Posted on 11/03/2011 4:15:40 AM PDT by SMARTY
This is AWFUL!! I spilled milk in the car and now it smells like something died in there?
Does anyone have a hint about how to make this smell go AWAY??
My neighbor thought she was being funny and said, 'buy a new car'.
Did you file your emergency spill response form with the EPA?
If it is in the carpet, you will probably need to replace the carpet.
http://askville.amazon.com/remove-sour-milk-smell-carpet/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=9185420
Several suggestions here.
Then change your post name;)
Try some kind of carpet cleaner ... it will require several applications- either that or have the interior floor carpet replaced. You don’t need to buy a new car.
I’ve used two things to kill moldy smells in a car. One is a fungicide called Consan Triple Action 20. Dilute in water, spray on the area and turn on a fan to the area to air it out. Second option is at Petsmart. They sell a de-skunk solution.
Whatever you do, don’t cry over it! ;-)
I recall a time when my wife took my brand new car on a long distance trip and her friend barfed all over the floor of the front seat. I took it to a reputable detail shop and they took care of it.
Good luck.
Every late November, I have to deodorize my car. I drive anywhere from three to five high school football players home after practice or a game. Not to be rude... but my car smells like sweat, butt, and Axe (that awful stuff teen boys use to try to hide the smell). Anyways, any Febreeze product works well and you can use the one for cloth/carpets etc... If you want to go more “natural”, you can mix baking soda and water for a wipe down session. (I use this mixture on the leather seats with good results). If the spilled milk is on the carpeting, first make sure all the curds/wet stuff is pulled up with paper towels. You can then apply baking soda... let it sit for a few hours and vacuum it up. It wouldn’t hurt to leave the windows cracked a bit to let the air circulate. Hope this helps... milk does stink!
No use cryin’ over it...
My fail-safe cleaning solution is sprinkle baking soda (odor neutralizer) on it then spray with vinegar - allow it to bubble and sit for a few minutes. Wipe off then clean with carpet cleaner to get rid of the minimal vinegar odor.
The vinegar wont’ stain will it?
Take it to the valet with terrible BO on Seinfeld...it will cover the odor with something worse.
Odo-ban, by all means. It is also available at Sam’s.
Clear vinegar is just like water... it won’t stain. Don’t use the apple cider one... that is a brown one. The only thing I don’t like about vinegar is that there will be a slight smell. Vinegar smell doesn’t bother me at all... but if you want to completely neutralize it.. go with the baking soda/warm water solution. Baking soda neutralizes and doesn’t have a smell. Perhaps, 30Moves can provide more info?! I have included her in this post.
If all else fails and you have a shop-vac (wet/dry) you can aggressively irrigate the spot with water and baking soda solution while vacuuming it up immediately (don’t give it time to soak and spread). Vac till almost dry.
Ventilate the vehicle so it can dry thoroughly.
Follow up:
a Damp-Rid Packet to absorb extra moisture in the cabin.
activated charcoal sachet (fish-tank charcoal is a great odor absorber, wrap in cheesecloth and set it on the area.)
You have to use white vinegar, not cider vinegar. White vinegar can act as a bleach and remove color, so test it on an inconspicuous area first.
OK
btw- you may end up with a car that smells like vinegar for a while. Personally, I don’t care much for that smell.
I’d try a product made for removing smells from upholstery.
Ya didn’t cry over it, did you?
These are all good suggestions. After you are sure all the milk is gone, you could put a few small bowls of vinegar in the car overnight to remove the residual stench. Part of the problem is that the rest of the fabric in the car picks up the odor, not just the site of the spill. If you spray Lysol or Febreeze, spray all of the upholstery, not just the cloth seat.
Happy motoring!
It’s not the carpet. It’s the car seat which is fabric. I can’t believe that the odor is so intense, because the milk spilled inside a tote which was sitting on the seat.
It couldn’t have been there for more than 30 minutes and not much seeped out the bottom of the tote...certainly not enough to make a puddle on the seat. However, it was enough to impart the nasty smell which is there now
“I can’t believe that the odor is so intense,”
Maybe something DID die in there. lol
A good single malt Scotch will cover it nicely....../sarc
(50% of freepers fail to recognize my attempts at humor......)
CC
This happened to a friend, except the milk gallon spilled. He used that pet enzyme stuff you can get at a pet store to get the dog tinkle out of your carpets. He said he kept pouring it on over and over, and eventually the smell went away.
“50% of freepers fail to recognize my attempts at humor”
Not me, G Larry! You have a great sense of humor!!
A carpet shampooer ought to do it. Just make sure you get all the moisture out of the carpet or seat.
Ha!!...Given the age of my car and the AGE of the Scotch I prefer, it WOULD be cheaper to buy a new car!!
Nice try!
Nah...the family of squirrels moved out last week.
Also, a product called CITRUS SCENT. Probably can find at beauty supply house. Hospital supply. Nurses use it in hospital rooms. Reasons obvious. But only use after all cleaning/drying has been done. If you can leave vehicle with windows down, cross ventilation will help.
If milk has gone down deep in foam there is not much but time and parience and CITRUS SCENT!
Sorry, the only answer I have is TIME...
Well, as I say, the milk (2%) seeped out of the bottom of a tote. The seat was not too damp in that place and there wasn’t a puddle of milk there when I picked up the tote. I am hoping it didn’t saturate down too far.
It’s been a couple days ago now.
A word of caution which I should have given sooner...Avoid intense scrubbing over same area as you can discolor fabric. If nothing works? Try Service Master. They are good at what they do.
I am sure by now you have scrubbed and cleaned the best you can. With everything you can think of, but use the cheapest shaving cream you can find. Yeap, you heard me correctly - shaving cream. Scrub it into the carpet really good with a clean cloth. DO NOT wet the carpet first.
Just put the shaving cream on the carpet, and start scrubbing. Then after a few minutes of scrubbing, walk away for a little while. Let it dry for a little while. Vacuum, then sprinkle the area with baking soda. Let that sit for a while, and then vacuum that up. The longer the baking soda sits, the better. It really soaks up all that odor really well, as does the shaving cream. Shaving cream is great on so many stains on carpet in your home also. I did this when my grandson threw up in our truck, and it worked really well.
I can help you with your little problem. But you have to listen and do exactly what I tell you to....
I had milk spill in my car last year. the local grocer, (kroger) carries a line of steam carpet cleaners ( Rug Doctor). I used Rug Doctor’s “odor remover” carpet cleaner on the spill.
soak the area with the cleaner, and cover the area with a dry rag. it helps to hold down the rag, with a heavy weight to help absorb the cleaner and milk. Leave it for several days and then use wet rag to remove the remaing cleaner. repeat the process. it took a couple weeks but it
improved gradually and finally was gone. I spilled about 6 - 8 ounces so hopefully you did not spill much more than that.
I would take the car to any professional carpet cleaning service. They can clean the carpet and inject it with enzymes that’ll eat the sour milk and bacteria.
Those guys are pretty amazing. My uncle had to hire a team to clean up a rental apartment after a tenant shot himself. I had to use them after my (then) four year old son learned how to ‘aim’ and decided to pee on *everything* in his room. (I didn’t figure it out for a couple of weeks, so the smell had time to turn to pure ammonia and he had time to do a LOT of damage.)
In both cases, good as new! :-)
And it wasn’t as pricy as one would think.
After the carpet is cleaned, have the whole carpet professionally cleaned. (It should be around $200) That’ll get the lingering odors out of the seats and headliner.
2. Leave the wet sneakers in the car for several days.
I guarantee this will cover up the smell of spilt milk.
Check with Click and Clack on their Car Talk Web Site
Thanks tons!!
When I was a youngster my Mom broke a bottle of milk in the rear foot well of her car. Of course it was summer and boy did it stink. After cleaning as best as my Dad could it still smelled. What he finally did was to place a cut up apple in the foot well. Once they turned brown we replaced them. After a few apples we were good to go.
Use Kids and Pets to clean the area (available at WalMart). It will remove any stains and associated smells.
I had to deal with this a few years ago in a new car. One of my kids dropped her sippy cup and it dripped for hours before it was discovered. It went into the carpet and under the plastic cover at the bottom of the door frame. I had to take that apart, wet vac, use carpet cleaner, etc. Got most of it, but time had to take care of the rest.
Now I’m dealing with it again. Another new car, another spill. Wife spilled coffee (w/ cream and sugar) down into the center console. Didn’t even tell me about it. Only fessed up after I noticed the fermenting smell. Had to take apart the console, found remnants in the bottom of the cup holder and on the transmission tunnel. Again, I got most of it but time will have to take care of the rest.
So much for that new car smell.
Get a family of skunks to live in the car and it will smell better.
Probably similar to ODO-BAN, but ‘Lethal’ makes products for hunters to kill odors:
http://www.lethalproducts.com/lethal-line.php
my wife has used it around the house and it can be amazing at times...smells just disappear...
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