well i didn't get much reply in the general forum (but thanks to those who did ). my max has this wierd lingering smell that i can't get rid of. it doesn't stink or anything...it's just there. most likely cause was that massive flood houston experienced back in 2001. my carpet was soaked and was allowed to air dry naturally. i was wondering if that ionic breeze thing by sharper image really works. does anyone have one in their max? if so, does it work well to get rid of odors? any other ideas to get rid of the odor?

 

I don't think people spend $300 to put that thing in their car, it's for home use. It gets rid of bacteria and stuff so the odor might go away or it might not. Get some apple scented lysol spray and go to work...

 

well they have this model for the car. like 40 bucks and goes into the cigarette lighter. i doubt anyone would leave the large house unit in their car hehe



won't the lysol just mask the odor?

 

I think those air "refreshing" products will not work that well. It's only a temp solution. You have to get rid of the root cause. Especially if you have fabric seats.

You mention flood. There is your root cause. I suggest shampoo/wash your carpets and if you're up for it wash out the liners of your car since they are fabric also. And dry with heat gun or hair dryer. If you let it sit and air dry it will stink again.

If you have fabric seats also wash them too. Use one of those handheld wet vac to suck up and dry it with hair dryer.

It's a long process. But it will be worth every effort you put into it.

 

as stated above bring your car to get a total shampoo. shampoo everything twice. and then dry it wth as stated above you may also want to invest a couple of bucks in to frebreeze.

 

yeah i use this hot foam thing at the carwash on my cloth seats and that got them pretty clean. i'll try to hot foam the carpet as well and see if that'll help. i think the smell is coming from the carpet. wierd thing is, the smell was gone for like a year or so and now it's back. if the foam doesn't work...i'll wash them down the old way. thanks for the inputs

 

you can bring it in for a full shampoo, or try to clean everything yourself. i just detailed a stinky corolla, and managed to fix the problem. water and soap (or water in viniger, highly diluted) used to clean the seats, let them dry fully. I uninstalled the seats, cleaned under them, febreezed, febreezed the bottom of the seat pads (stuff that spills into the seats just soaks into the foam) and then febreezed the top of the seats, rear deck carpet. make sure you brush vacum everything, several times, remove carpets, vacum them, vacum under the carpet. Try also leaving one of those arm and hammer boxes (with the side vents, soaks up fridge oders...works fine for a car) and if you can park it in a garage, leave the windows open. Cheaper than professional detailing, and got a stinky car like new

 

hehe sounds like a lot of work but i'm up to it.
good thing the smell doesn't stink, and i don't know how to describe it hehe. but in any case, i want it gone. you think if i just spread that baking power all over my carpet, leave it over night and vaccuum it would help?

 

well, more of a musty or dank smell? you said flooding? i would clean out the whole thing if your lazy just stink in one of the arm and hammer boxes...amazing!

 

yeah the carpet got soaked from a flood. and my dad (who was driving my car then) let it air out naturally. the smell was gone for a long while, but now it's showing it's face again. i'll give it a good cleaning this weekend.

 

thats the thing...soaked in smell, from water damage. if it got into the foam padding of the seats its gonna be a funky smell, in there forever. clean it as much as you want to. can be fun to learn something about ur enterior, and get that dirty car clean!

 

phew...good thing my seats were spared

thanks for the info man. appreciate it

 

To get rid of interior odors I have a couple suggestions...

- Shampoo the carpets - Essential. this should be done probably every year or more and does a lot to get rid of dust buildup and odors. Use/rent a carpet extractor and clean it thouroughly with carpet shampoo.

- Auto-Tech odor eliminator - Once you have shampooed the carpets, you can use this product that I have been meaning to post a review of. It's like a bug bomb...you set it off in your car with the AC on and leave it for 15-30 minutes. In my GF's car we shut the car off then left it overnight, but in mine I aired it out right away. It leaves a STRONG cherry, chemically scent that dissipates slowly. It can be a little overwhelming at first, so if it bothers you use 303 or whatever to clean the dash, and then do the windows. Getting rid of the residue on the plastic and windows gets rid of the strong smell. This stuff will kill bacteria and stuff in your HVAC system. You can also use a product from Wurth to clean your HVAC system, but in your case I would definitely use the odor eliminator to do the whole car.

I've only used odor-eliminator once and the ony palce I know to get it is at a local auto-body supply shop. After I have used it a couple times and experimented I might ahve more tips, but you might want to check it out if the smell is bothering you. So far the long-term effect seems good (the cherry smell eventually goes away).

 

no problem

 

There were some posts on www.autopia.org about nasty car odors. Some of the professional detailers posted their solutions to the problem.
I think whatever you do, a thorough steam cleaning will be needed at minimum. Remove the seats, center console, everything. You could actually even remove the carpet and pad to really clean both sides. Check for professional strength odor eliminators, because the stuff you buy in stores is meant for consumers, regardless of what the bottle says (unless you buy it from a specialty shop). There are several professional detailer supply sites online. I can't remember the sites, but they'll be mentioned in the posts on autopia.org. Also check the forums on www.detailcity.com. Professional detailers there, also.
Keep in mind that unless you get rid of the source, the odor will come back. Having been flooded, there is probably mold under the carpet. That will have to be killed by a professional strength product. Even Lysol can't kill all of the mold that can be there. That's why Lysol isn't effective at the musty, mold odors in air conditioners, and a professional product like Wurth's is needed for a permanent fix.
You could find a good, local detail shop and ask their opinion. They may be able to guide you in the right direction by recommending products or services.
Hope this helps.

Dave

 

he said it was an odor, not a pure stank i dont think steam cleaning is needed, u can rent and use a steamer if u want but...dont see its necessity