Best way of getting rid of dodgy smells?!

[Alv]

For some reason my Golf has decided to smell awful inside, smells a little damp/musty but checked carpets etc and all fine, so what really is the best method to deal with them. A new air freshener and a good old febreeze everyday has not helped the situation at all. Please help me rid my car of dodgy smells!!

Cheers

Adam

[AndyT77]

Wet vac with some decent upholstery detergent, and then check all seals and vents for blockages/damage. Infact do that first before the wet vac. Also perhas check the air con? If all else fails there is a thing you can do called 'fogging' which is basically a canister of antibacterial aerosol which is let off in the car.

[Buff Mchugelarge]

The most important thing is to isolate and eliminate the cause.
Otherwise you'll just be covering up a potential problem.
Once you've done that, the smell should clear fairly quickly as long as there's no mould. If not an Antibacterial fogger or upholstery cleaning will do the job.

[Alv]

I saw the 'smoke bomb' thing on the net, looked awesome! I will have a good poke around this weekend and see if I have missed something simple,

Thanks

Adam

[rocketdogbert]

Try emptying the washer bottle through the washers a couple of times, worked well on an old A4 for me

John

[shed driver]

Blocked pollen filter?

SD.

[Chris Peacock]

My sister in law spewed in the back of my Civic type R a few years ago and made a right mess.

After most of the chunks were removed the smell of sick was still there.


If you chop up 2-3 fresh lemons and stick the pieces in tupperware tubs under the seats, this (somehow?) will rid your care of the smell.

Might be worth a try.

[falkster]

I've used the chopped lemon before!

We used my ML to take some garden waste to the tip but between filling the bags and putting the bags in my car it had rained filling bags with water.
I broke a little too hard releasing a few litres of the best stinky mud!! 3 weeks after cleaning the car spotless it still stunk like a dyke!
Lemon worked a treat!

[Polariz]

6 months ago I had a disaster. I left a whole raw chicken in the boot of my 1er in a Sainsbo's bag.

For 4 days.

In the summer sun. Oops.

Suffice to say I had to throw away the carpet which had soaked up much of the black mess which had leaked everywhere. However, the stench seemed to get into everything - seats, plastics, you name it.

The only thing that solved it was an Odor bomb. It kills the proteins and mould etc that actually make the smell. Thank God these exist, because I was spending 12 hours a week in the car. Doing 80 with all the windows open every day wasn't too fun.

Three words. BAG FOR LIFE.

[7even]

worthwhile checking the spare wheel well too.

[Kidders]

Autosmart Bio Brisk. As its name suggests its a biological cleaner, has a great smell once clean and it really does get rid of odours like stale milk and urine. With two young children it has been put to a good test in my car and on my sofa! Highly recommended.

[Alv]

Managed to get the car off the missus and have a better look, damp passenger footwell! I'll start off by taking the door card off, i did change the pollen filter a couple of weeks ago, maybe somehow it's getting through there.

Cheers

Adam

[lordlee]

Look for a blocked drain hole in the bulkhead as a 1st point of call.

[Kidders]

Check for blocked sill drains. If they fill up with water it will spill into the car through the inner sills, happened to mine, looked like a swamp! Just unplugged the sill drain with a flat blade screwdriver and its been fine ever since. It was excessive cavity wax and dirt accumulated over the years that did it.