My husband used my van to go get gas for the lawnmower and chainsaw. He spilled about 1/2 gallon of gasoline in the rear compartment. How do I clean this up and get rid of the gas smell?
Pull out the rear carpeting and underpadding, and wash them thoroughly at a DIY carwash. Leave them out in the sun for several days or longer to dry and remove more of the smell.
Time is the great equalizer. Make sure all of the liquid is removed. The stink will remain for some time but lessen each day. Certainly, cleaning will speed the process but it will also go away on its own. Keeping windows open as much as possible will speed the process.
Gasoline has great volatility, so it will disappear. I would soak up as much as possible with paper towels, then shampoo out the carpets followed by letting it air out with the windows down. I actually got the smoke smell out of a car that way after buying a car from a smoker.
Good luck!
As Doc said, gasoline is highly aeromatic, it will vaporize fairly quickly. Be sure to pull out all the carpeting and padding and wash everything down as well as you can.
The carpeting and padding will be highly flammable, and concentrated fumes in an enclosed compartment are what have the potential to be explosive. Leaving the carpet and padding in and closing the lid wil guarantee a highly volatile concentration.
This is not intended to scare you,just to make you aware that you need to be sensitive to the potential danger here. Do not smoke anywhere near this project.
First of all, why are YOU cleaning it up? Hubby made the mess, HE should clean it up, and he should pay the tab, too.
The carpet and padding will have to be removed. There is NO WAY shampooing in place will work. I’d try something like Simple Green followed by a LOT of water from a garden hose, then allows several days of drying, preferably outdoors.
In the meantime, hubby should drive your stinky van, and you should drive his car. I hope he’s not a smoker.
Next time he needs to get gas, tell him to take his own car. I’ll be he’ll be more careful.
they have a great product pro HVAC guys use,commercial and industrial grade to remove oil smell from basements.and it works great for gasoline also.with all carpets and backing in place.