how to get smell out of car footwell carpet?

[Harold Davis]

Hello,

Apologies for multi-posting, but I realised after posting this to uk.rec.cars.misc that I'd be likely also to get some knowledgeable answers in uk.d-i-y.

***

Recently my car was stuck in a ditch over a weekend and mud got into the front passenger footwell. Since then, I have cleaned the fitted carpet using spray-on "Carplan" car upholstery cleaner and also "Rug Doctor" carpet odour remover, both times scrubbing it into the carpet with a brush. I have unclipped the casing at the side, bent the carpet up, and cleaned and dried under it with rag and tissue paper, and I have left a fan heater on in the car for hours to ensure the footwell is completely dry, including both the carpet itself and under it. But there's still a pong.

Advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance!

***

Harry

[The Natural Philosopher]

Febreze actually works, if used long enough BUT you should try and wet shampoo the carpets and get the water out and then run with the heater full on for a bit.

[DerbyBorn]

Is it the sound deadening under the carpet that is also damp?

[Tim Watts]

[Tim Watts]

I had a similar problem when my niece came to stay for a few weeks - she suffered from hideous car sickness with the inevitable results.

After a good wet shampoo, I was recommended this:

Not that exact fragrance - they do many. I picked a light fruity one. It made the car smell fruity for about 4 months, after which the puky smells it was masking had finally aired out.

Or you could try rubbing bicarbonate of soda into the carpet - leave for few hours and hoover out. You'll need a decent amount - say 1/2lb or so

- be liberal. It does seem to suck out odours.

[alan_m]

Are you sure that it's just the front passenger foot well? The mud may have been the obvious sign but smelly ditch water may have migrated to the drivers side or to the rear.

Try a large bag of cat litter to absorb the smell and possibly to help remove moisture - lay down some newspaper first.

[Brian Gaff]

Is it actually the carpet, or is there some place, maybe under the seat where the muck is trapped inside a cavity? Not sure how one would get at such places, but it was always a problem one got in cars of old, which tended to have holes in the floor. Cars such as minis and cortinas of the 1960s. Brian

[Adrian Caspersz]

Add Neutradol to that list, stocked by PoundLand. I find it pretty effective drawing out smells near old second-hand furniture.

It's a bad thing old car smells...

Back in the 80s, I used to own an ex-driving instructors car that apart from the welded in dual control peddles (disconnected, but fascinating interest for my passengers) also had the feature of an over excessive application of Indian Joss stick fragrance, as if that was done either to clam nervous L-drivers or to mask events following their emergency stops!

I eventfully got rid of the wreak, the gearbox selector and clutch were shot, rust was fast claiming the rest of the mashed chassis, and fuel hoses sadly leaking petrol in too many flammable places.

Car from hell....

[newshound]

If you spill milk in a footwell, you have to replace all the carpets. DAMHIK.

[Chris Whelan]

[...]

Did it in a hire car once. :-(

Chris

[Tim Watts]

How much did that cost you?

And please stop with the clever "Reply-To:" header - it's irritating! Choose an appropriate group to post to!

[Harold Davis]

DerbyBorn wrote in news:XnsA6BDD34C7A553TrainJPlantntlworldc@81.171.92.236:

Thank you to everyone who has replied.

Yes, DerbyBorn. Sopping wet, I'd call it. After picking up the carpet, I first thought what a nice rubbery layer underneath, that water wouldn't penetrate. Today I pressed on it and water came out of a hole in it. I have undone a securing bolt but it is very tight and I have only been able to make a gap a few inches wide towards the door. Its foam layer is soaking wet - yuck! I have jammed a hairdryer in the gap, and also a metal bottle to hold it open other than with the hairdryer itself and so that there is somewhere for the hot air from the hairdryer to come out. I'm checking every so often that nothing is getting too hot.

I am fairly sure (well, I hope) that the only moisture is in the footwell itself. The lowest of the four walls to the footwell is under the seat and it is at least 4 inches high. (The seats swivel.) There must be some way to fix the problem if I don't manage to dry all the foam with the hairdryer. If necessary, couldn't a garage cut a square of the sound deadening out, dry it, and stick it back in with duct tape? Even if I were to try to sell the car - which I won't - the first thing that anyone is going to want to do is sort out the foul smell. It's worth a few hundred pounds to me to fix.

Harry

[The Natural Philosopher]

1/. Many insurance firms simply write off cars that have been flooded as the chances of contamination that would kill a snowflake generati0n at 50 yards is very high.

2/. What you need to do is wash out all the crappy water and that means getting everything even wetter. Toss a bucket if water with some carpet shampoo in the footwell and scrub.

3/. Then using a wet and dry vacuum SHOULD essentially 'shampoo' the carpet and underlay. These aren't too expensive to buy, and can be hired.

4/. If the car is in use daily, full air-con, and full heat should shove de-humidified hot air in, and that will dry stuff out in a few trips. Otherwise set up a fan heater in the car with the windows cracked and let it do its stuff.

5/. Any lingering pongs use 'febreze' on. It really does work. Doggy smells, tobacco - gets them in the end though several applications are usually needed.

[Harold Davis]

The Natural Philosopher wrote in news:o0d2b0$mr5$ [e-mail]:

Thanks for this. As regards the carpet, I've already scrubbed with carpet shampoo and also with a sodium bicarbonate and vinegar mix and more or less dried out with a fan heater. It doesn't pong so bad now. I'm hoping that when it's totally dry vacuuming and Febreze will be enough. It's the foam underlayer of the deadening that is the bigger problem. I am not sure how to get to all of it - the deadening is still very tight, and I have little experience in undoing things on cars. Also it doesn't seem as though it would stand up to scrubbing if I poured a load more water under there. Is it much different from the kind of carpet underlay that's made from bonded bits of foam rubber? Wasn't familiar with wet and dry vacuums, but am checking them out. They're basically hoovers that can suck up both ordinary solid dirt and liquid through hoses, right? Thanks again!

Harry

[newshound]

If you have the really thick moulded-t0-fit foam underlay you have to take the seats, carpets, and underlay out completely to get everything dried out. This is based on experience with Citroen CXs which have a very thick moulded underlay that can get completely saturated. Mind you, that was often necessary on the CX because the water would get in from a rusty floor (or wheel arch), and the only hope of fixing that was either to have a replacement welded in place or, if it was not too bad, to "tank" the whole of the interior of the footwell with fibreglass. This could buy you two or three years, by which time something else would probably write the car off.

[Andrew]

If you have a dry garage that is fairly well sealed then put a fan heater blowing hot air under the car angled up at the wet footwell.

Open car windows and leave to dry out.

Old fashioned tubular greenhouse heaters might do the trick, but it all depends on having a dry, well sealed garage with power.

A dehumidifier might assist too.