I agree with Tom & Ray. I had a gallon of milk rupture on the front passenger seat of my new Isuzu Rodeo. I removed the front seat from the vehicle and soaked it with a garden hose and lots of laundry detergent before the milk could dry. I then removed the center console and washed it. Finally, I shampooed the carpet and cleaned the upholstery. It still had the faint smell of sour milk for the six years I owned that vehicle. I covered up the smell with patchouli oil and a diffuser.
Tom and Ray, Last year my dog chewed up a half gallon of milk in the back of my SUV with the seats down. Milk seeped through everywhere. I had to have the carpet and pad replaced and everything cleaned. I have leather seats that were fine. My insurance paid for everything. If I leave my car closed up for a few days during hot, humid weather, I can still smell a faint sour odor but this rarely happens. Hope this helps.
Oh how I can relate! I went grocery shopping & put milk in the side of wheel well in trunk. The milk leaked & two days later it smelled like a dumpster. Looked in the trunk and found maggots where it spilt. Cleaned up the carpet and, foolishly, poured some liquid febreeze on the area. Now it smelled like dumpster with febreeze. Called Mercedes and took the car in. They replaced the whole compartment, including carpet. Then did a de-ionization cleaning process. And, $500.00 later it didn’t smell, but had this processed odor in the car along with a slight smell of febreeze. They also suggested I put a bag of charcoal in the trunk. I am happy to relate, no one that gets in my car smells anything, but I still can pick up the febreeze. The moral of the story is don’t try to cover the smell with febreeze.
As a Certified Indoor Environmentalist I would not recommend an ozone generator. Ozone is good up high but bad nearby. A known carcinogin and also causes asthma symtoms and lowers your bodies abilty to fight off infection by drying out mucus and cilia (liitle hairs) in the human body. I would recommend an ionization machine that produces negative and positive ions that actually tear down the VOC (volatile organic compound) a.k.a. odor. Also, the moisture and organic growth of the milk could couse microbial growth (mold) which is not healthy in any way. Ionization also breaks down microbial growth DNA so it cannot prosper and grow. Think of the great smell in the mountains and next to Niagara Falls… That is due to the high level of ions. Ionization has been used in Europe since the 1940’s and is used in fish processing, meat process and waste water plants. Ionization by Clean Air Group can easily handle the mild with no negative by-products. iaqexpert@charter.net is a national expert in indoor air.
When milk spilled in my trunk the odor was terrible. After trying what I thought was everything, I put a dollar can of lemon scent fresheners in my trunk. And pronto!!! The odor was eliminated!
I had the same problem with a Monte Carlo (with T-Tops) if you can remember back that far!!! I had a WHOLE gallon of milk in my carpet and tried soaking it up, cleaning it, recleaning it, etc. When it got hot, the car smelled AWFUL and I had run out of ideas what to do. So I tried an old standby - baking soda - I dumped ALOT of baking soda over the area that had been “milked” and let it sit for a few days. Then I just vacuumed the baking soda up and the smell was gone!!! Much cheaper and easier than “your idea”!
PS My husband and I both listen to your show and HE likes it!!! I do get a chuckle periodically but let the mechanical stuff to the hubby!
Recommend you first try the Nature’s Miracle. It is made to to handle the pet urine problems but works well on all oders caused by bacteria (like the milk). You need to buy a lot of it and use it liberally. Since the milk was probaly allowed to soak into the hidden recesses and upholstry padding, it will take a lot of the Nature’s Miracle to get there. You’ll just need to let it air dry. If you are impatient (or if the NM doesn’t work due to the extensiveness of the milk intrusion), you will probably want to take it to a professional detailing or auto interior specialty place - they’ll probably use the ozone generator. Better to let them use it than to “learn on your own” by renting in and experimenting. Good luck!!
I had a similar problem. The whole gallon didn’t spill, but most of it did. Even though I blotted up most of it, a few days later the sour milk smell was overpowering. I solved it using my Little Green Machine, some Bissell carpet cleaner and deodorizer and an 89 cent bottle of vinegar.
First, I used the extraction machine with the cleaning solution, getting as much of muck out of the carpet as I could. Then I saturated the area with straight vinegar (I did test first to make sure it wasn’t going to ruin it). Then I took a nice break for a few hours. I came back and used the machine to extract the vinegar, then repeated the cleaning process with cleaner/deodorizer solution. Left the windows open to dry for a few hours and the stink was completely gone.
Buy a bottle of Anti-Icky Poo spray, spray the smelly area well, then let it sit until dry. Windows open on a dry day would be best. Yes, that is really the name of the product. We use it for cleaning up after our peeing/puking siamese cat, and the stuff works. Better than Nature’s Miracle by a mile. It has some sort of super enzymes that eat the offending molecules (makes tuna dinner disappear from a white flokati rug). Buy it online or at selected cat clinics. No, I do not work for the company, nor do I receive any kick-backs.
Tom and Ray
Take the volvo smell and all to a professional detail or upholestry shop and have the entire interior steam cleaned. It may take a couple of trips but its cheaper than replacing carpet.
A number of years ago, the guy I was working for was leasing a Ford Taurus which he drove on a fishing trip. Are you familiar with a type of catfish bait called Uncle Charley or stinkbait? It’s by far the most obnoxious smell in the world. Who would eat a fish that’s attracted to that smell? He spilled the stuff on the back seat of the car. No deodorizer had any effect on it. The only practical solution would be to replace the back seat- maybe you could find a seat out of a wrecked car. What he did was just return the car, “It’s parked outside, here’s the key, gotta run, see ya.” When they called later he said, “Smell? No, didn’t notice any smell. Huh, what could that be?”
Had a friend leave a cig in ash tray in car, it fell outof ashtray, down on a cheap rug I had bought to protect the carpets…it burned that to a crisp, also damaged the floor rug I was trying to protect…the lil handle for the gas tank and trunk, was all melted outof shape…12 hours later, we discovered the mess and the stink…you could smell it 10 feet away…I had to cut and rip out the burnt carpet…I put several lil pans of charcoal, front and back, sprinkled baking soda all over everything…when the car was stationary, I had lil pans of vinegar sitting front an back…had allthe windows down when I drove it…maybe it took a week, but the smell disappeared…I had the windows and doors open every chance I had, and since I had to drive this car to work every day…you better beleive I was happy that smell was gone…
Dear Click & Clack,
I have a suggestion for Crying over spilled milk?I have only sent pertinent info on what will help with the problem. There is much more on the website. A quart is less than $5.
Hope it will help, Sandy
Go to the website to find the retailer near your town: www.spartanchemical.com
CONSUME? BACTERIA/ENZYME DIGESTANT/DEODORANT
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
CONSUME is a suspension of the spores from several strains of non-pathogenic enzyme-producing bacteria, detergents, and natural odor control agents. The non-pathogenic bacteria break down and digest organic soils and odors from food, humans, pets, etc. CONSUME contains over 200 billion microorganisms per gallon to quickly eat away and digest odors and stains.
REMOVES STAINS AND ODORS FROM CARPET:
CONSUME is an effective carpet stain remover and spotter. Use CONSUME to remove pet soils, urine, feces, milk, coffee, soda, blood, vomit and other odor-causing soils.
My husband used to have a Dr Vinyl franchise. He used a product that would fog the entire interior of the car (even went through the vents and everything). When I bought a bunch of frozen turkeys after Thanksgiving for next to nothing, some of the blood got out of the bags and it was awful!! His treatment worked the first time and left a pleasant smell that went away after a day or two. But, no more blood smell! Maybe you could try them? Thanks, Ricknelsonfan
Fresh unperked Coffee, reg. or decafe sprinkled right out of the can will stop that nasty odor of sour milk and just about anything else, also it is dry, therefore, absorbing any moisture left behind. Just sprinkle it wherever you think the splash went and presto…coffee smell…which is so much nicer than anything else. No deadly chemicals need to be used or perfumed products which cause severe allgery attacks…you can almost never get those smells out. The dry coffee vacuums up whenever you are ready. Just sprinkle more if you notice a smell again or just want to freshen the cup…err I mean car.
My father in law is a cigar smoker who keeps an old cigar box open under his seat filled with hot cocoa powdered mix, claiming that it mitigates the smell. weee, it sorta does.
As a pipe smoker myself, I regularly spray my cars interior with fabreeze, and after airing out the fabreeze smell for a day, my car smells great!
Hey i have made cheese in my car as well and have some great advice.
Warning:long winded but worth it
i HAVE YOU ALL BEAT, i think. I too accidentally made cheese in my new Honda Accord a few years back. I lost a half gallon of milk under my seat when bringing groceries to the boat for an offshore fishing trip. A week later, no problem. Then a few days later i noticed a faint smell at 9pm coming home from a short trip. The next morning, 5 hours later AT 2 AM it was worse and my coworker noticed it and commented on it getting worse. We left for a short trip. 35 hours later we arived back at the dock and car exhausted and stinky but still we knew something was wrong or dead. We had no choice but to do something. After some searching we found the remnants of the half gallon of milk that never made the trip two weeks or so prior. It HAD EXPLODED VIOLENTLY. The container was almost shredded. I couldn’t believe it. Well my friend and i preceded to drive the half hour home in the most disgusting smelling car ever.(this was two fisherman very used to horrible smells most people can’t fathom.) This was an almost brand new Honda Accord and i thought i had ruined it or needed new upolstry.
*** I asked a family friend who owns a garage and a large fleet of rental cars thinking that he must have seen it all. He told me that what he would do exactly.
*******THE CURE THAT HAS WORKED FOR ME******
I bought several bottles of Febreze spray and used them at varying degrees of strength mixed with water. Under advice i applied the water/febrez mix or straight fEbreze and sucked it out with a shop vac. I did this over and over for a while, helps to get a little compulsive when its that bad. I think i ended up after the heavy stuff with about a 50/50 mix that i poured anywhere i thought needed it and sucked it out with the shop vac. I did a little scrubbing at times once i got the bulk of the stuff out but mostly i flooded the area over and over and sucked it it with the shop vac.
It worked AMAZING and i just did it again last week on a year old stain that was BAD!! Old 1/2 empty hot chocolate that turned into a tobacco chewing spitter and some cigarette buts mixed together(i know i am gross)****It got the stain out 100%!!! Nobody i showed could believe it!!
Sorry so long winded
Benny KB Franklin
This milk disaster has happened to me twice. The first time I paid an auto detail shop $350; they cleaned up pretty well. The smell was almost gone, but the upholstery has not fitted properly since they pulled it out. Expensive, and not really satisfactory.
The second time, last month, I picked up a bottle of something called Biokleen ‘bac-out’ enzyme stain and odor eliminator from our local food coop. For around $9 for 32 oz, it cleared most of the smell on the first application to carpet and seats, then a second try SEEMS to have done the trick… But then we have not had any really hot weather recently…
Im sold on Purple Power. I picked up this Corsica that was so nasty inside itd make you sick to sit in it. It had spilled coffee everywhere, even on the headliner. Melted candy slathered into the carpet. Kid puke in the backseat. A thick layer of goo from leaking drinks in the cupholders and in a recess on the dash. I spent a day using Purple Power and the whole interior came extremely clean and smelled very nice.
I had a company car. The big boss was going to work with me on the 15th. Around the 1st I spilled a half gallon of milk. After a day or two the odor started and here is what I did.
Get a bucket of hot water, use a lot of Dawn Dishwashing Detergent, make a lot of suds and brush it on with a heavy hand. Just use the suds. Dry with a hair dryer and leave windows and doors open. Now spray the spot with Lysol, place a newspaper on top of spot and spray a lot of Lysol onto the newspaper. Leave the newspaper over the spot.
I kept my job, in fact the boss thought the car smelled really great.