A friend of mine had a bottle of organic extra virgin olive oil crack and leak into the passenger seat of his Honda Civic. Its getting pretty ripe in there. Anybody have any suggestions on how to remove the olive oil that does not involve turning the passenger seat into a giant salad bowl?
Go to an auto recycler/junkyard and get a replacement seat.
Pretty much. That’s not something you’ll easily clean up.
Soap and water. Take the seat out and wash it with dish soap. Let it dry in the sun. You may be able to take the cover off. If you can put it your washer,cold wash cold rinse. Then hand it up to dry. No dryer!! The foam can be wash by hand and rinsed with cold water. let air dry.
This also can work. Get a can of glass cleaner cheap kind that foams. Spray it on and let sit and then scrub it good. Then wipe it up and spray water on it to rinse it. I don’t think it will work because it has been setting, but I mite try it and see.
A lot depends on how much leaked. A tablespoon? A cup? The whole bottle?
Unfortunately, the whole bottle.
Then the only alternative to replacement is to remove it, disassemble it, and see if you can get all that oil out of there with soap, etc. A lot of work, I’d first try to find a replacement seat. What year Civic?
If you’re unable to find a boneyard replacement, see if there’s an automotive upholstery shop in your area. They can strip the seat to the frame and replace everything including the foam and padding. It might save you some money over a new seat.
Or, if you’re open to a learning experience, get a book on automotive upholstering at the local bookstore and see if you feel up to the job. I’ve stripped and recovered a seat, and even though it’s a lot of elbow grease but it isn’t rocket science. As a matter of fact, if you can sew you can buy material by the yard, disassemble the seat cover and use the panels as templates, and make your own new covers. Personally, this is what I’d do, but I’ll admit to not being entirely sane. I enjoy building things from scratch.
Since we’re discussing disassembly…
Does the car in question have side airbags built into the seats? If so, be very careful… and if there’s any question about the oil or any cleaning product getting into the components, then replace, don’t clean…
Invite your least favorite acquaintances over and:
Shred the seat upholstery and serve it on lettuce and tomatoes to your unwanted guests - squeeze it lightly over the salad bedding. Serve with strong drinks.
Good luck with this one. It’s a doozey!
Bcudamatt