How do I remove odor from my car due to water damage?

Question

My car was rained in 7 days ago. The next morning, I used a shop vac to soak up the standing water. I left my windows down and moonroof open with my car in the garage to allow it to air dry. My car smells as if there is something rotten inside. And last night, I noticed some mold growing on the back carpet which I cleaned out.

I have used an entire bottle of Febreze. I've sprinkled "Carpet Fresh" on my floorboard. I left this overnight then vacuumed it out. The odor is still very strong.

Please help!!

Answer 1

1.pour coffee grounds into several individual coffee filters and tie them closed. Place the coffee bags on whatever is harbouring the odour.

2.Sprinkle baking soda over the area and let it sit for a few hours. Then whip out your trusty vacuum cleaner to suck up the soda, finishing the job.

3. Leave a liberal amount of citrus peels in your car or trunk for several days (until the peels are completely desiccated). When you remove them, your odour should be gone or weakened substantially.

4. Vinegar. A bowl of white vinegar, left out overnight, can do a surprisingly good job removing odours.


5.Charcoal yes BBQ charcoal. There's nothing fancy or particularly aesthetically pleasing about charcoal in a bowl, but when you scatter some bowls of charcoal around your car (as long as you're not planning to drive), you'll find that it has absorbed the odour after about a week.

Try some of these remedies guaranteed..good luck

Answer 2

Fabreze only causes fabric to wear out faster. And carpet fresh? What has happened is the padding under the carpet has become soaked and is holding gallons of water that mold is what you let in with all the windows and moonroof open. You may still be able to rescue the carpet by removeing the entire floor covering hang it upside down over a fence in the sun pull all the padding and find an automotive trim shop that has the "JUTE" it is some times called Gray colored carpet padding is made mostly of compressed cotton yarn and scrap fabric. And it is that padding that provides a good place for the mushrooms to grow. Do not use bleach it will eat away the carpet. Replace the carpet padding once the car and the carpet is dry use lots of spray adheasive and everything will smell like new glue.

Answer 3

Ok, the best solution is to get the car into the sun as soon as possible, and leave the windows down so it can air dry.....

You will probably want to remove the carpets as well, to do so you may have to undo the bolts on the front seats because the floor pan is often crinkled similar to a potato chip (look at the floor pan from underneath and you should see what I am talking about).

After removing your carpets you can have then cleaned by a carpet steam cleaner, and leave them to dry.

Also, underneath the carpet there is an underlay, it is usually made from hemp like material, which when wet, stays wet for a long time........ Resulting in a horrible smellllll.

Once the carpets are removed and the underlay is removed then you can place dry BICARB SODA (powder) into a large flat tray and leave it in the vehicle for a few days,

or

use some brand new, dry, kitchen sponges or bread and smother them in vanilla essence that will absorb the horrible smells.

It might be an inconvenience for you to have to go without your vehicle for a few days but this will be your best solution in the long run, otherwise that smell (and mould) is going to continue to grow and grow and grow and grow!

Answer 4

Don't use too much carpet fresh. It covers up the odor but it does nothing to really eliminate it. The best thing you can do is air it out.

My car used to get wet all the time. I would clean it and get rid of the mold then just leave the doors open all night and day the next day. Leaving it in the sun for a few hours with the doors open works. The smell wont go away right away, it takes about 2 or 3 days of this but it works.

Answer 5

the steps
make sure there is no water left in the car. specially under the carpets
clean the carpets and make sure they are dry
apply mold treatment like Micro Ban, work it into the carpet
you will be surprised what the result and the out come.
Don't use coffee or vinegar your car will smell like piss ...

Answer 6

Option 1/.

Do you like prawns?

Distribute a kilo of prawns between the ashtrays, seat cracks and map pockets.

Park car in the sun for 2 weeks.

Problem solved........for about one month at least, till the original smell comes back.


Option 2/.

Involves a certain degree of defeat.
You will need your car-keys, a match, 10 litres of kero and a set of comfortable running shoes.

Danny.

PS. This was just to help you smile through adversity....Glassman has the goods
.

Answer 7

If you open a bag of charcoal and leave it open, this is suppose to help remove odors. You might want to have it professionally cleaned, they can dry it better than you could.

Answer 8

Auto Carpet Underlay

Answer 9

take it to a detail shop they clean your car inside an out and i guarntee you if they do the kindof job on it they do here where i live you will no longer have this problem. it will smell like new. my dad worked in timber and hauled fuel and oil in his car trunk and in his trucks we would take them to our local detail shop and they would clean them and they'd smell like new.

Answer 10

Take it to a repair shop and see what they can do.