Bad smell in car

[tikelz10]

Hi Guys.. i hope you can help me...

My GF owns a 01 Toyota Corolla. One day it was hailing so she rain outside and put blankets over the roof and clamped the ends down using the windows. From what she told me, water went inside the car and now there is a really bad smell.. (It even sticks to us after we get out)

We took it to the car wash and they detailed it etc.. it had a decent smell for a week or so but now the smell has started to come back.. i tried using the Meguiars Odour remover.. i think its the orange bottle.. but it hasnt removed teh smell.. Any ideas on what i can do? I think teh smell is trapped on teh seats.. but after 30 seconds or so i become immune to the smell...

Would seat covers do the trick? lol

any help would be great.. ill try anything

[Mort Corey]

Re: Bad smell in car

Sounds like mold. An ozone generator "might" do the trick....otherwise it's time to replace the fabric(s).

Mort

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bad smell in car

Mort's has a good suggestion, check with your local detail shops to see if anyone offers Ozone Odor Removal and talk to them and see if they think this procedure will work, if not then you need to get the odor removal product onto the odor molecules and sometimes that's impossible due to where they are located, for example inside the foam inside the seat, thus the only sure fire way to get rid of the odor is to replace the foam which means replacing the seat.

That's a tough one....

[Derrick]

Re: Bad smell in car

Well this problem will be like getting the smell out of a smokers car. Its possible ( sometimes ) but it is a long and hard process. Everything will need to be cleaned including the seat belts, carpet, seats, headliner ect.. By now the smell has probably sat and saturated everything. You will need to do more than just clean the surface of these things. Like the seats are they leather or cloth ect..? if they are a cloth you will need to use a good cleaner and really saturate them and then use an extractor to pull it all out. Using a shampoo and scrubbing the surface of seats and carpets will not be enough you will have to really get to everything and under the carpets by saturating them and extracting and this process may need to be done a few times. I use a mixture of Oxiclean and Megs Quick Out for my shampoo and extracting but as long as you are using a good carpet and upholstery cleaner with odor eliminating properties it should work just fine and you can use the same process on the seat belts. Just apply the cleaner to them and let it soak into them then extract. Of course the leather, plastic, rubber, ect.. does not need to be saturated and extracted these you will just want to give a good rub down with APC. Last when working on the headliner remember you dont want to saturate it because that can ruin it. Saturating can get to the clue and cause them to start to hang. You will want to get a good soft cloth preferably a microfiber and what i use is the Megs Quick Out foam and lightly blot the headliner with a good amount of foam on your rag lightly working the product on the surface. It will take a while but it is needed. Finally stick a good air freshner in there and hopefully this will take care of your problem. unfortunatly some times the water has caused mold and has gotten deep in the seats and carpet which makes it almost impossible to remove

[tikelz10]

Re: Bad smell in car

thanks for your suggestions.. just confirming.. the headliners.. is that the head rest?

The seats are cloth..

Thank you once again.. i will give this a go :|

[AeroCleanse]

Re: Bad smell in car

You could also try and find a place that has a true steam cleaner, the high temp should kill off anything if done right.

[Derrick]

Re: Bad smell in car

thanks for your suggestions.. just confirming.. the headliners.. is that the head rest?

The seats are cloth..

Thank you once again.. i will give this a go :|

No the headliner would be the material on the roof of the car directly above your head while in the seat.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Bad smell in car

What all got wet? Was the carpet wet? If it was I would pull it all up and make sure its all dry under it. Most carpet has alot of padding under it that will hold water and eventually cause rust in the floor boards.

I would pull all the seats and carpet out and wash those good. Go from there.

[tikelz10]

Re: Bad smell in car

Thanks will also try the above recommended... appreciate it

[CARSGroup]

Re: Bad smell in car

Hi,
First see if you can check under the carpet for standing water or moisture. You can do this by removing the plastic/metal moulding on the door sills and reaching underneath.(there is usually just plastic clips or screws) If there is excessive moisture you will need to dry this first.There is a new product on the market that works great for tough odors in cars - you can check it out at www.odorscience.net - we have been testing it for about a year and it works.