Remove Bad Smell In The Car

[bryangreene]

There are many ways to remove bad smell in the car.

1. There’s no shortage of air fresheners and diffusers for your car. You can find everything from the classic cardboard pine tree to scented sprays, gels, and air fresheners that plug into the cigarette lighter.

2, Leave a bag of charcoal open in your car overnight to help remove bad smells.

3. For liquid spills, sprinkle baking powder directly onto the spot while the spill is still fresh. Brush off the powder and vacuum after the moisture has been absorbed.

[Extremme]

Anyone used this before: https://shopee.sg/Dual-Usb-Ports-Car-Air-Purifier-Release-Ionizer-Anion-Air-Ette-Dust-Removes-i.91088177.1536817174

 

Does it work?

[Neutrino]

I saw on one of those 'Tips and hints' web sites that you take a slice of bread soak it in white vinegar, put on a saucer and leave in the smelly room overnight.

The vinegar soaked bread will suck up the bad smell.

Suppose you can do same for car interior.

[Davidklt]

Use the antibacterial Febreeze.

[jessenchan]

On 7/7/2016 at 12:32 AM, Jerrlim said:

perhaps you are the bad smell and you brought your bad smell into the car. try not driving your car for 2 to 3 weeks and the situation will definitely improve. no need to do anything

is that condider as insult ? lol

[Apple-Tree]

14 hours ago, Margaretasanjaya_ said:

Turn on AC at the highest fan and lowest temperature

Er ..... it is turn off AC, Fan high, Temp HI.  10mins.

 

[namaste]

i used coffee beans to removed bad smells

[Atrecord]

On 12/14/2017 at 8:57 AM, Heartlander said:

Just 2 days ago, my daughter spilled iced milo onto car mat in car, and now the car smell like garbage truck all the time despite wiping the stain away. Realised the spilled milo seeped into the bottom of car mat after the smell was detected, maybe that is why. Really feel like vomiting the first few minutes entering the car. Took out the car mat and washed, but the car still smell very badly without the car mat.

 

Would like to seek help from anyone with similar experience. This is not new car smell or normal aircon mildew problem. Many thanks for helping.

I know you've changed a few cars since this post, but am hoping to tap your experience.

Did anything work for you when trying to get rid of that horrible smell? Something similar just happened to my car... haiz...

now trying to see whether got effective DIY method, or need to spend a bomb to let professionals do the job...

Thanks!

[Maddriver]

25 minutes ago, Atrecord said:

I know you've changed a few cars since this post, but am hoping to tap your experience.

Did anything work for you when trying to get rid of that horrible smell? Something similar just happened to my car... haiz...

now trying to see whether got effective DIY method, or need to spend a bomb to let professionals do the job...

Thanks!

Not sure if i can help. Mine is not spillage but those aircon mouldy smell. Even i changed new aircon filter the smell is still there.

What I do for my previous and current car, I have a karcher steamer so I spray some fabric cleaner and I steam clean the carpet. I don't use fabric or those coil matt as I find them tend to attract smell. I used those trapo or something. Next i will use a air purifier and blast it  https://shopee.sg/CLAIR-B3S-Portable-Rechargeable-Car-Air-purifier-1-Year-Warranty-i.312997876.6257151028?sp_atk=6f9dca29-c9e3-4168-8e1c-f40ff21e05a0. This is good as you can charge it and leave it on overnight.  I will placed 1 or 2 thirty hippo in my car. Remember avoid using any odor eliminator or car perfume, this will just mask the odor and will not remove it. 

[Atrecord]

20 hours ago, Maddriver said:

Not sure if i can help. Mine is not spillage but those aircon mouldy smell. Even i changed new aircon filter the smell is still there.

What I do for my previous and current car, I have a karcher steamer so I spray some fabric cleaner and I steam clean the carpet. I don't use fabric or those coil matt as I find them tend to attract smell. I used those trapo or something. Next i will use a air purifier and blast it  https://shopee.sg/CLAIR-B3S-Portable-Rechargeable-Car-Air-purifier-1-Year-Warranty-i.312997876.6257151028?sp_atk=6f9dca29-c9e3-4168-8e1c-f40ff21e05a0. This is good as you can charge it and leave it on overnight.  I will placed 1 or 2 thirty hippo in my car. Remember avoid using any odor eliminator or car perfume, this will just mask the odor and will not remove it. 

Thanks, but i suspect it's not as bad as kanna drinks spilled on the floor mat leh...
i had those compressor problem that caused bad smell before, but it was ok once aircon on for a while after car moved off. 
this one is ... buay tahan as it lingers on...

[Maddriver]

3 minutes ago, Atrecord said:

Thanks, but i suspect it's not as bad as kanna drinks spilled on the floor mat leh...
i had those compressor problem that caused bad smell before, but it was ok once aircon on for a while after car moved off. 
this one is ... buay tahan as it lingers on...

You just got the car?

[mersaylee]

Rubber mat ftw 

[Atrecord]

7 hours ago, Maddriver said:

You just got the car?

Ha ha, no lah. Coming to 4.5 years already. Been good all along, then suddenly this…

[jasminejordan926]

@Titank I will recommend 2 things. First, keep charcoal in an open bag, overnight in the car it will absorb the bad smell. Second, sprinkle baking soda and after drying vacuum it or just  keep baking soda in a plastic bag with holes it best works as an air deodorizer.

[Heartlander]

@Atrecord My apologies for not replying earlier. Personal issue.

Just few months before that my wife hanged a serving of those fish soup in a container over the rear seat of her few months old Camry Hybrid, and dropped it over the floor mat when driving thus unable to do quick recovery. Unfortunately the soup manage to spill into the floor mat due to sheer volume. She quickly wiped the soup away upon reaching destination thinking it would be alright. Unfortunately the next day the whole car smelled like a huge smelly rotten fish, and no way to tolerate even with all windows down. We could smell the rotten stench just by standing outside the opened door. I was notified only more than 1 day later when the smell became unbearable thus complicating the issue.

The SOP to deal with this is actually very straight forward - locate the source of smell, then try to clean it all up. If the source is not dealt with, the smell will just linger on and no amount of aircon cleansing will help. Very logical approac. Anyway was quick to locate the culprit area at footwell of left rear passenger as really gan smelly after sniffing like a dog all over the rear seats area. Quickly took some soapy water and generously drench the area and used wet tower to dab the water, and repeat the process till any trace of stain is gone. More than 30min was spent doing this. But as the damage was quite deep, the next day the car also smell like vomitting. So the cleaning process continued to cover slightly wider area. Only on following day could smell improvement and that was great encouragement as it meant doing the right thing. After 2 more days of back breaking cleaning did the smell become bearable. After that I put the car through a car bomb treatment using Meguair air freshener on top of releasing some car charcoal pieces under the floor mat of the culprit area did it become more normal. Got it on shopee think costing about $14. Really effective to remove smell but do not expect the effect to last.

Anyway it was a hard lesson for my wife and she never forget to take extra precaution when putting soupy things in her car again either putting them in extra container or put in boot in a waterproof box.

Hope my sharing will benefit fellow motorists as this type of things do happen once in a while. The obvious alternative is to spent hundred of dollars to engage professional carpet cleaning professionals to do the job. But I cheapo so thinking to try it out and learn something along the way.

Btw the Megauir air refreshioner treatment is really effective to make the car smell nice, even if no spillage. Try it if you have not tried or heard about it before.

Edited January 25, 2022 by Heartlander

[Ryanc36]

I tried the sonax one that you can get from shopee and word of advice for anyone going to try this type of things in their cars, you have to probably practice dry run a few times before turning it on.

I didn't and some of that sonax stuff sprayed onto my face. 

Overall, pretty good. Going to make it a routine to do it every 6 months as mentioned by sonax.

[Jamesc]

Is it people fetch their MIL then got smell.