Ozone machine - highly recommend for interior freshening.

[pezzy84]

So I have long known about ozone machines as I spent some years as management in hotel industry. These things were our greatest tool for when “guests” would smoke in our 100% non-smoking room. Take room off market for 24 hours, run ozone for a few hours and let ozone deplete overnight then bam good to go.

Largely forgot about ozone generators until recently, took a peruse on Amazon and found a $42 machine that had good reviews so went for it. I am about to list my condo for sale so figure it would be a good way to freshen up the space. Well yesterday I figured what the heck let me go toss it in the cars for 20 mins since they are parked for the night.

All I have to say is both smelled great this morning. My e-Golf didn’t smell bad at all before, but this morning smelled crisp and clean. My other half is not the best about keeping the Sportwagen clean and it is smoked in so that had more of its own unique odor, it did wonders and it also now smells crisp and clean. Not bad for $48 w/shipping.

Couple other things I learned about ozone. It actually kills/destroys viruses, bacteria and mold and mildew - did not know thus until yesterday. On the same token it is not good for human body, plants or pets to be in room getting ozone shocked because it attacks pretty much anything living, it’s good to let the ozone deplete for quite a few hours before going in treatment area.

Here is link to unit I bought - there area a number of them in the $40-100 range.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084X6FKQH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[tyman]

Yep, I bought one after I bought my truck from the previous owner who was a chainsmoker. I let it go overnight a few times to help with things and I did a third one for a few hours. You can't even tell the truck was ever smoked in at this point.

 

[Gimpy1]

Another thing that helps get rid of the smoke is to use a cleaning foam that goes up the water drain for the ac evaporator and vents. I did mine when I quit smoking and it really helped, especially after you quit the stale cigarette smell is really nauseating, liquid came out a nasty brown color.

 

[bdcardinal]

I tried to buy one but they won't ship to California

 

[Oliveoil2]

Producing and Breathing ozone is bad for people and the environment. Air quality is calculated by how much ozone is in the air. I had one of those air cleaners and loved the smell of fresh rain. But I got rid of it immediately after doing some research on ionic air cleaners. Very bad for people with underlying Heath conditions, especially cardiovascular issues.

 

[atikovi]

Producing and Breathing ozone is bad for people and the environment. Air quality is calculated by how much ozone is in the air. I had one of those air cleaners and loved the smell of fresh rain. But I got rid of it immediately after doing some research on ionic air cleaners. Very bad for people with underlying Heath conditions, especially cardiovascular issues.

You don't have people in the room or the car when the machine is working. And the ozone decomposes after 30 minutes.

 

[Kestas]

I have an ozone generator in my house right now. The 30 year old electronic air cleaner in my hvac has started to spark like crazy. The ozone smell is noticeable.

Ozone smells like the air outside after a thunderstorm.

 

[AP9]

I can only imagine the havoc that's going to wreak on your vehicle's interior plastic materials.

 

[ecotourist]

The thing you really don't want is ozone being generated while you're in the space. Ozone is lung toxic.

We use an ozone generator once a year or so to make our crawl space smell better (it works great). But neither we nor the dog are in the house while it's running - or for a while afterwards.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I can only imagine the havoc that's going to wreak on your vehicle's interior plastic materials.

Does ozone damage the plastics in a car if you just use it to freshen up a newly purchased used car for a few hours?

 

[alarmguy]

Yeah, over time Ozone will damage plastics, also keep in mind it damages your lungs and causes cancer, in higher doses its worse then smoking and those doses are barely detectable by the smell. It occurs naturally in the ground and why many areas of the country they test homes for ozone, even at the lower levels where you cant smell it, it can be in high enough doses that would equal smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.

So if you do use it, dont breathe it while you are treating the car,

 

[alarmguy]

I have an ozone generator in my house right now. The 30 year old electronic air cleaner in my hvac has started to spark like crazy. The ozone smell is noticeable.

Ozone smells like the air outside after a thunderstorm.

Your damaging your lungs

Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | US EPA

Ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners intentionally produce the gas ozone.

www.epa.gov

 

[alarmguy]

Its really scary reading some of these posts, people are literally hurting their health and not know it by using these devices in the way that they are... "If used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants."
(read my other 2 posts above)

 

[diyjake]

How long would you say is the max time you can run a ozone inside a car before you start to damage plastics / rubber items?

A good friend of mine had bough a car that had terrible smell from smoking, he ran one of these $80 ozone generators from amazon a few times for about 30 minutes to an hour and while it did make it better the smell came back the next day. He wanted to run it for a few hours but I told that's probably a bad idea but I don't really know how much is too much ozone.

 

[wings&wheels]

As others have noted, be cautious around rubber and plastics.

Funny story; Few years ago our friends bought a Halloween costume for their son, had a foam head covering. When it arrived, it stunk like cheap foamy rubber.

The Dad figured his ozone generator would help so he put it an the generator in a large box for the day. Opened the box at the end of the day and the hood is now a pile of shrunken, brittle pieces of what was rubber. Now I'm sure that was the cheapest non stabilized material you could get, but you get the point.

 

[diyjake]

- That would not be fun if this happened to your rubber noses underneath the dash.

 

[berniedd]

I remember watching a Wheeler Dealers episode where they ran an ozone generator into the right side air vent to get rid of smoke odor from the previous owner. Placed a small vacuum cleaner at the right vent to get the ozone through

 

[kschachn]

Your damaging your lungs

Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | US EPA

Ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners intentionally produce the gas ozone.

www.epa.gov

That's not what he's talking about, I have one of those "ozone generators" on my furnace as well.

The slight odor is your reminder to put it in the dishwasher (or maybe get a new one in this case).

 

[Silver]

I just ordered one to try on a moldy smelling vehicle that sat for a year. It had mold growing in some spots.

 

[diyjake]

I just ordered one to try on a moldy smelling vehicle that sat for a year. It had mold growing in some spots.

Just be careful don't run it too long.