Removing Odors

I get a lot of questions about removing smells. The most common questions are "How do I remove the smell of cigarette smoke?" and "My child vomited, how do I get rid of the smell?" Most bad smells in cars are organic (i.e., food, urine, vomit, tobacco, grass, mold, mildew, etc.). I recently had a professional detailer tell me a client had spilled fish in his car, which I know from experience is not pleasant. As a teen I hid an open can of sardines under the seat of a neighbor’s car. They had to sell the car to get rid of the smell!

Smell problems are pretty easy to take care of with some of the new cleaners on the market. My favorite is called "Kids & Pets Brand Stain & Odor Remover," by Paramount Chemical Specialties (www.kidsnpetsbrand.com). This cleaner, and others like it, use enzymes, a surfactant, and denatured alcohol to remove stains and kill odors. The enzymes kill odors in their tracks by stopping the organic material from decomposing. So, spray this stuff where your girlfriend just heaved her guts all over the front seat, and the mess and stain are gone. Don’t use it, and you’ll be smelling that night for a long time. Other products that also work okay for dealing with organic smells and stains include Febreze (Proter & Gamble) and FreshCare (Clorox).

Tobacco smoke is one of the most difficult smells to remove from a car. The smoke permeates everything, including the foam rubber used in seat cushions. You can successfully remove most of the tobacco smell by shampooing the carpets and upholstery with Kids & Pets Brand Stain & Odor Remover, and wiping down all other surfaces with a sponge and Kids & Pets Brand Stain & Odor Remover. After the carpet has dried for 24 hours, sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, rub it in with your hands, and leave it for a week. After a week, vacuum your carpets. The baking soda will absorb the remaining odor in the carpet. Don’t forget to scrub the headliner, as this is the source of a lot of the smell.