Deodorizing an original interior?

[NorCam]

Many old original cars can have a typical odor to the interior. Some are your standard old car smell while others can be a bit more aromatic lets say? The car I just acquired has an odd odor to the interior, but not like anything I have smelled before? It's more stringent than the typical old car smell and that's part of the reason I pulled back the interior yesterday to inspect it.

There no evidence of any mice ever having been in the car and the odor is nothing that resembles any kind of rodent nesting. It's more unique and somewhat resembles the small of moth balls? Perhaps the original owner had something in there at one point to fend off rodents, but its left it's own scent behind. I have the seats out of the car now and they are beautiful originals as is the carpet and headliner. I'm wondering if there's an odor neutralizer that I can use to spray the seat bottoms and the carpet with before reinstalling them? Something to neutralize the odor or at least lessen it? Perhaps something I can also spray onto the headliner and belts since I'm sure it's permeated through the fabric. And please, not something scented in an attempt to simply mask it. I dislike the smell of most car fresheners and prefer the old car smell to some degree. Just not into moth balls if that's what it was?

Got any tips to deliver a clean smelling survivor interior? :dunno:

https://i.ibb.co/WD8j763/IMG-7151.jpg
Hoping to spray the burlap backing, headliner and carpets with something to neutralize them?

[Crush]

I have a vehicle that I bought and the smell is musty. I have tried many things from airing out to scrubbing interior w white vinegar and lemon water. It’s better but have heard ozone generators can be effective and am ready to try. I’ll keep you posted

[rlw68]

Febreze is a quick fix. I think its the carpet.

[NorCam]

I talked to an upholsterer buddy this morning and he said there's a Wurth product that he's heard of and referred me to look at. I'm going to confirm this with a detail girl I know here in town and might give this product a try.

https://i.ibb.co/QbdTPK4/89313920-new.jpg
Wurth Deodorizer
Suitable for almost all textiles
• Universal usage
• Leaves no residue behind
• No specking
• Colorless

Specially selected combination of raw materials
• Fast and long-lasting effect
• Odor molecules are not covered as with air freshener products, but are removed completely in a natural way

Fine-mist hand-spray bottle
• Fine and even spray covering the entire surface without soaking it
• Very short drying time
• Quick application

AOX-free

Areas of Application:
Neutralizes all unpleasant odors, such as cigarette smoke, sweat, animal, mold and cooking odors, which may occur in a vehicle interior, driver’s cabs, on upholstery, carpets, curtains and clothing.

[Zedder]

I have also heard that ionization is the way to go. I’d be checking out the headliner for nests if you can’t find anything anywhere else. The heater core is another favorite hidden spot...

[69L78]

Graeme, Here is a product my friend uses in his detail business and does a lot of insurance claims as well including removing the odor from a car where a dead body was found.

[NorCam]

You trying to tell me something about the car Jeff. :haha::grin::wink:

Just kiddin...thanks Jeff

[firstgenaddict]

IF you take out the carpet and wash it with a rented steam cleaner or just out hanging on the fence spray with carpet cleaner and the rinse out and allow to dry. Just don't go crazy with pressure or brushing.
Carpet and underlayment along with the headlines hold most of the smells.
I too have found great luck using baking soda in a pie plate in the closed up vehicle to absorb smells. My dad bought a RED/RED 62 impala one time which I thought had gold anodizing on the aluminum inside trim -NOPE - residue from smoking... NICOTINE? took a long time to get the smell out... not to mention all the sticky goo off.

[Riverbud]

I bought a bare bones ozone generator a few years ago to get rid of a particularly funky smell in a used RV we bought. I've since used it for a variety of reasons, the latest being when some contractors working in the house decided to use my garage for their smoke break area.
The generators work by having air moving across the ozone generator plate. The bare bones models don't have a fan, , it's just a transformer with an ozone plate on top so I just place an air mover behind the plate and let it do it's thing. For the $50 I spent it was a pretty good bet.
Keep in mind I've heard it can accelerate the break down of certain plastics. You also cannot be in the space you are treating as the air becomes unbreathable.

[NorCam]

Good to know. A friend of mine was over today and said they use the ozone generators in their airplanes to eliminate odors. Might spray the interior with an active neutralizer first and if needed, i'll try an ozone generator with a built in fan. Will report back once its done its thing. Thanks for the replies.

[Charley Lillard]

You might also try spreading ground coffee on a cookie sheet. Set the sheet on the floor. Worked for me to get the smell of gas out of my Riviera after a transporter managed to leak gas from a car down into my cowl vent.

[rlw68]

Go pickup a few pizzas for dinner tonight ... this will replace the smell.


:rolleyes2:

[Mr70]

..Deep Dish w/pepperoni.

[rlw68]

I'm still looking for the source of the odor in mine ... smells like Border Collie ??


149772

:laugh:

[GearheadSS]

I've used one of these charcoal bags to help and it actually worked pretty well.

https://www.amazon.com/Moso-Natural-Deodorizer-Eliminator-Eliminates/dp/B07BDH2PPF?ref_=Oct_RAsinC_Ajax_3737411_2&pf_rd_r=V9WTKX7TFJM90D3WSETW&pf_rd_p=a12b3001-40c9-500a-b165-7996c676dc89&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-10&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=3737411&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[KenMaisano]

I have tried the Ionization, it helped but left a different kind of electric smell. didn't really like it.

[Mr70]

I had my truck serviced for a good 10 days,(they had to keep it for awhile to get the problem to surface),nearly 5 years ago by an independent garage.
After they were done,I was told they "road tested" it.
My odometer had many more miles then I would expect a local road test to be.I also noticed a distinct smell,McDonalds french fries.
I finally contacted them and asked why so many miles guys? They finally came clean and said they use customers cars as their "Gopher'" vehicle to go for parts,errands,etc.
Turned out they loved McDonalds,and went there daily with my truck I was told,among other places.The extra miles didn't upset me,as much as the smell did.I soon found a large bag of their always getting re-warmed french fries snuggled in between the two fold down back seats on the floor,where the heater blows.
That garage soon went out of Business & I still smell McDonalds french fries till this day.

[NorCam]

At least they didn't leave some old salami and cheese in a bag for you to discover.

[NorCam]

I'm still looking for the source of the odor in mine ... smells like Border Collie ??

149772

:laugh:

Great looking pooch there Rob. If my shepherd would behave like a Border Collie, he'd get more rides. lol

[Crush]

I'm still looking for the source of the odor in mine ... smells like Border Collie ??


149772

:laugh:

I’ve been thinking about getting a border collie do you recommend them? :-)

[rlw68]

I’ve been thinking about getting a border collie do you recommend them? :-)


I created a new thread in the Lounge ... https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=157767


:haha:

[Zedder]

I’ve been thinking about getting a border collie do you recommend them? :-)

I heard that they make your car smell ;)

[dustinm]

Be careful with how long you leave an O2 machine run inside the car. I have firsthand experience replacing all the "rubber" seals after a guy left one on inside a cab for waaay too long, with a house sized O2 machine. BUT it did remove all the bad smells, matter of fact it smelled cleaner than a hospital.

[NorCam]

Good advice Dustin,

I think I'll be doing a 3 stage approach. Spraying with a colorless neutralizer that has live bacteria to eliminate the odors at the source for the headliner, seat backs and carpets. Next I'll button it up with a pie plate of coffee grinds added to trunk and the cabin. I'll see how that works and if needed, I'll then do a round with an ozone machine. Going to make it smell like a Cuppaccino factory. Bada Bing!

[napa68]

I'm a baking soda guy. I had a Survivor 65 Corvette about 10 years ago and baking soda did the trick!

[Charley Lillard]

I would also crack the windows open when doing it.

[iluv69s]

You might try FB marijuana grower’s groups. They have posted in the past a few nice tips on how to remove smells. A friend of my cousin’s brother-in-law’s sister’s friend told me.

[BCreekDave]

The old standby Ozium is supposed to be pretty good:

https://www.amazon.com/Ozium-Air-Freshener-Sanitizer-oz/dp/B0143M9KP6#customerReviews

[NorCam]

You might try FB marijuana grower’s groups. They have posted in the past a few nice tips on how to remove smells. A friend of my cousin’s brother-in-law’s sister’s friend told me.

:haha: :bs: :naughty:

[WILMASBOYL78]

Take a look at Zep products...they offer a number of commercial grade mold and mildew removers and even one for cigar smoke [ask me how I know]:grin:

You can buy them in stores and on Amazon...

https://www.zep.com/

[wheelhop]

Everytime I smell "original" Lysol I think of my first 69 Chevelle that had a moldy interior and used a healthy dose of Lysol to clean it up.

[NorCam]

After pulling the seats, inspecting under the carpets and checking the cowl plenum for any signs of mice, I've come to the conclusion there's no critters nesting in the car or any evidence there's ever been any. Everything is clean and dry throughout. There's also no mold, mildew or any evidence of moisture ever getting into the original carpets, so my suspicions of the car once being host to some mothballs may be accurate. In any case, my local shine girl who not only polishes cars but details interiors, told me to use AGI EEZ cleaner on the carpets and seat backs and said it should kill any odors dead in their tracks. I sprayed them with 12oz of this live enzyme odor killer and after it drying for the last 3 hours, I will now head out to neutralize the cleaner and wipe things down with a wet cloth before I vacuum it out.

Pie plates with coffee grinds will be added inside the car and the interior can now go back into the car. Once it's been buttoned up for a few days with the windows cracked, I'll check it out and report back as to the odor being neutralized or not. I'm pretty confident this stuff will have done the job. If there's any residual odor after this, she said she'd put me onto a dry cleaning solution that I can spray onto the headliner that won't stain it. That will only be done if it's absolutely needed.


https://i.ibb.co/F03Pn45/IMG-7423.jpg

[NorCam]

Being a bit of a coffee hound myself, I've chosen a vintage bottle of Whiskey Barrel Coffee to be ground up and added to the pie plates that will be placed inside the car. This stuff tastes great, and smells good too. It should give the interior an aromatic spike for a short while.

https://i.ibb.co/R094BmK/IMG-7416.jpg

[Crush]

Where did you get the AGI stuff?

[NorCam]

Company is called Nypower Industries (https://www.nypowerind.com/), a local chemical company here in Alberta who cater to agricultural cleaners and they sell through distribution. I'm sure there are a host of similar products like some that were suggested in this thread and a few that have active enzymes that destroy odor and bacteria. I chose this because it was local, and it was inexpensive at $12.00 for 1 gallon. Of that I only used about 10-12 ounces.

I just wiped everything down with Citra-solve and warm water on a damp cloth to neutralize the enzymes and will head out to vacuum everything up in about 20 minutes. Car smells great inside but the results will be known better once the smell of the cleaners dissipates.

[NorCam]

OK...

Everything within the interior has been cleaned, disinfected and deodorized to remove any odor. Wife has already said this is the most thorough cleaning she has ever seen me perform in any car so I'm hoping this works. I finished the carpets, washed down all the vinyl before reinstalling the seats and also wiped down the headliner, visors and all the seat belt fabric. It's squeaky clean in there now and everything is buttoned up with the windows cracked. I put two pie plates with some fresh ground coffee in there as well.

Here's to it smelling like an espresso factory in a couple of days. :biggthumpup: