Sour Smell In Auto Carpet

[dirtybuck]

Well, over the last few days, I've been rather ambitious and have worked on the interior of my car (02 Cavalier). I still wish there was some way I could take the clear panel off the instrument gauges to get in there and clean out some of the dust and dirt without having to remove the entire dashboard.

(Sound of Indian tom toms in background) Many moons ago (and I do mean MANY), I was running some errands for a friend of mine. He asked me if I would stop at McD's and buy him an iced tea. In going back to where he worked, I had to make a panic stop and the tea landed all over the passenger side floor mat and front/rear carpet (insert cuss words here). In returning home, I tried to sop up as much of the tea as possible with a clean towel and then went over it again with a wet hand towel. The tea dried and made the carpet become matted.

Over the last few months, I've noticed a somewhat "funky" odor coming from that area. I decided yesterday "enough was enough" and took some warm Palmolive laden water, a bit of generic Resolve, a hand towel and scrub brush to the carpet. That water was extremely nasty in appearance when I finished. The rinse water was no better.

I then took the car to a self-serve car wash and used a coin operated vacuum cleaner to get up some of the water that was still in the carpet. I could still smell a bit of the "funk". I went to Walmart and bought some Renuzit Super Odor Neutralizer and sprayed it in those areas. I also took both front and rear mats out and gave them a thorough scrubbing in the bathtub when I got back home.

I went downstairs earlier to open up the windows in the car to speed up the drying process. The carpet is about 98% dry, but the odor still remains. I took a mixture of baking soda and borax and again used my trusty scrub brush to get the stuff as deep down into the carpet as possible. However, I've a feeling this isn't going to work to my advantage.

So, I'm coming to you all on here and asking for advice as to what I might be able to use in getting the remnants of the odor out in case the baking soda/borax concoction doesn't work.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sudsmaster]

It's possible the spilled drink is not the current source of the problem. A lot of cars spring leaks around the windshield and it's possible that in your wet summer area, rains are leaking down into the carpeting, and causing mold and the odors.

A 2002 Chevy might be old enough for these leaks to occur.

To check on this you might try putting some newspapers down on the carpeting under the dash, and also under the carpeting in the same area. Then see if it gets wet again after a rain.

Other than that, sounds like your cleaning methods are thorough.

 

[whirlcool]

The smell you have may be mildew.
Earlier this spring I forgot to put up the drivers side rear window. It rained that night. In the morning the carpet was good and wet. I left the windows down for a few days but even though the carpet was dry the car started to stink. One hot day when the car was closed up I opened the door to get inside to go somewhere. The odor almost killed me. It smelled like wet dog multiplied a thousand times!

So a friend of ours opened a carpet store and I told him what the problem was and he gave me a bottle of some liquid that he said to soak the carpet with and keep the windows down for three days. Sure enough, the odor was completely gone and has never come back. I'll ask him what the name of the stuff was. Any carpet store should carry a similar product.

I think the sugar in the ice tea must have fermented in your carpet!

 

[mixfinder]

The Eggs On You

I once tried to transport an unbaked egg strata dish resting on the passenger's side floor. Needless to say there was wave action and some raw egg and milk got into the carpet. That was New Year's Day and it didn't start to rear its ugly smell until spring when it began warming up. The sulphurous stench took you to your knees. Nothing I tried worked and in desperation I took it to a professional and that was the end of that. In the 70's I bought a car from an estate. The owner had committed suicide in the car using a rifle and he went a couple weeks before being discovered. The car was jinxed and no one wanted it. I bought it for a song and then set about trying to be inside it. I put containers of charcoal, ground coffee and vanilla injected apples under the seats, hung new car fresheners and sprayed cans of Lysol disinfectant spray. I learned to always park it with the windows cracked to prevent cooking a build up of odors. I was never successful in overcoming the aroma and luckily or maybe not so lucky, a car ran a stop light and T-boned the car which totalled it. I got more than I paid because bluebook doesn't have a line items for dead body discounts.

 

[sudsmaster]

bluebook doesn't have a line items for dead body discoun

Too funny... in a sad sort of way...

 

[iheartmaytag]

Mixfinder

When I was still working for a credit union, and as the loan officer/collector I had the honor of recovering cars. One I wished I had not recovered was a fairly new Lexus that the owner killed himself in and was not found for a week. (This was during the summer months so he was quite ripe upon discovery.)

Needless to say, we could not remove the smell from this vehicle. After the insurance company replaced the carpets and most of the interior, they opted to total the car and junk it for parts.

As for the OP, the mildew? odor you are experiencing may be deeper than you are cleaning. Because the Tea more than likely saturate the carpet and the padding below, you may have to use something that can get deeper into the problem.

If you have access to a steam (hot water extraction) cleaner, this may be a place to start at it will allow you to inject hot water into the carpet and pull it back out.
or you may have to go deeper.

I am saying this because when our dog died last December she saturated the carpeting behind her chair. I was told that in order to get the odor out I was going to have to go as deep as the odor went. I was instructed to saturate the carpet down to the pad and beyond with Nature's Miracle and then resist the urge to blot. Let it set for about five minutes and then blot, but leaving it damp so the enzymes had a chance to work. Mess is gone.

 

[dirtybuck]

whirlcool, I think you're absolutely right.

I stopped at one of the self serve car washes on my way home from doing errands earlier and vacuumed out the borax/baking soda mixture. Before coming upstairs I sprayed the Renuzit on those areas again and left the windows down (temp at 4 PM was 87). I'll roll the windows up later and evaluate the situation again.

When I was at Deals yesterday, I did notice a product that got rid of cat/dog urine stains, but don't remember the name of it or if it had enzymes. I'll check it out again when I go back to that area later this week.

I checked out a few of the car washes in town, and not a one does steam cleaning on carpets. They used to at one time, but why they don't now, I'll never know. And I flat out REFUSE to spend 70.00 to have it cleaned. In that case, I'll live with the odor.

I have intentions of cleaning my apartment carpet with a Rug Doctor when I get the funds, so I might as well kill two birds with one stone if the odor remains.

 

[dustin92]

I dont know how well it would work in your case, maybe just spray some directly on the carpet, but I found a product called Ozium, and it is pretty amazing. We live in an area that skunks visit too frequently, and one evening last week, we had the windows closed and one went by, evem with closed windows, the smell permeated the house. Two one- second sprays and about a minute of running the ceiling fans, the smell had disappeared. If it will eliminate skunk odors, it should eliminate rotten tea. It is pricy, $2.99 for a tiny can, but worth it in my opinion. It leaves a fresh lemony smell as well.

 

[frigilux]

I've used Odor Ban (I believe that's what it's called) and had luck getting the scent of vomit and regret out of carpeting (don't ask). Nothing else worked but that. I bought it in the janitorial section of Sam's Club, but I'm sure you can find it other places. I tried diluting it as per directions, but finally just poured it on straight from the gallon jug.

Good luck!

Kelly: The suicide car sounds like a perfect story for This American Life on NPR. That's the sort of story very few people can tell! "I once bought this car that a guy had committed suicide in with a rifle, and..."

 

[whirlcool]

The stuff I got from our carpet store friend was called "Odor B Gone". It really did the trick.

I also agree about Nature's Miracle. It must be left on the area, soaked for at least 24 hours for the enzymes to do their work. I have recommended this stuff to people for years. If they say "It didn't work". It's usually because they put it on the top layer only OR they put it on and immediately took it off.

Odor-B-Gone: The Leader in Odorless, All Natural Odor Elimination

Natural Cat Odor Removal Products for cat odor elimination Cat urine removal Cat pee removal Cat pee cleaner Urine smell remover Cat Pee Carpet Cleaner Where can I buy odor be gone

www.odorbgoneproducts.com

 

[danemodsandy]

Steam Cleaning:

This may or may not be relevant, but if you have a Bissell steam carpet cleaner with an onboard hose (like the ProHeat 2X), attachments are available through the Bissell Website that make steam-cleaning a car interior a breeze. They're different sizes and shspes, including a crevice tool, and you can get into all the tight spaces a car has inside.

The Bissell Little Green Machine's tool is also good for cars.

 

[stan]

Regular

Lysol spray!

Had a cat get inside my 76 years ago, and pissed or sprayed! some guy told me Lysol spray would get it out, and I thought, "that's too easy" but it worked! (Regular, not any other)

 

[whirlcool]

I agree with the "Little Green Machine". When we bought this house it had brand new carpet. Within a few days two of our dogs got sick and one of them laid down a path of diarrhea from one side of the den to the other, down the hall and into our bedroom. I thought the three day old carpet was finished. But we went out and bought the little green machine and all was saved. When the carpet dried after cleaning you'd never know the "accident" happened.

When using the Green Machine just make sure that you "rinse" the area well with some clean water with a little bit of vinegar in it. This will restore the original softness to the carpet when it dries.

 

[sudsmaster]

Come to think of it... the owner of the house I now live in, died in the family room.

After I bought it, I removed all the wall to wall carpeting in the house, including the family room (refinished the hardwood floors where they were found). I never did see any sign of staining where the woman died (I was told she passed away watching TV). Interestingly, it's the law that a prospective buyer must be told if anyone has died in the home for a certain number of years before the sale.

If I'm lucky, I'll also die here, without having to suffer the ignominy of an inmate in a skilled nursing facility

 

[gansky1]

That Odo-Ban stuff is great, we use it in buildings all the time. It's a disinfectant and has a pleasant, but somewhat strong odor. You know you've been cleaning. It's relatively inert so it can be used in a spray bottle as an air freshener, etc. too.

Getting moisture out of a car interior is pretty tough, leaving windows down for as long as possible will help but the guys are right, you have to get the carpet cleaned as deep as the spill went.

I've used that Nature's Miracle, a great product and they make a whole line of products for different applications. I've only used the original stuff, but with great success. I thought you were supposed to put it on and let it stay - no blotting - until it was dry, for the enzymes to work. It's been a while and I'm sure each surface is unique.

 

[MrX]

You basically need to kill the bacteria / fungus causing the mildew smell.
That's why the disinfectant spray worked.

Put a dehumidifier in the car for a couple of nights and park it in your garage. You can usually hire dehumidifies at tool hire places if you don't have one yourself. Otherwise borrow one

Close the doors and run the cable through an almost closed window. Leave the dehumidifier running and it should totally dry the interior nd carpets.

If the smell continues, get your car professionally valletted (cleaned)!

 

[iheartmaytag]

Nature's Miricle

First I cleaned it with the steam cleaner to remove the excess urine. Then Saturate, let sit, blot excess, but leave damp. Let dry naturally can take up to a day. In my case when Princess died I used about half the bottle to saturate clear to the pad, then left it for a bit, it was over 5 minutes. Then blotted the excess but it was still damp to the touch. Then I covered it with a towel and left it that night. Removed the towel the following morning and let air dry.

A few days later I cleaned again with the steam cleaner. Haven't had the Pee-Pee smell return.

BTW--it will also work if your dog gets into a "skunk accident" too.

 

[whirlcool]

But the bottle instructions read not to let Nature's Miracle contact skin as it can cause an irritation. I wouldn't use it on a dog for any reason.

No, you put it on LET IT SIT FOR 24 hours and then blot up any excess. That comes right from the bottle.

 

[iheartmaytag]

"can"

Can, Could, Might, Possibly. These are words of caution, not an absolute.
Actually many cleaners we used "can" cause irritation. Shampoo, Windex, peroxide.

In the event of a skunk spray you can also use permanent neutralizing solution, this too can cause irritation, but it may be better than smelling a skunk soaked rover for a few months.

What I did worked, and appears to be a matter of semantics it worked. Just follow label directions. If you happen to find an old bottle of Lysol, don't put it up your patookie as it used to be suggested on the label; it's poison.