Deoderizing....URGENT!

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98LowRanger

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So a customer dropped off his 2002 Explorer with me this afternoon and it has a very STRONG moldy/wet dog smell in the interior. I have never had to rid a car of a foul odor before so all I have is Chemical Guys New Car smell spray. I fear that even after I deep clean the interior and use the CG spray, this odor will still remain. I went ahead and ordered the Dakota 3 pack odor bomb from AG, but it probably won't get to me till Friday and I have to return the car Thursday evening. You also can't upgrade the shipping to air (overnight) due to it being an aerosol.

So I am leaving all the doors open tonight (it's in the garage) and I threw 3 fabric softener sheets on the carpet. Is there anywhere local that sells odor bombs? I simply do not have the time to run to different stores trying to find one.
 
Masking the smell doesn't fix. GC claims to have "odor elminators", so it may help some. The dryer sheets won't do anything but cover it up too.

Shampooing all the fabric is your best bet. Removing the odor is best way to get ride of it. Kinda of like swirl marks, wax=air fresheners as polish=shampooing(cleaning). It gets to be a PIA when the headliner needs cleaning, that's my least favorite part of fabric cleaning.

Leaving the doors open will help if there's moisture that needs to be dried. But if mold if growing, it won't help.
 
98LowRanger said:
So a customer dropped off his 2002 Explorer with me this afternoon and it has a very STRONG moldy/wet dog smell in the interior. I have never had to rid a car of a foul odor before so all I have is Chemical Guys New Car smell spray. I fear that even after I deep clean the interior and use the CG spray, this odor will still remain. I went ahead and ordered the Dakota 3 pack odor bomb from AG, but it probably won't get to me till Friday and I have to return the car Thursday evening. You also can't upgrade the shipping to air (overnight) due to it being an aerosol.

So I am leaving all the doors open tonight (it's in the garage) and I threw 3 fabric softener sheets on the carpet. Is there anywhere local that sells odor bombs? I simply do not have the time to run to different stores trying to find one.
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You will need an enzyme to kill the odor. Try calling some janitorial supply stores in your area.
 
Pet stores usually carry a solution in a gallon size that have the enzymes to rid the smell for good.
 
About the only success I have had is to do a complete interior detail, floor mats come out and scrubbed, headliner wiped down with Folex, everything steamed, and this is VERY IMPORTANT: Replace the "In-Cab Filter". After all that, run the air with a Ozone Generator in the car (windows cracked about a half inch) for up to 20 minutes.

If necessary, grab some tools and start removing seats, don't forget to do the trunk as well. Take the spare out, open compartments, don't forget the seat belts - I mean everything.
 
Rsurfer said:
You will need an enzyme to kill the odor. Try calling some janitorial supply stores in your area.
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The enzyme/biological approach is but one option. There are chemical solutions which can do the job every bit as well. If I am not mistaken, car pro used to do one (though I appreciate this will not help the OP).

The first step you should take is to ensure that you kill any bacteria which may be causing the problem. This is easily done but you need to get a bactericial product, not just an APC (most detailing APCs are not bactericidal at all).
 
Last smelly car I had I steam cleaned, Dakota odor bomb and duragloss 371(absorb it). Customer contacted me a couple weeks later stating the car still smelled great! You can buy the Megs odor bomb and DG 371 locally.
 
parttimer said:
I believe megs has an odor bomb, or check lowes/home depot for odo-ban. Here is the AG megs odor bomb: Meguiars Air Re-Fresher Odor Eliminator

Where are you at, maybe a fellow geek has some to spare.
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I have used the Meguiar's product. After about a month and half...all odors are still gone.

My 'smell' came from an old chunk of fabric (was clean, but had a 'grandmothers house' smell) in the back of my truck over a winter 'sleep.' Never could get rid of the smell, but seems the Meg's stuff has worked as advertised.

Just my 2¢...

Bill
 
You definitively need to do a thorough interior cleaning including vacuum, steaming all surfaces, shampooing (not necessarily in this order if you prefer), and at the end, you will use the CG smell neutralizer (dilute it 1:1 with water), close the doors and call it a day.

However, like stated by others, cabin air filter should be evaluated as well.

Just 0.02$ to add to other's thoughts.

Kind Regards.
 
Run and get a gallon of odo-ban from sams club. Use as directed. Should work fine in the absence of an automotive specific product.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using AG Online
 
Odoban works pretty well. I have been spraying it in a moldy basement and smoked in house and it seems to be working fine.
 
I used the So2Pure from AG and it is the only thing that I have found to get rid of smoke smell. I really wasn't expecting much but this stuff impressed me.
 
This problem might already be solved as this post was from yesterday and all the advice i could have given has already been mentioned.

But here is a quick tip i learned from a Master Tech at Mercedes. If the root of odor is coming from the A/C vents, with the A/C off spray Lysol into the vents. Let it sit for a few min then turn the A/C on max with the re-circulation button on. Open the glove box and spray behind there if you dont know where the cabin filter is as this is the most common place. With the windows rolled up leave the A/C on and close the doors and run for about 5 min.

My parents hummer smelled like cigarette terribly even after i shampooed everything. I tried this and it really helped. Thought id share for future reference.
 
Shampooing and then do an ozone treatment. If you don't have an ozone generator buy the Dakota Odor Bombs. They are great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
scrubs147 said:
About the only success I have had is to do a complete interior detail, floor mats come out and scrubbed, headliner wiped down with Folex, everything steamed, and this is VERY IMPORTANT: Replace the "In-Cab Filter". After all that, run the air with a Ozone Generator in the car (windows cracked about a half inch) for up to 20 minutes.

If necessary, grab some tools and start removing seats, don't forget to do the trunk as well. Take the spare out, open compartments, don't forget the seat belts - I mean everything.
Click to expand...


This ^ is the only real method to use.
The convenient shortcuts just don't work.
A full wash and extraction on the carpet, seats (if fabric), the carpet on the door panels, steaming the head liner. and use one of the foaming AC duct cleaners if needed.
Then the ozone treatment.
I have used those methods on a filthy mom-mobile fouled with spilled milk and leaky diapers. It took an entire weekend, and several fans blowing warm dry air into the interior even after the ozone treatment but in the end it had no odor at all.
 
Thanks for all the tips guys!

Just wanted to update you guys on how it turned out. I started by shampooing the carpet from front to back including the carpet on the back 2 rows of seats. I don't have an extractor (REALLY want one after this detail) so I had to do it the old fashioned way....spray cleaner on carpet, brush, wipe carpet with towel. I repeated this process until I was getting very little dirt on my white terry cloths. After just shampooing the carpet I thought the smell was noticeably better. I then thoroughly cleaned the door panels and all hard plastic surfaces with 1Z Cockpit cleaner and a brush. When I got to the AC vents I shot some steam down them. I used a combination of steam and Folex on the leather seats and leather inserts on the doors. The headliner had small particles and stains so I vacuumed it and removed a few of the spots. After all this the smell was nearly gone. I luckily got my Dakota car bomb in time so I decided to give the "new car scent" a try. Rather then waste the whole can, I decided to just spray it inside (mostly in the direction of the headliner since that was about the only area I didn't FULLY clean). I was very pleased with how it came out. The Dakota car bomb is very strong and lasted till the next day (owner agreed to let me have till the next day since I got so far behind with the interior) with little signs of fading away.
 
I would have cleaned the headliner as that will be the factor that you will look out when the smell returns. A lot of the musty mildew odors come from the HVAC system. Mostl likely that will have to be cleaned in more depth.
 
Urine has salts that do not dissolve in water.

Steaming cleaning may reactivate the ammonia in the salts making it smell worse.

Sometimes steam cleaning won't make it worse but won't make it better either.

It is also likely the urine has penetrated into pad.

Since you don't have experience removing urine I'd pass. Recommend replacement of carpet and pad.
 
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