Getting rid of smells in the car

markelock

Hi


I've been using fabreeze, or supermarket own brands, which keep smells at bay pretty well for a few days.


Does anyone have experience of using the more expensive autoglym or meguairs sprays, and are they considerably better?

Iceweasel

The taxi drivers round my way swear by Autoglym Odour Eliminator which lasts a good long while.

Not Autoglym Autofresh which is £1 cheaper and has much the same effect as most other products on the market - a very short-lived effect.

foxy-stoat

Do you know the cause of the smell, leaks, rotting carpets, old kfc drumstick under the front seat?

markelock

I think it's a combination of all of those to be honest.

I picked up some of the autoglym stuff and have given it a try, strangely the very helpful guy serving me said Febreze was his choice for it.

I've also ordered some new floor mats, as they (or at least the front) have long since had their day.

Ebe_Scrooge

I think you'd be much better off trying to find and cure the cause of the smell, rather than just masking it. If, for instance, the carpets are permanently damp then you're pretty soon going to have more to worry about than just a bit of a whiff.

foxy-stoat

What car is it, and do you know where the smell is coming from, seats, carpet, vents, boot etc?

ariba10

Wash the Dog?

markelock

Its a 2010 Verso (7 seater). I don't often have the aircon on, but that was something I picked up on from previous threads on here, to use a bit more.

I think it's a perfect storm of all things to be honest, dogs, wet shoes, bloody kids and possibly undiscovered species of bacteria that grow on leftover haribos.

I don't think there are any leaks, but I'll check it over at the weekend, after a vacuum

lisa110rry

Don't know whether this will help, but a few weeks ago, my dog was very ill, I think she picked up some poison put down for something else (we live in the country). Unfortunately, she was very sick on the way to the vet.

When we got home, I found it possible, in fact easy, to remove the carpet from the load area of my CR-V, and attacked it with Stardrops and a brush, then used the hosepipe to remove the suds and hung it on the washing line until dry.

Worked extremely well...

Ebe_Scrooge

From the sounds of it, I think a few hours spent giving the inside a thorough clean ( including upholstery, carpets, headlining ) would probably make a big difference. Just be careful not to over-wet seats, carpets, etc., and ideally choose a dry day so that you can leave all the doors open to make sure everything is thoroughly dried out. Or pay to have it professionally valeted. A good valet is not an extortionate amount, but seeing as how this is MSE - you can do just as good a job yourself for next to nowt, but it does take quite a long time to do a thorough job.

DigForVictory

+1 for giving carpets & upholstery a clean.
Then institute a roll of rubbish bags in the rear passenger door & train the users to empty their rubbish into the bag & dispose thereof. (Bribe the cleaner with a small packet of Haribos from stash in glovebox.)

The child of the species neither knows nor cares if the car is dirty or smelly but will usually quickly respond to sugary bribes...

Advanced training would be to hoover the mats and all visible carpeting before asking for funding for school trips, but that takes a serious commitment to training.