How to remove cigarette burns or stains
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
Cigarette burns of stains can be notoriously difficult to remove. The longer the stain has been there, the more difficult it gets to remove it completely. In some cases the fabric has been damaged and removing the stain isn’t possible without repairing the fabric itself.
How cigerette burns of stains are made
When somebody smokes in the car, either the complete cigarette or parts of it can fall on the interior fabric/leather. The tabaco inside the cigarette will stain the fabric when getting wet, and the burning tip can scorch the fabric. The stains from tabaco are very difficult to remove as the coloration can enlarge when becoming wet again. Burning tips of a cigarette can burn the fabric of the interior, which requires a local repair or replacing the entire seat cover.
Removing cigarette stain
Stains can be difficult to remove, because the tabaco acts in a similar way as tea does when it gets wet. Just as tea colors hot water, the tabaco colors any liquid it comes into contact with. This coloration is then transferred onto the fabrics of the interior, creating a stain. Cleaning this requires a strong cleaning product such as an APC or degreaser. Certain organic products (such as an enzyme cleaner) have been reported to have a good effect on these as well. For old stains, several steps might be needed. The stains on leather can be impossible to fully remove as the staining acts like a die that soaks into the leather. The only option would be to remove the colored coating and recoat/repaint the leather in this area.
removing cigarette burn
A cigarette burn is damage to the surface itself. It is not a stain that can be removed, but a physical damage of the fabric itself. Cleaning can help to make the burn less visible, but if the damage isn’t repaired completely, the damage will still be present. Certain pecialists are capable of replacing small patches of fabric, but this will be much more difficult with leather or leatherette. In cases of larger burns, it is probably easier or cheaper to fully remove the seat cover and replace it with a new one.
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