After filling up my gas container for my lawnmower, the tank tipped over on my way home. I would estimate that about a pint of gas spilled in my trunk. Some of it spilled on to the plastic trunk mat I have, but some also on to the fabric that lines the trunk of my Subaru Outback. Some of the gas also leaked down into the cage of the car that holds the backseat.
I have done the best I can to clean up the spill, absorbing all of the gas I can with paper towels and a steam vacuum. Also, some of the foam material on the bottom of the seats was wet with gas, so I cut out this part of the foam.
Still, there remains a strong odor, and I am afraid the heavy particles of the gas have settled into the fabric.
Any suggestions as to how I can clean up the residual gas. Also, and I guess more importantly, is this dangerous?
That sounds like a lot of wet stuff for a pint of gasoline…Any gasoline container that leaks is not worth having regardless of position.
To answer your question, gasoline is 100% evaporative and it will dissipate completely in a few days… If you can arrange to park the car in the sun and set up a box fan to provide forced ventilation, the heat and the airflow will quickly eliminate the fumes. There may have been some danger when there was still liquid gasoline in the trunk, but that is long past now.
Yeah, it may have been more than a pint, perhaps half a gallon (very hard to say).
Anyways, thanks for the quick response. I have left the car outside the last two days with the windows/trunk fully open. It hasn’t been too sunny or warm, but I will keep doing it, and add a fan.
Call a detail shop and see if they have an ionizer. Hook it up and run it a day and it should be better.