smell removal
 

what methods other than febreeze and air fresheners do you guys use to remove smells in cars. i picked up an 85 gsl that had some mice and its awful. i'v tried the febreeze and some air fresheners and no luck:( i vaccumed the car and wiped it down and its bad. any help would be appreciated.

Search for the source of the smell and remove it, ideas include under the bins, under the spare wheel, inside the frame, inside the air cleaner, and more.

If I was a mouse, I'd find a cozy spot under the center console...look there.

well, that would be great but the little things shit and pissed everywhere. i vaccumed the turds up and dont exactly know where they pissed.

Rent a household steam cleaner, buy a shitload of cleaning fluid and go to town on a sunny day, leave doors and windows open to let it dry, then buy a can of "New Car Smell" lol

replace the carpet and insolation.

Remove the source of the smell. keep the windows down as often as you can. hit with febreze every so often and wait.


I had a rat palace under my drivers side storage bin when I got my car. it's now about 3 years sence then and I smell no more rat piss...................

Here's how I'd go about it.

Pull the seats ( do them outside of the car), pull the carpets, remove the interior trim below the dash, from the doors, from the hatch area.

Now with the car down to moslty paint and metal wipe down the inside with a bleach and water mixture or your favorite cleaner. This will get all the residue that soaked through carpets etc off the painted and metal surfaces.

Next do the steam clean thang on the carpets. Take all of the interior peices and wipe them with a cleaning solution. Make sure and test to make sure the solution doesn't harm or fade any colors or dyes.

All thats left is the seats, maybe new covers or strip them and completely rebuild with new foam and covers.

Old cars == funky smells. I know mine has a kind of musty odor but its not so bad that I want to do all of this yet :-)

You should be careful when cleaning rodent droppings and areas of infestation. There is risk of nasty diseases including plague and Hantavirus which can spread through the air. Disinfect before vacuuming, and read the CDC recommendations about cleanup.

thak you for the advice. i got my hands on a bissell "big green machine" no instructions on how to use it or what type of cleaner is required. it'll be internet searching time.

The little buggers love the air ductwork (heater/AC, etc.). Start pulling that stuff out from under the dash and give them a good cleaning. All other advice given is also good, but I think the vents and ductwork are your best bets for locating the nest.

You could also check the faq section for "rat's nest removal". lol. :)

Follow what's already been said. Find the source, and get rid of it. No amount of Febreeze can cover up urine-soaked interior bits... I hope this isn't too distressing, but here's my mouse story:

I had serious infestation in my '7 when it was stored for a period of 5 years. I found and removed the nests from behind the bin area, and vacuumed and washed the inside of the car completely. During the 2hr drive home, I noticed the fan wasn't blowing much air, and 'fuzz' popped out of the vents periodically (big clue there!!). When home, I completely stripped the interior, vacuumed and washed the interior metal, and replaced the carpetting. Those little buggers made nests everywhere: bins area, under seats, inside ducts/heater box (found a family with babies in there!!!), in the tail-light area... It's fresh now, but that was a pile of work.

When it was removed from storage, there was also a fresh bullet hole in the door, and a possum living on top of the engine. I found the kid that caused the hole, and got him to shoot the possum. Earlier that spring he had shot against the barn, and didn't realize his bullet went right thru the wood, and into my car!

well, i did find the nest. im hoping its the only one. it was under the spare tire. the little devils chewed the sound deadening from around the rear speakers and made a nest with it. the bin areas are ok. they had chewed a tiny hole in the carpet behind the passenger seat and i cleaned that mess. i guess thats what you get when you pull a car out of a barn. and a car that had sat in an open field for two years.

I guess that's why the old timers always put rat poison in cars for storage. That way, you only have to find the bodies... :(

As per the above, be very carefull. When I cleaned mice out of my attic it was recommended to wear a full respirator (which I did). It just isn't worth potentially dying for. It is carried in the feces when they are dry - the dust goes into the air and you inhale it. Any cleaning you do, at the very least, make sure to completely wet down the area first.

Now that you;ve found the nest, I would remove the rear carpet and soak it with the hose, then clean it, then flip it over and clean the back. With any luck, that will remove your smell. Truly the best thing to do is simply get rid of the rear carpet and replace it.