Vomit smell

[Hudster]

My fiancée has been saving to buy a TT for ages. She finally collected it last Thursday, and had a permanent smile since the minute she got she keys. She drove to a ball on the Friday night, and gave another girl (normally very sensible type) a lift home, but sadly this girl had had too much vino and threw up.

Very little sick actually touched the car. The bit on the leather seats came off easily, but a small amount went down the side of the seat and a lot went on the seat belt, which probably later recoiled and took some vomit back into the mechanism.

I cleaned the car as best I could. We then got a professional valet round (at the girl's expense!) and he did a cracking job - visually it looks better than new. He spent 3 hours on the interior alone, but you can still smell it, it's definitely noticeable.

The valet did use one of those smoke bomb things when he left, but even that doesn't seem to have resolved it. I really want to sort this for her, so the car either smells like leather seats again or nothing at all. At the moment it's a horrid mix of sick and air freshener

Are there any tips for removing the lingering odor? Someone said to leave peeled oranges in the car overnight, but perhaps they were pulling my chain?

Edited May 2, 2012 by Hudster

[Mort]

Try shoving two pencils up your nose and wearing your underpants on your head.... oh hang on...

[cabby]

Remove seat belt mechanism for thorough cleaning?

[Scotty]

Halfords sell a spray that's orangey and is for tobacco smells but it worked perfectly when one of the sprogs barfed ... although alcohol vomit could be worse smelling!

[Luke]

Use this a lot in the carpet/upholstery cleaning business. It works a treat.

Odour Kill 1Lt

[Hudster]

Use this a lot in the carpet/upholstery cleaning business. It works a treat.

Odour Kill 1Lt

Thanks Luke I'd not seen that before. The smell seems to just be everywhere (not just coming from one spot) - does it work in those situations? I'm not sure it'd be wise to saturate the whole car in it

[Tipex]

Personal experience tells me you will never mask or neutralise the odour, maybe temporarily but it will come back.

The only way to get it out it is to ensure that it's all gone, and being alcohol, there will have been more than you think as its always mostly water rather than solids, and hence it runs very easilly.

So, no matter how good the valet was, he won't have done two things-

1 remove the seatbelt, and replace it, or make sure it's properly cleaned, along with the adjuster that it runs through higher on the pillar.

2, remove the seat, clean properly underneath it, and under the seat rails themselves, and then clean the seat mechanism and inside the seat rails too.

It's also worth checking a few other areas too, the window rubbers along the top inside of the door can trap vomit, as can all the nooks and crannies, of the door card, paying particular attention to the inside of any door pockets getting right into the corners.

If all that doesn't sort it, your stuffed, we've sold cars before because of puke smells, if someone hurls over the dashboard for example, you'll never get rid, as it runs into all the air vents and switches etc.

[Luke]

Odourkill is the only one I know that actually works. Its not a perfume. Mist on, leave to dry overnight, repeat a few times.

[garcon magnifique]

In Tipex's case at least the smell of vomit masks the more usual smell of stale urine.

Feel for you Hudster, the Odour Kill stuff definitely seems worth a try, if that doesn't do the job it looks like you're either left with just trying to mask it or a prolonged and potentially expensive process of stripping and cleaning various parts of the inside of the car.

[Biscuits]

I bought some of this to get rid of "pond smell" in a MKIV Gti. Worked a treat and I still have 4.75l of it left if you want some !\

Valet PRO Enzyme Odour Eater - Buy online from i4detailing.co.uk

[Tipex]

In Tipex's case at least the smell of vomit masks the more usual smell of stale urine.

Nah, those are easy to clean up, the worst is the smell of damp dog that seems to slowly build up as people get in and out with wet shoes etc, no matter how clean you keep the car, or how many mats you have down, that smell builds up over time, and you have to shampoo and clean all the carpets to get rid.

[DukeDesmo]

Personal experience tells me you will never mask or neutralise the odour, maybe temporarily but it will come back.

Agreed, some years back one of my kids had a major chunder session on the back seat of my car. I took the seat out, scrubbed it with as many cleaning substances as I could find, deodorised it with everything comercially available, left the seat outside for a couple of weeks in the rain etc and it still smelt of puke, even years later when I traded it in.

So, for anyone that has a silver BMW 323 that smells of vomit - sorry...

[OGWT]

Organic stains - milk, blood, vomit (emesis) is highly acidic) and urine, they all should be removed with an enzyme type cleaner

Un-Duz-It - is a concentrated, professional quality formula that utilizes enzymes to digest the bacteria, it utilizes bio-enzymes – the complex organic substances formed in the living cells of plants and animals – as catalysts for the decomposition of organic-related odors and stains. -It is effective on all water-safe surfaces including carpets, rugs, drapes, upholstery, mattresses, wood, plastic, clothing, vinyl, trash containers, concrete, tile and more. TOTL

The foam or other stuffing may have soaked up stomach acid and may require that you inject an enzyme cleaner, however if this does not remove the odour, foam replacement may be necessary

Hypodermic Injector

Finally, a way to destroy those lingering odours that are impossible to reach; this device will inject any liquid, odour counteractant or disinfectant deep into upholstery or carpet padding. It comes with two, re-usable needles. TOTL

"Odour Elimination" - http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia-detailing-wiki/138884-odour-elimination.html#post1476120[/color]

Edited May 7, 2012 by OGWT

[Guest speeddemon]

Whoops - I really shouldn't join a forum to post links to my own web site, otherwise everyone will know that I'm a SPAMMING idiot.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Mook

[jepner]

I would ask some professional cleaners, because they know what to do. But I heard coffee and vinegar can neutralize odors. But I'm not sure if this helpful if you use one of them in the car!

[pontyslapper]

Our youngest regularly chunders in his car seat and over the back of the car - normally forcing a stop on-route...

I primarily use Flash wipes coupled with whatever baby wipes are handy at the time - the back of the car doesn't seem to smell even with your nose in the seat material - I think the key is speed of recovery of the offending substances. Also as others have said - alcohol might just make it more of a bugger to remove!