Hi, I was pulling an old cooler out of my wife’s cla250 trunk and it hit something and tipped over and some nasty smelling liquid poured out all over the carpet cover (the trunk has a false bottom piece that you can take out). The liquid also seemed to get into the latch area where the trunk locks shut. I have removed the carpet cover piece and tried to clean it but not really working. It’s pretty stinky right now - airing out on the balcony. The car trunk is also smelling pretty bad. I have sprayed a few things like odor killers to try to help the smell. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for this nasty banana concoction. Thanks
You might be able to clean the mat with a carpet cleaning machine you rent. You might want to explore what it would cost you to have a detailing business clean the trunk out.
If you figure out something that works, please let us know. I’ve never had a smelly mess in a car that either airing it out or Febreze wouldn’t take care of it.
Although the detailing option would probably work, if it was me, I’d try some things on my own before going with the detailing, especially since it’s in the trunk and mistakes don’t have much of an impact.
All the hard surfaces I’d use a surface cleaner.
For fabric/carpet surfaces, I’d first try baking soda. Spread it, leave it for a couple hours then vacuum it up.
I’ve seen all sorts of vinegar concoctions in books and on-line recommended for cleaning. I’d start with a 1:4 or 1:3 vinegar/water mix, spray it or dampen a sponge and apply it.
I also saw another cleaning option using shaving cream. Put the shaving cream on a sponge and dab it on. I’ve never tried this one, though.
After applying anything that’s wet, I’d try to “rinse” it off by wetting a sponge, squeezing out the excess water and wiping the surfaces down, frequently rewetting and resqueezing the sponge.
Finally, air-dry it. Use a small fan to speed the drying.
I hope one of these ideas help.
If you have a shop vac, you can try repeatedly flooding the area with soapy water, vacuuming it up, repeat.
In the olden days, trunks often had drain plugs in the lowest areas There might be one. If so, use a coin operated carwash in the empty trunk
If not, the shop vac will work. Use a hose, scub, vac and repeat. I used that method to remove dried spilled coffee from carpet. I live in Southwest Florida, and it was a convertible, so drying was not a problem
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Another possibility:
I use scrubbing bubbles to clean everything, carpet, stained walls etc.
If there’s a well for a spare tire in the trunk, make sure any liquid that went down there gets cleaned out.
If it was my car, I would take everything out of the trunk, lay it in my drivewat , get out the hose, a long handled scrub brush and some dish soap. When I had finished with yjay I would do the inside of the trunk and the latch area after removing the rubber plug. Of course if some of the side panels of your trunk are made of cardboard you can’t do that with them.
Get some Simple Green and put it in a pail and wash the trunk out and dry . Stuff is environmentally safe and smells great too .you can use it to clean the rugs too .
I’ve used Simple Green at work. It takes a lot of rinse water to clean it off or out of the item just washed. Simple Green would be a good cleaner for carpets that can mone out of the vehicle.