Detail shop use foul smell water to "steam" wash my seats... how to deal with it? so worked up about this.

B

Bluejayz

New member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
I went to a detail shop for a car wash few days ago, and they reeled me in the so-called "steam cleaning" package.

I saw there was no steam at all. Just a vacuum machine that spray some water on my cloth seat, and then suck the water out.The water they sprayed had kind of sour and foul smell, and the water was not even hot. (Because they sprayed some on the panel, I smelled it, and it's bad)

My car is 1 year old only, and the seats are all-new and doesn't smell at all. But after the work is done, the car is musty like rotten egg(not that strong but it does smell like that)


Then I called the store manager to investigate in this. Here's what he said: "Because I was asking not to use any detergent for the steaming(yes I did, because I think my car is new and I have kids in car everyday and dont want it to have any chemical), the staff use a back-up extractor to clean my car, he filled in tap water in the machine, but the water did smell a little foul and sour after sprayed out, maybe it's because the machine haven't been use that much and the pipe is not clean or damp that caused this."

and at the end, he offered me $500 compensation for this.

What I would like to know is, if you guys have any idea, what is causing the water foul? Could it just be because of damp? or could it be something else as some dirty stuff from the previous cleaning?

And how can I make the smell and the potential contamination go away? What detail service do I need?

I am those super germophobe kind of guy who wipes my phone everyday before I go to bed... So i am very worked up about this...

Thanks in advance.
 
It is very likely that there was residual water left in the older, unused extractor.
That water had been sitting long enough that algae, mold, or even pond scum had grown in it.
I would find another detailer that will clean your fabric with steam or hot water and extract the reside. Probably several times. There is absolutely no excuse for not maintaining your equipment. He should have stopped using it as soon as he smelled the funk.
I have never had to extract mold type odor and residue from fabric seats but I have had to remove years of heavy tobacco use. I used Folex and many, many hot water rinses but in the end all the smoke smell was and is gone. I can't imagine that the odor problem you have could be as bad as five years of three packs a day :eek:
 
:iagree: TOTALLY!!!

If you live in an area that still has sunshine and warm temps, you can try and just leave all the door open and let it air out.

Meguiar's has a great aerosol air re-freshener you can give a go.

Bill
 
oldmodman said:
It is very likely that there was residual water left in the older, unused extractor.
That water had been sitting long enough that algae, mold, or even pond scum had grown in it.
I would find another detailer that will clean your fabric with steam or hot water and extract the reside. Probably several times. There is absolutely no excuse for not maintaining your equipment. He should have stopped using it as soon as he smelled the funk.
I have never had to extract mold type odor and residue from fabric seats but I have had to remove years of heavy tobacco use. I used Folex and many, many hot water rinses but in the end all the smoke smell was and is gone. I can't imagine that the odor problem you have could be as bad as five years of three packs a day :eek:
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your reply.
I live in Canada, so I have hard time to dry the interior. Anyways, I really want to clean all this up, should I have multiple hot water extraction and steam to clean all the substance? now it's kinda dry but still has somewhat unpleasant smell in the cabin.

What I am concerned about is not the odor itself, it's actually the substance that cause the smell.. and futhermore the potential substance(Chemicals or other toxic stuff) that doesn't really smell.. I don't just want the odor to go away or just cover it with perfume that just hiding the real issue...
 
BillE said:
:iagree: TOTALLY!!!

If you live in an area that still has sunshine and warm temps, you can try and just leave all the door open and let it air out.

Meguiar's has a great aerosol air re-freshener you can give a go.

Bill
Click to expand...

Thanks, what I am concerned about is not the odor itself, it's actually the substance that cause the smell.. dont want to just cover it with air products
 
There is no excuse for this. Im sorry OP i feel bad for ya. That is utterly disgusting.
 
I would get a professional to shampoo the seats and carpet again and leave the doors open (lights off) and let the interior dry. I worked at a car dealer and the detail shop would clean the trade ins and soak the carpets and seats. Then the detail shop would park the car on the lot in 90 degree heat with the doors shut and the windows would be wet on the inside. If the car was left on the lot for days without being opened, the car would have a terrible odor and was almost impossible to get the smell out
 
Needs to be steamed, completely dried, and an anti microbial like Drivepur Shok applied. Odo-ban would work also. The smell is from bacteria, hate to tell you that as a germaphobe. No complex fix just need steamed and chemically treated.

Edit... this was really false advertising as well. Extraction and steam cleaning are apples and oranges.
 
VP Mark said:
Needs to be steamed, completely dried, and an anti microbial like Drivepur Shok applied. Odo-ban would work also. The smell is from bacteria, hate to tell you that as a germaphobe. No complex fix just need steamed and chemically treated.

Edit... this was really false advertising as well. Extraction and steam cleaning are apples and oranges.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your reply!

Is steaming enough to get rid of the substance? of course baterica can be killed.. But I dont want just the water evaporated but the substance left inside the seats.. also they sprayed some water on the panels..AC...roof... basically stains everywhere in the interior....

In your profession judgement, could it be becasue the water contains the substance from preivous cleaned cars? I saw they have pick-up trucks, and people threw up cars... or It's just some aged water in pipes?..
 
Real Riders said:
I would get a professional to shampoo the seats and carpet again and leave the doors open (lights off) and let the interior dry. I worked at a car dealer and the detail shop would clean the trade ins and soak the carpets and seats. Then the detail shop would park the car on the lot in 90 degree heat with the doors shut and the windows would be wet on the inside. If the car was left on the lot for days without being opened, the car would have a terrible odor and was almost impossible to get the smell out
Click to expand...

Thanks for your informaiton.

I am having trouble to find a real good detailer in my neigborhood(Toronto).
There's very little reviews I could find in Yelp, and not that many people talk about it in local forums.
 
If you are worried about drying the interior. Can you park the car inside a garage for a day or two?
I have always had very good luck by rolling the windows down and putting a couple of box fans in the car, blowing on the carpet or seats. They were bone dry to the touch in four hours, but i left them running all weekend anyway.
 
JHL88 said:
There is no excuse for this. Im sorry OP i feel bad for ya. That is utterly disgusting.
Click to expand...

I know! Guess that's why the manager offered me $500 for compensation, he doesnt want me to talk about it in local forums.

However, I don't care if he offered me $10,000, all I want is to know if the seats are still clean, safe for my families.
 
Bluejayz said:
Thanks, do you have any recommendation for like, a more common products that I can get in major supermarkets?

I live in Canada, many products are not available here.
Click to expand...

have a look at oldetownautospa.ca, he's close to Toronto (niagara on the lake) and he has a lot of odor eliminators in stock, had lots of success with his Fogit kit!
 
I doubt it had anything from previous cars.

Extractors are notoriously nasty machines. When I had one even with regular cleanings the water tanks and hoses got nasty. Without proper maintenance water left in the clean water tank alone would begin to petrified within days, not to mention the hoses.

When I say steamed I mean completely steamed including all hard surfaces. If you are smelling bacterial contamination then it is all over the vehicle not just where the water was sprayed.
 
Bluejayz said:
Thanks, what I am concerned about is not the odor itself, it's actually the substance that cause the smell.. dont want to just cover it with air products
Click to expand...

Meg's Air-Refresher is actually more than a odor masking product. It actually removes the smell.

Reason I mentioned it, I had the same kind of 'smell' in my truck (long story) for a couple of years. I tried everything I could, darn odor just wouldn't go away.

Tried the Meg's product in Aug, as of yesterday...still no hint of that musty smell.

For $6 or so, it's worth a try. Sure won't hurt anything-IMHO.

Bill
 
VP Mark said:
I doubt it had anything from previous cars.

Extractors are notoriously nasty machines. When I had one even with regular cleanings the water tanks and hoses got nasty. Without proper maintenance water left in the clean water tank alone would begin to petrified within days, not to mention the hoses.

When I say steamed I mean completely steamed including all hard surfaces. If you are smelling bacterial contamination then it is all over the vehicle not just where the water was sprayed.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for your reply!

I am not very good at english, if you say you doubt there's anything from previous cars, so why would the water tank become dirty after using? Does it mean the water it sucked back is going back to the water tank, and spray out from there again?

How does this machine work anyway?

Thank you!!!
 
BillE said:
Meg's Air-Refresher is actually more than a odor masking product. It actually removes the smell.

Reason I mentioned it, I had the same kind of 'smell' in my truck (long story) for a couple of years. I tried everything I could, darn odor just wouldn't go away.

Tried the Meg's product in Aug, as of yesterday...still no hint of that musty smell.

For $6 or so, it's worth a try. Sure won't hurt anything-IMHO.

Bill
Click to expand...
Thank you for your recommandation..

I would definately try it. However, for a super germophobe and paranoid... I keep thinking there's some dirty stuff left in the seats... I even thought about replace the seat or get another car...Am I just too paranoid?
 
Bluejayz said:
Thanks again for your reply!

I am not very good at english, if you say you doubt there's anything from previous cars, so why would the water tank become dirty after using? Does it mean the water it sucked back is going back to the water tank, and spray out from there again?

How does this machine work anyway?

Thank you!!!
Click to expand...

Extractors have a clean water tank and a dirty water tank. Once the water is injected from the clean water tank it is sucked into the dirty water tank.

The reason why the water would be dirty is because even if it is in the clean water tank if it set for a long time it becomes stale and begins to stink.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top