What is the best method to get bad odors out of a car interior?
In helping clean out my mothers tool shed I got a spill of some sort of yard weed killer into the carpet in my van. I tried carpet cleaner and then had the car interior detailed.
Now the car smells like a petroleum chemical, carpet shampoo and armor all.
The stuff you spilled may have soaked into the padding beneath the carpet, where carpet cleaners and detailing can’t reach it. The padding is a sponge-like material and will hold liquids for a LONG time.
The only way I know to clean the padding is to remove it from the vehicle. It can then be cleaned, dried, and reinstalled.
This is a time-consuming job, but not terribly difficult.
The remaining smell should disappear by airing the car out. Hopefully the detailer removed the weed killer residue.
I’d replace the padding, no matter what it costs. Breathing in weed killer fumes seems like a terribly bad idea to me.
Have you tried Ozium or Fabreeze?
I agree, it’s probably in the padding and you’ll have to change it out. A lot of detail shops have “Cyclone” machines that can pump an incredible amount of air through the vehicle. An overnight run of the machine should take care of the odor after the pad is replaced.