Musty smell after cleaning interior seats/carpets?

[Rocko9999]

I recently purchased a Tundra that was well used for construction. The interior was really bad. I used Chemical Guys Fabric Clean, soft drill brush and green Bissell Little Green machine. The seats carpets dried after a few days and after about a week a musty smell appeared. I have used a Mequiars odor bomb, Ozium and have left a couple boxes of baking soda in there. It has helped but there still is a slight must lingering.

Some have recommended spraying white vinegar/water mixture on the seats carpets and allow that to dry, sprinkle baking soda and vacuum. Anyone have any ideas or has anyone been successful eliminating this smell?

https://i.imgur.com/fc1YMPf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jAlRay5.jpg

 

[TTQ B4U]

Two things.

1. Could have been that the fabric and carpet were over-wet. If they weren't dry within 1-2 hours of being done then there was too much water injected.
2. Could also be that either that has happened before and/or there are bacteria in there that was then brought back with the moisture being introduced. Think of it like cleaning up a poorly addressed dog urine stain on carpet. Re-wet it comes back like the dog just peed there again.
3. The windows of the car were not left down for 24hrs. That's key. Even on cars where the seats and carpets I do is dry within a couple of hours, it's important to leave the windows down for a day or so.

I would suggest two things. Use an enzyme based cleaner that will work to destroy the bacteria which is what the smell is coming from. Again, do not over-wet the materials. Use a fan to force dry the interior and leave the windows down of course. 1-2 days after the cleaning thus ensuring everything is dry, use a Chlorine Dioxide Treatment to penetrate the fibers and kill anything that remains. I've posted about it here before. I use Reset Brand but there are others. Check with your local commercial cleaning distributors. Larger reputable ones that sell professional extractors will have it. Reset Chlorine Dioxide | Safely remove odor, mold, mildew, algae

Buy a small battery powered aerator to activate it and speed up the process. Treatment time is only 40 minutes but I usually leave mine once done and removed for several more hours before I air things out.

AutoGeek sells a good enzyme cleaner for Tornadors but it can be used with a direct sprayer.

Be sure to use only a rinse agent in the extractor you have. I use this trio including the rinse agent shown here. There are many different ones to use but most people don't realize carpets need a rinsing agent in them vs shampoo products. The purpose is to balance out the pH levels. The Tornador product above is perfectly nuetral when mixed but you likely still need to neutralize what's already in the materials.

Here's the Reset and aerator in action

 

[Rocko9999]

Thank you. For the enzyme cleaner, would you stick with the 2oz/30oz water ratio?

 

[Desertnate]

[*]The windows of the car were not left down for 24hrs. That's key. Even on cars where the seats and carpets I do is dry within a couple of hours, it's important to leave the windows down for a day or so.
[/LIST]

I find this great advice whenever the interior gets wet for any reason; even getting rained on in a down-pour when I'm quickly getting in/out several times and dragging my wet shoes and jackets across the seats. If I'm parked in the garage I'll open the sunroof and the windows. Out side in the sun I'll at least vent the sun roof and roll down all the windows a bit to get good airflow across the interior.

 

[TTQ B4U]

Thank you. For the enzyme cleaner, would you stick with the 2oz/30oz water ratio?

I don't have the bottle in front of me but I would stick to the instructions. It works really well.

 

[Mike Hoekstra]

I recently purchased a Tundra that was well used for construction. The interior was really bad. I used Chemical Guys Fabric Clean, soft drill brush and green Bissell Little Green machine. The seats carpets dried after a few days and after about a week a musty smell appeared. I have used a Mequiars odor bomb, Ozium and have left a couple boxes of baking soda in there. It has helped but there still is a slight must lingering.

Some have recommended spraying white vinegar/water mixture on the seats carpets and allow that to dry, sprinkle baking soda and vacuum. Anyone have any ideas or has anyone been successful eliminating this smell?

https://i.imgur.com/fc1YMPf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jAlRay5.jpg

Ozone the interior would be my suggestion with or without an enzyme treatment. When wet extracting anything, I make at least 3 dry passes over the area to ensure as much of the fluid is removed. Then set fans on the areas to ensure they dry quickly and eliminate the potential for any mold issues or musty smell. If in the future you try extracting any interior parts again, your carpet or seat should feel like it's almost dry. For comparison, take a rag and soak it, then wring it out as much as you can until water does not come out any longer. That is what your upholstery or carpet should feel like before putting a fan on it to dry.

 

[Rocko9999]

Ozone the interior would be my suggestion with or without an enzyme treatment. When wet extracting anything, I make at least 3 dry passes over the area to ensure as much of the fluid is removed. Then set fans on the areas to ensure they dry quickly and eliminate the potential for any mold issues or musty smell. If in the future you try extracting any interior parts again, your carpet or seat should feel like it's almost dry. For comparison, take a rag and soak it, then wring it out as much as you can until water does not come out any longer. That is what your upholstery or carpet should feel like before putting a fan on it to dry.

Thanks. I don't have access to an ozone machine. I couldn't find the actual culprit of the bad smell-sniffed all the seats, carpet and then found it-passenger footwell. Lifted the floor mat and it smells like bad gym socks. I will try the enzyme treatment and reclean making sure it's 100% dry and Reset Chlorine treatment.

 

[Desertnate]

If it is in the foot well, your cleaning of the carpets might have been a trigger and not the root cause of the odor.

This is a long shot, and no idea if it is even an issue on Tundra's, but I've read plenty of accounts where a vehicle will have issues with some of the exterior water drains getting clogged/disconnected and water ends up pooling in the foot wells. Mold and nastiness follow. Not sure if it is the actual problem, but something to think about.

 

[Rocko9999]

If it is in the foot well, your cleaning of the carpets might have been a trigger and not the root cause of the odor.

This is a long shot, and no idea if it is even an issue on Tundra's, but I've read plenty of accounts where a vehicle will have issues with some of the exterior water drains getting clogged/disconnected and water ends up pooling in the foot wells. Mold and nastiness follow. Not sure if it is the actual problem, but something to think about.

Good point. I have heard of this too. I will investigate. I did use a lot of water when I cleaned them and probably didn't let them dry properly but I will check this out.