How do you get rotting pumpkin smell out of the car? It liquefied and juice got into the car. Smells like a rotting corpse.
I use a very inexpensive cleaning product that removes lots of things. It's really quick and should remove your problem quickly. Take the brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide out of the medicine cabinet, pour a small amount on to the area where the pumpkin has saturated your vehicle. Pat with a paper towel, repeat until area is cleaned.
Clean up the spill of rotting pumpkin juice and ventilate the car.
Then use baking soda. It will help absorb any lingering smells. Sprinkled baking soda and let it sit. Then vacuum it out and if necessary, repeat the procedure several times.
Vinegar also absorbs bad smell very well.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I spilled red beans in my truck all over the floor! I got it all cleaned up and poured water on the carpet to rinse the bean juice out, but it got more down in the carpet. It is also under the trim around the door.
If has left this rotton sour smell, worse than a dead mouse lol! I have tried vinegar, lemon, and ammonia cleaner, nothing will take the smell out. I gag everytime I get in it. I need help! What can I use?The last used car we bought had this sour smell inside. It belonged to a young lady who apparently spilled a lot of coffee with milk in the front and back seat. When we bought the car, we could see no stain and could smell only the air freshener hanging inside. I have a little green clean machine and my son and I spent at least 3 hours using it to clean with ammonia water over and over and over again. We were very surprised at how long it took until the water removed had no color. When we were finished, we pulled it in the garage and opened all the windows until it was completely dry. The smell was mostly gone. We put socks filled with coffee grounds under the seats (a tip from a friend) and the sour smell eventually went away. When people apply water or cleaner without using suction to remove it, it just pushes the stain source deeper in. Then the soap and particles get trapped under the carpet. This is true with household carpet as well. You can get a Bissel Little Green Clean Machine (which is what we have) for cheap on their website--call and ask if they have any refurbished ones--which are drastically discounted.
I had a tomato spoil while under the seat of my car (not sure how it got there). After I removed the tomato, there was some juice that had soaked into the carpet. I tried carpet cleaner but couldn't get to the spot. I then tried pouring white vinegar on the area. The vinegar neutralized the smell for the most part, but not completely. And now I have a vinegar smell in the car--not good but better than the rotten tomato. My question - how do I get rid of the vinegar smell and any lingering rotten tomato smell? Thanks in advance for your help.
Keep putting baking soda on. Put it on, let it set for a few days. Vacuum and do it again until it goes away.
I have dropped 1 strawberry banana smoothie and 2 lattes on the carpet of my passenger seat. I was invited over for a meeting so I removed some of the liquid. After the meeting I removed some more and let the car sit overnight. Tuesday morning I called a detail shop for a cleaning service and was only able to get one on Thursday. So I used a Walmart scrub. I sprayed the carpet let it sit for 30 seconds then scrubbed. The next day fruit flies were born and the smell became unbearable. I took it in on Thursday and they cleaned it and left it pretty damp. I left my windows down, but I can still smell rotten fruit or milk.
Friday the smell got stronger and the fruit flies spread. I called in the early morning and they told me to wait and keep it aired. If it is still bad they said to bring it back on Monday. And so I did. Saturday mold was created. I freaked out I called another shop and took it to them on Tuesday. They cleaned it, but the smell is somehow still there. Today it smelled a little bit, but not as bad. What should I do? Does that mean the fruit and milk is still there? There is no sign of mold yet nor fruit flies anymore.You can always try baking soda on the carpet to get rid of the order. Sprinkle it on the carpet area and let it sit. Then you can use a brush to clean it up or even a shop vac.
Unscented Frebreeze & Lysol to kill smell and germs, or the old fashion way Arm n Hammer baking soda placed in something open to pull out the smell and bring fresh back!
Can you ask the second detailing shop to give you something to help with this? They should be able to offer suggestions that will remove the smell and keep the icky bugs/mold away.
Buy a product called Nok-Out. It is recommended by columnist Mary Hunt and you can get it on Amazon.
I am embarrassed to admit this, but my truck smells like rotted food and wet dog (don't ask). I have bought air freshener after air freshener. I have vacuumed and thoroughly cleaned the truck, but the smell lingers. It's making me a little crazy because my truck is clean, but still smells dirty!
By Mary Steger
Okay Mary. This is going to sound totally beyond belief, but if you are desperate it might be worth considering.
I honestly can't remember where we found this hint, but after one of our very ill, huge breed dogs (think huge breed "bladder") peed & soiled the carpet, interior and leather seats of our Jeep as we were transporting him to the vet hospital, someone suggested drenching the carpet with wintergreen scented rubbing alcohol. (I didn't even know such a product existed, but it can be found near the regular rubbing alcohol in our local Walmart.)
Not to worry. The dog survived the medical incident - thank goodness. Yet our main vehicle smelled worse than an uber ignored litter box in a house with many, many cats. Because our dog only peed mainly on the cargo area carpet with only random sprays of urine on the leather seats and cargo walls, we doused the carpet area with full strength wintergreen scented rubbing alcohol and used a water diluted mix to wipe down the rest of the interior.
Then, as per directions we read on the internet source of which I can not remember, we kept the windows open for 24 hours to air out and evaporate the rubbing alcohol. The Jeep smelled like Wintergreen Certs Candy Mints for a week or so, but the urine smell completely disappeared in less than 24 hours.
I suspect this has more to do with the mix of urine and rubbing alcohol than it does with dirty dog smell and spoiled food, but it did not hurt the carpet nor did the diluted solution we used to wipe down the seat backs or interior leave any lasting reminders and the awful order went away quickly.
Again, just something to consider if you can't get rotten food and dirty dog smells out of the vehicle. Use at your discretion, only (and follow a better suggestion if you can find such) but it just might help disperse the odors if you can't find a better solution. Gotta love the doggies - dirty smells and all! (Not gonna ask about the rotten food! hee hee!) Good Luck in cleaning your truck! :)
Alcohol kills bacteria, the smell is coming from bad bacteria if they are dead, the smell is gone.
Borax and baking soda does wonders.. mix it well (i suggest a dry food sifter) sprinkle it as on the carpet, brush it in, leave it sit for an hour or so.. then vaccuume it out, shampoo if needed..
As for vinyl areas, i use a product called Simple Green, available on amazon, walmart (automotive department) car part stores, almost anywhere really.. it comes in a spray bottle or concentrate.. simply spray and whipe (some elbow grease helps)..
- Your neighborhood friendly detailer man
We left our car closed up and went away and didnt realize there was bananas in the back. It REEKED. We just got in the car to make a 4 hour trip. I found this post in pure desperation. Its been two minutes and 100% improvement. So thank you!!!
My car was impounded for 15 days before I got it out and I left $50 worth of meat in the car. The smell was unbearable, maggots were everywhere, and flies also.
I took out the carpet, scrubbed it with bleach cleaners and the smell is still there. Please help.Look for a product called "smell-ez" or "odorx last resort". Both are used by the companies that clean up after a death.
nok-out is available from
Amazon and is great for removing odors.
Is this good for chitterlings water waste in trunk of your car
I left a couple of apples in a bag in my car's trunk and they had got rotten because I forgot about them. How do I get rid of the smell that is now in my trunk?
There is a product called Nok-Out that is highly recommended. You can get it on amazon.
Try sprinkling baking soda in there, leaving it a while, then vacuuming it up.
I was helping a friend out a few years back and transported posole to a fund raiser and though we tried to level the trays, the juices spilled onto back seat and also in the space between where the back meets the seat. I've had the car detailed and the seats and rugs cleaned a few different times, but anytime the weather is damp or I run the car through a car wash, I get this awful, sour smell.
It is similar to when I've let a meat dish go past bad to "oh my word" in the fridge. My fear is there is nothing that can be done since the part that I assume needs to be cleaned is out of reach unless there is some way to remove the back seats. Any ideas are welcome!By Donna B.
If your car is less than 20 years old, there is a good chance that from the trunk, your seats can be pushed forward to fold down. (safety feature started when kids got locked in trucks years back) If they can, do that and see what you can clean from the trunk. On my daughters car, the carpet will fold back to clean there. We did not know that until we saw the detail shop do that.
You can try a product called Nok-Out, which you can get on Amazon. If that doesnt work, you will have to replace the carpets
I recently bought a box of "juices" (a juice ice block you have to freeze). I forgot to take the ice blocks inside and came back to them in my car a few days later exploded. They left my car smelling like rotten juice.
The juice exploded onto my back seats and has sunk into them. I've tried cleaning my seats with a rag of cold water and also have tried air fresheners and nothing is working. If anyone is able to help that would be great!Nok-Out removes odors. You can get it at Amazon.
I recently cooked a big pan of cabbage at my mom's. I had to transport it on the cloth seat of my Cruze. With that being said, as I went to grab it out when I got to my home I realized the seat was wet. That is when I knew I was in for it because I learned about cooking it with vinegar for the smell to stay down.
So now I have a funky smell inside my vehicle. I tried getting it shampooed and that didn't work so now I need help and an actual solution. Please help.I would purchase a gallon of Odo-ban from either Home Depot or another home improvement store. I use it full strength in a spray bottle to rid odors in my rentals between tenants.
When milk is accidentally spilt in the car, it can make for a persistent odor. This page is about cleaning sour milk smell in a car.
This is a page about cleaning rotten meat odors from a car. Meat accidentally left in the car can quickly become rotten and fill your car with a very bad odor.
This is a page about removing rotten seafood odors from a car. Food accidentally spilled or left in a hot car can quickly fill your vehicle with a really bad smell.
