# Yikes! Spilled Diesel Fuel in Car - How do we Remove the Smell? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Tags:** mazda5, mazda\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/yikes-spilled-diesel-fuel-in-car-how-do-we-remove-the-smell/55203 "2010-09-16T17:12:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BethJenne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce7236/32.png) [@BethJenne](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BethJenne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/yikes-spilled-diesel-fuel-in-car-how-do-we-remove-the-smell/55203/1 "2010-09-16T17:12:12Z")
Help. We accidently (obviously!) spilled a few tablespoons of diesel fuel in the back of our car. It is in the carpeting and the cloth seats. It happened about a week ago. At that time we removed everything that we could and washed it. The smell in the car is still overwhelming. What to do? We’re going to try some kitty litter tonight. Any other suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![StrongDreamsWaitHere](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/strongdreamswaithere/32/2014_2.png) [@StrongDreamsWaitHere](https://community.cartalk.com/u/StrongDreamsWaitHere)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/yikes-spilled-diesel-fuel-in-car-how-do-we-remove-the-smell/55203/2 "2010-09-16T17:18:06Z")
The hydrocarbons will eventually evaporate, so leave windows open as much as possible and maybe even put a fan in the car. Once the hydrocarbons have evaporated, there might be non-hydrocarbons left behind, like sulfur compounds. I’m thinking that K2R spot remover, which is also a hydrocarbon, would dissolve the smelly compounds, then you can vacuum it up with a wet/dry shop vac. (I don’t really know if this will work, though, and there are other similar dry cleaning products that might work the same way.) Kitty litter might help if you still have wet hydrocarbons in the carpet, but this seems unlikely at this point.