Car stinks inside
Discussion
We’ve just recently got a car from a relative for the Mrs, it’s a low mileage 2017 fiesta, the car is perfect in every way but it stinks inside due to a past life of spilt baby milk and sick.
I’ve vaxed wet and dry the carpets, seats even the boot but it still stinks, even put an aircon bomb in it and still the smell persists.
Any advice from the seasoned valeters and detailers?
I’ve vaxed wet and dry the carpets, seats even the boot but it still stinks, even put an aircon bomb in it and still the smell persists.
Any advice from the seasoned valeters and detailers?
Krisswfc said:
We ve just recently got a car from a relative for the Mrs, it s a low mileage 2017 fiesta, the car is perfect in every way but it stinks inside due to a past life of spilt baby milk and sick.
I ve vaxed wet and dry the carpets, seats even the boot but it still stinks, even put an aircon bomb in it and still the smell persists.
Any advice from the seasoned valeters and detailers?
Sell it and buy another one….I ve vaxed wet and dry the carpets, seats even the boot but it still stinks, even put an aircon bomb in it and still the smell persists.
Any advice from the seasoned valeters and detailers?
You'll be needing to take seats and carpets out. Then soak and pressure wash them.
Yes, really
And if the spillage was really bad then you might be needing to clean the sound deadening underneath where whatever it was soaked through.
I've just had to do similar in a VW UP.
Removed it all. Soaked it in a solution of washing powder and anti-bac. Then used a hot pressure washer and hit the lot.
Took a couple of days to dry.
Yes, really
And if the spillage was really bad then you might be needing to clean the sound deadening underneath where whatever it was soaked through.
I've just had to do similar in a VW UP.
Removed it all. Soaked it in a solution of washing powder and anti-bac. Then used a hot pressure washer and hit the lot.
Took a couple of days to dry.
t my dog sprayed over the back of my car from smelling. Milk is a nightmare, possibly worse than almost everything else that could be spilled.
Some years ago a colleague (twerp) spilled a milky coffee into the drawer tray of my truck cab, he mopped it all up or so i thought.
The following summer the most appalling smell arrived, eventually i tracked it down, there was a 2" at most sized mark underneath the rubber mat inside said drawer, that was the tiny patch of milk he hadn't cleaned up.
I pressure washed that rubber mat, put it through the washine machine you name it, nothing, ended up slinging the mat.
The plastic tray cleaned up fine.
I'm afraid OP you could end up cleaning or indeed replacing a whole set of carpets and underlay and still not get rid of the stink if its seeped into any hard rubberised sealings found in the bodyshell floor, suggest you remove all the carpets and underlay, they should be easy enough to wash but have a good sniff of the floor itself, if its the rubberised sealer you'll have to chip it off, washing will not fix it.
You have the warm weather so drying things out will be easy.
Not trying to be the worlds biggest pessimist just letting you difficult this endevour could prove, my sympathies.
Some years ago a colleague (twerp) spilled a milky coffee into the drawer tray of my truck cab, he mopped it all up or so i thought.
The following summer the most appalling smell arrived, eventually i tracked it down, there was a 2" at most sized mark underneath the rubber mat inside said drawer, that was the tiny patch of milk he hadn't cleaned up.
I pressure washed that rubber mat, put it through the washine machine you name it, nothing, ended up slinging the mat.
The plastic tray cleaned up fine.
I'm afraid OP you could end up cleaning or indeed replacing a whole set of carpets and underlay and still not get rid of the stink if its seeped into any hard rubberised sealings found in the bodyshell floor, suggest you remove all the carpets and underlay, they should be easy enough to wash but have a good sniff of the floor itself, if its the rubberised sealer you'll have to chip it off, washing will not fix it.
You have the warm weather so drying things out will be easy.
Not trying to be the worlds biggest pessimist just letting you difficult this endevour could prove, my sympathies.
I'd go again with the wetvac but spray Autosmart Biobrisk on the carpets/seats first, before extracting.
Once dry I'd leave an Airvidox kit in the car overnight and all should be well - assuming you've cleaned every other interior surface - headlining, seatbelts etc.
May be worth popping a new pollen filter in too.
Once dry I'd leave an Airvidox kit in the car overnight and all should be well - assuming you've cleaned every other interior surface - headlining, seatbelts etc.
May be worth popping a new pollen filter in too.
Not milk, but cigarette smell - left baking powder in the car - If I was really attacking it I would sprinkle it into the carpets, leave for a while, then hoover out.
As others have said, the smell will get into the headliner - I have removed marks from the headliner by lying on my back and going over the headliner with a carpet spot cleaner. I will refrain from asking my kids how they got muddy welly boot prints on the headliner.
Talking of cabin air-filters, I recommend the charcoal ones, I was really surprised as to how much difference they made.
Also being a Fiesta unsure if the back seat bench / seats have pressure sensors etc - as has been said, remove, soak and pressure wash.
Good luck!
As others have said, the smell will get into the headliner - I have removed marks from the headliner by lying on my back and going over the headliner with a carpet spot cleaner. I will refrain from asking my kids how they got muddy welly boot prints on the headliner.
Talking of cabin air-filters, I recommend the charcoal ones, I was really surprised as to how much difference they made.
Also being a Fiesta unsure if the back seat bench / seats have pressure sensors etc - as has been said, remove, soak and pressure wash.
Good luck!
LuckyThirteen said:
You'll be needing to take seats and carpets out. Then soak and pressure wash them.
Yes, really
And if the spillage was really bad then you might be needing to clean the sound deadening underneath where whatever it was soaked through.
I've just had to do similar in a VW UP.
Removed it all. Soaked it in a solution of washing powder and anti-bac. Then used a hot pressure washer and hit the lot.
Took a couple of days to dry.
sounds like hassle but thats what i do on new to me cars , freshens them up a treat Yes, really
And if the spillage was really bad then you might be needing to clean the sound deadening underneath where whatever it was soaked through.
I've just had to do similar in a VW UP.
Removed it all. Soaked it in a solution of washing powder and anti-bac. Then used a hot pressure washer and hit the lot.
Took a couple of days to dry.
I had a smelly Subaru Legacy years ago (ex smoker / dog owner), I was into "detailing" at the time and ended up taking the entire interior, dashboard, headlining and anything else I could find that would come out to clean behind it all, this was after surface cleaning, wet vacuuming, using regular "bombs" to deodorise and then an ozone generator.
I even washed out the heater vents, cleaned wiring looms and anything else I could see or touch.
It still smelled bad only now it was a milder version of the original but with added flavours
Ironically the police bought the car off me to take apart to use it in a case, they offered to compensate me and give it back full reassembled but I took this as an opportunity to run away from it and made a few quid.
Basically what I'm saying is that unless you can identify the exact cause of the odour and eliminate it this has the potential to consume you, sometimes it's better to just run away.
I even washed out the heater vents, cleaned wiring looms and anything else I could see or touch.
It still smelled bad only now it was a milder version of the original but with added flavours
Ironically the police bought the car off me to take apart to use it in a case, they offered to compensate me and give it back full reassembled but I took this as an opportunity to run away from it and made a few quid.
Basically what I'm saying is that unless you can identify the exact cause of the odour and eliminate it this has the potential to consume you, sometimes it's better to just run away.
Edited by thetapeworm on Friday 25th July 17:30
LuckyThirteen said:
You'll be needing to take seats and carpets out. Then soak and pressure wash them.
Yes, really
And if the spillage was really bad then you might be needing to clean the sound deadening underneath where whatever it was soaked through.
I've just had to do similar in a VW UP.
Removed it all. Soaked it in a solution of washing powder and anti-bac. Then used a hot pressure washer and hit the lot.
Took a couple of days to dry.
This.Yes, really
And if the spillage was really bad then you might be needing to clean the sound deadening underneath where whatever it was soaked through.
I've just had to do similar in a VW UP.
Removed it all. Soaked it in a solution of washing powder and anti-bac. Then used a hot pressure washer and hit the lot.
Took a couple of days to dry.
Although, on a more general note, its worth building up to it. These are my typical following techniques, in order of aggression:
vacuum
vibrate and vac (good for sand)
dry extraction with a powered brush
'wet' extraction in place (typically G101 spray, then brush, then wet vac, then vac again once dry)
spot cleaning with mini steam cleaner
remove and power wash
Of course, you can do more than one, or them all on difficult areas. Also if you remove the carpet, clean the floor underneath thoroughly. Also, try a number of different varieties of chemicals/liquids to see what works best - different things work for different stains/types of dirt. You shouldn't need to go too aggressive - let the chemicals do the work.
Every now and again, you'll get a "Macbeth" car interior.
normalbloke said:
Surely, after reading this,annd also knowing milk is never to be spilt in a car, the only real option left is to sell the bloody thing.
You can clean anything off a car interior. The only problem is, you might need to spend 30+ hours stripping, cleaning and reassembling it, and its possible to damage (slightly) the fabrics or plastics in doing so. Also of course, you can expose wear which is not cleanable (but might be fixable another way). For example, you can retexture scratches off of plastics such as the dashboard.normalbloke said:
Surely, after reading this,annd also knowing milk is never to be spilt in a car, the only real option left is to sell the bloody thing.
It is, I had a car with split milk and could never get rid of smell.Alternatively find a replacement carpet and foam / felt under insulation
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