.

Make your own natural air freshener

If you are dealing with a really light smoke odor (and it’s always good to get an opinion on this!)If you want to make your own natural air freshener, you can do so with a few simple steps.

Here are a few odor absorbers you can try:

• Place a bowl, some water, and a few drops of essential oil. Essential oils will help to neutralize the weed smell in your car.
• Another way is to place bowls of vinegar around the car. The vinegar will absorb the smell in your car and leave your car smelling fresh.
• A third option is to place bowls of coffee grounds inside the car. The coffee grounds will help absorb the smell, much like activated charcoal, another effective odor absorber.

Using a commercial odor eliminator

If you have a heavy smoke odor problem, then it is almost certain that natural odor absorbers will not be effective at getting rid of the weed smell problem.

In this case, I recommend that you use a chlorine dioxide gas treatment. CLO2 has been around a long time and is primarily used to treat drinking water. In addition to having disinfecting properties, CLO2 is also a great odor eliminator. The CLO2 gas breaks down odor-causing molecules, like smoke proteins, very efficiently. The good news is that today there are products on the market that allow you to implement a CLO2 treatment quickly and safely.

Check out this short video on how to use these products safely and efficiently for your weed odor removal problem.

The best products for smoke odor removal in vehicles

• Healthy Environs Mobile Refresh product. This kit includes enough CLO2 (one 20 g tablet) to perform one treatment to remove the weed smoke odor. The kit also includes a mixing container. The price is $19.95 for the kit.
• Reset CLO2 100 g package. Reset’s 100 g package includes 5 x 20 g tablets. This is enough to perform 5 treatments! The price is $59.95 for the five 20 g tablets.

Bottom line:

If you think you will need to do more than one treatment then Reset’s 5 x 20g package is the best deal. If you just want to try out the technique, then I’d go for the Healthy Environs kit, where you also receive the mixing container. Either is fine.

Note that Reset also sells a 4 x 4 g = 16 g packaged product as well. if you wanted the video then you saw that Reset recommends a two-step treatment, with the first step being a wipe down with liquid CLO2. The liquid product is created by placing one 4 g tablet into 32 oz of water. What concerns me about Reset’s methodology is that CLO2 gas can bleach fabrics if the fabric is wet when it comes into contact with the gas. (This is not the case when fabrics are dry.) So, if you spray the fabric in your vehicle with a liquid CLO2 product, and then following that by a gas treatment while the fabric is still wet, you risk bleaching the fabric in your vehicle.

In my experience, you will not need to perform an initial wipe down to remove weed odor unless it is really bad. And, in this case I would simply perform a second 20 g gas treatment.

Don’t forget. You will also need to get an aerator (watch the video) to speed up the process of CLO2 generation. This is the aerator I use and it costs less than $8.

Should you use an ozone generator?

Yes, you could use an ozone generator for bad cannabis smoke smells. Keep in mind that while ozone can be a very effective odor eliminator, it only works to get rid of a smell in your car if you first remove as much of the source as possible. Here is an article on using ozone for removing pet odor that explains the pros and cons and why it often is not as effective as other methods.

Tips for preventing weed smell in your car

Once you’ve taken the time to get rid of the weed odor problem from your car, here are a few tips you can take for preventing car smells due to smelly molecules from smoking weed:

• Keep your windows open while smoking.
• Store your weed in an airtight container. This will help to prevent the marijuana odor from escaping and getting into your car.
• Keep your car clean. Vacuum regularly and wipe down surfaces to remove any lingering weed smell.
• Use an air purifier to help remove the weed smell from your car.

The best products for keeping the air fresh in your car

While there are a number of air fresheners on the market that can help maintain the freshness of your car, they aren’t actually odor eliminators, which is what you need when dealing with the particles that cause cannabis smell.

I can’t say enough good things about Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator 365 canister and Odor Eliminator 101 sachet products.

The advantage of these products is that they are truly odor eliminators and not cover-ups for the odors.

The canister is great for a quick-fix (more kick to the product) whereas the pouch is longer lasting (60-90 days).

These two products are both great for odor maintenance once the initial bad odor has been removed using the deep clean method above.

These products are very affordable, eco-friendly, and safe to use around people and pets.

You can also try air fresheners to help mask a short-term smell in your car. I would use these for light odors.

• Cannabolish is a specially formulated spray for removing cannabis odor. This is an essential oils product that is designed to remove the cannabis smell and also leave a pleasant scent.
• For a quick fix, you can also try to hide the weed smell with a scented candle made specifically for covering up the weed smell.

Wrap-Up

My final thought is that you shouldn’t fall for quick fixes. It’s important to recognize that smoke smells are no joke to remove. You need to bring your A-Game and not waste time with quick fixes like vinegar or baking soda if you want the smell to really be gone.

This article has the secrets I have used to rid cars of cigarette and weed smoke smells. I also start with a deep treatment and then recommend an ongoing plan for keeping the car fresh smelling. By following these steps, you can keep your car smelling fresh and clean.

Problems at home (with stinky smell, that is!) Then check out my 25 Tips on how to keep your home smelling fresh.