De-Odorizing Interior?

kevinatfms

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Long story short, got a half bushel of some fresh steamed crabs from a friend.

I put down two pieces of cardboard to hopefully prop them up and reduce the chance of them leaking. They were in a double lined thick paper bag but them sitting for more than 30 minutes caused the bag to just soak up the steam/juice.

Well, once i got home i found the bag leaked pretty badly onto my Colorado's passenger side seat. I tried soaking everything up with paper towels and some resolve but think it might have soaked into the cushion.

A day later(this morning) as i got into the truck its just horrible. Its a pretty bad lingering smell that isnt helped by the near 100*F temps.

Anyone have a good remedy to help remove the smell? Im going to try baking soda and some de-odorize spray. But has anyone ever dealt with something like this and gotten rid of the smell?

All help is greatly appreciated.
 

CobraBob

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That sucks! Hopefully @Skitzerman's tip will help.

Here are some more tips I found with Google.

* Lemon juice and white vinegar, full strength or enzyme product for pet urine, it sort of eats any biological stain/smell. Leave it to do it's work for some days, and then use white vinegar again if needed.
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* Here's a good one with multiple steps
Step 1
Mix together 2 quarts of water and one cup of vinegar and use and old rag to scrub it into the area where the fish smell is coming from. Vinegar is a natural cleaner and odor absorber, that will help get deep down into the fibers of the car's upholstery.

Step 2
Sprinkle baking soda over the fishy smelling area. Just like baking soda works to eliminate bad smells in your refrigerator, it will work to eliminate the odors in your car.

Step 3
Leave your car window rolled down so the smell can escape, especially in hot weather. Drive without the air on, as that will just recycle the fish smell throughout the car, drive with the windows down and a vent open to the outside. This will allow plenty of fresh air to enter the car, and the contaminated air has a way out.

Step 4
Spray some fabric refresher spray such as Febreeze onto the effected area if the smell as not dissipated after a day or two. The smell may be diluted enough at this point for the fabric refresher to work its magic.

Take your vehicle to a car detailing shop where the upholstery can be shampooed and vacuumed if the problem persists. Sometimes you can't get rid of the smell on your own, and if that is the case a professional will need to do the work.
.
.

* Lemon juice and white vinegar, full strength or enzyme product for pet urine, it sort of eats any biological stain/smell. Leave it to do it's work for some days, and then use white vinegar again if needed.
 

Norton

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That sucks! Hopefully @Skitzerman's tip will help.

Here are some more tips I found with Google.

* Lemon juice and white vinegar, full strength or enzyme product for pet urine, it sort of eats any biological stain/smell. Leave it to do it's work for some days, and then use white vinegar again if needed.
.
.

* Here's a good one with multiple steps
Step 1
Mix together 2 quarts of water and one cup of vinegar and use and old rag to scrub it into the area where the fish smell is coming from. Vinegar is a natural cleaner and odor absorber, that will help get deep down into the fibers of the car's upholstery.

Step 2
Sprinkle baking soda over the fishy smelling area. Just like baking soda works to eliminate bad smells in your refrigerator, it will work to eliminate the odors in your car.

Step 3
Leave your car window rolled down so the smell can escape, especially in hot weather. Drive without the air on, as that will just recycle the fish smell throughout the car, drive with the windows down and a vent open to the outside. This will allow plenty of fresh air to enter the car, and the contaminated air has a way out.

Step 4
Spray some fabric refresher spray such as Febreeze onto the effected area if the smell as not dissipated after a day or two. The smell may be diluted enough at this point for the fabric refresher to work its magic.

Take your vehicle to a car detailing shop where the upholstery can be shampooed and vacuumed if the problem persists. Sometimes you can't get rid of the smell on your own, and if that is the case a professional will need to do the work.
.
.

* Lemon juice and white vinegar, full strength or enzyme product for pet urine, it sort of eats any biological stain/smell. Leave it to do it's work for some days, and then use white vinegar again if needed.

+1 to ^^. In addition, you might also consider ozone treatment. Detail shops may offer it, but you can also get an ozone generator for less than $100.

Good luck!
 

kevinatfms

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Spray it down with Clorox Disinfecting spray. That should knock it down. You know this thread is crying out for some bad clam chatter. Good luck, because there is nothing worse than stinking clam on a hot day.

Going to try this tonight. Think a sucking it out with a wet/dry vac would help?

I ordered a bunch of cleaning and de-odorizing stuff on amazon. Hopefully something works. It smells like old bay and rotting crabs.

EDIT: i just Febreeze bombed the truck. Let it soak in a little and see how it does at the end of the day on the way home.
 
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NastyGT500

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Yes, try the wet/dry vac. I was going to suggest finding someone with an extractor, cuz IMO, that's going to be the only way to get the vast majority of that clam bake outta your foam cushions.
 

M91196

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Price out some replacement foam and seat covers next.....this doesn’t seem likely to end well.

Sorry man.
 

specracer

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I bought one of these not thinking it would work. I was surprised how well it did.


+1 to ^^. In addition, you might also consider ozone treatment. Detail shops may offer it, but you can also get an ozone generator for less than $100.
 

CobraBob

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+1 to ^^. In addition, you might also consider ozone treatment. Detail shops may offer it, but you can also get an ozone generator for less than $100.

Good luck!
Yes, that's another good option. I've heard of ozone treatments but honestly know nothing about them.

The wet vac idea does sound the best, though.
 

offroadkarter

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Honestly I'd replace the seat foam and hope that does it, I've read about people getting seafood smells into cars and it never coming out.
 

Black02GT

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Honestly I'd replace the seat foam and hope that does it, I've read about people getting seafood smells into cars and it never coming out.

This, buddy accidentally left squid bait in his trunk then went upstate for a week in the summer. Car never recovered.
 

kazman

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Remove seat, disassemble, hand wash upholstery, soak foam in diluted simple green or equivalent squeezing through, rinse and press out, dry in the sun for a few days.
 

blue 07

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Stick with cobra bob on this one. Similar thing happened to my son when he was sent by his work to pick up some haddock and some seeped outside of the bag, man that stunk !! I did the white vinegar etc method and worked excellent !
 

Mojo88

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You need to soak the seat with something like upholstery cleaner.... not just a light spray, but soak. Then use wet towels and scrub. Get it good and wet. Then scrub with dry towels and soak up as much moisture as you and and let air dry in bright sunlight. One or two treatments should work.

I also like the suggestion about taking the seat apart and soaking with cleaner.

You need heavy soaking and scrubbing here, not just some light spray treat.
 

CobraBob

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Yeah, light spray treatments won't work in this case. They're momentarily mask the odor, but the stench of rotting crab will come wafting into your nostrils in quick time.

Or.....you could always try this guaranteed cure.
1200-18698638-portrait-of-man.jpg
 

kevinatfms

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Update! Got the smell out. Took some disassembly of the seat but cleaned it with carpet cleaner for pet urine. Had to pull the seat apart to get to the foam.

Soaked it twice and then vacuumed it out with a commercial wet/dry vac. Smell is entirely gone. That pet odor remover works amazing.
 

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