How to Remove Smoke Smell From an RV

Several things cause an RV to smell like smoke. After enjoying a great campfire outdoors, you go inside your RV to find the campfire smoke traveled through the open windows and stunk up the place. A friend enjoyed a cigarette inside your RV, leaving a stinky odor behind after they left. You burned dinner in your RV oven; dinner tasted bad and it left an undesirable odor behind. Whatever the cause of the smoky smell, it can be removed with a thorough cleaning.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Cloth rag
Paper towels
White vinegar
Leather cleaner product
Baking soda
Vacuum cleaner with furniture attachment brush
Washing machine
Laundry detergent
Potpourri or other fresh smelling fragrance (fresh pine cones, pine needles or flowers)

Step 1

Open the RV windows and vents and turn on the vent fans to air out your RV.

Step 2

Wipe all hard surfaces, such as the windows, window shades, window blinds, counters, walls and tile flooring, using a cloth rag or paper towels and white vinegar. The vinegar odor dissipates in a few hours, taking the smoky smell with it.

Step 3

Clean leather surfaces using a leather cleaner product.

Step 4

Sprinkle baking soda on carpeting and cloth furniture. Make sure the carpets and furniture are completely dry before sprinkling the baking soda. Wet baking soda is difficult to remove. Let the baking soda sit for 10 minutes before vacuuming it up. Attach a furniture attachment brush to your vacuum cleaner to vacuum the furniture.

Step 5

Launder bedding in a washing machine. Add 1 cup of baking soda to the load of wash, along with the laundry detergent, to remove the smoke odor.

Step 6

Take down the curtains and launder them in a washing machine with laundry detergent and 1 cup of baking soda or bring them to the dry cleaners if they are not machine washable. Alternatively, if you do not want to take the curtains down, spray the curtains with an odor removing air freshener that is labeled safe for cloth material.

Step 7

Set out some potpourri on the counters and kitchen tables to introduce a pleasant, fresh smell into your RV. Alternatively, instead of potpourri, set out fresh pine cones, pine needles or flowers.

Step 8

Close the RV windows and vents and turn off the vent fans, after you finish cleaning and the smoke smell is gone.

Article Written By Rose Kivi

Rose Kivi has been a writer for more than 10 years. She has a background in the nursing field, wildlife rehabilitation and habitat conservation. Kivi has authored educational textbooks, patient health care pamphlets, animal husbandry guides, outdoor survival manuals and was a contributing writer for two books in the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Series.

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