A friend of mine recently borrowed my car and had another friend in the car. I got the car back with a burger on my dash and a McCafe coffee and grape Arizona tea tipped over in a bag on my passenger front floormat.

I was welcomed to this the morning after getting the car back.

There is no stain from the coffee (which spilt pretty good), but the smell just will not go away.

I immediately removed the floormat, vacuumed it, treated it with Oxy Cleaner and extracted it.

The smell came back.

So I brought the mat to a local car wash and used a pressure washer on it. I brought it home, soaked it overnight in wintergreen alcohol and extracted the water out of it and left it in the house to dry.

The mat looks awesome for a seventeen year old floormat, but after two days of staying inside to make sure it dried, the smell is still there.

The entire house took on a nice minty smell, but the damn mat still reeks!

There is zero smell in the car itself unless the floormat is in there. It's just a stock '93 Accord floormat in that dark Vintage Red color. The mat isn't really warn and I'm reluctant to try to track down one discontinued floormat.

I see mentions online of using an enzyme to kill the odor, but I really don't know what to look for or where to go to get it!

I'd really appreciate any help on removing this smell from the mat. Names of products are a plus and OTC is best (or something that isn't sold by the pallet)!

 

Box of baking soda? Febreeze? etc.

 

Just get a new one from the dealer!

 

Except, no. They've been discontinued since 1994. Do you honestly think she hasn't looked for a set yet?

 

i would definitely say baking soda. that stuff works for everything.

 

So I soaked it with a full box of backing soda (with water drizzled over it to wet the soda) and the smell is still very much there.

 

Ship this sucker too me. Sounds like a challenge.

 

If I didn't have to ship it then perhaps. Heavy *** floormat.

This is really frustrating.

 

Have you tried Nature's Miracle? It's actually meant for pet deodorizing in carpets etc. but it works like magic on vehicle upholstery. It's definitely worth a shot

 

Try soaking it overnight in a solution of dishwashing soap and water.

 

dang you got some messed up friends there...anyway professional detailers suggest that you use an enzyme based carpet cleaner to clean the floormat to get that smell out. did it go through the floormat and hit the car's carpet too? if it did you should probably take that out and clean that out too...heres a product detailers recommend: http://www.odoban.com/Floor_BioPet_C...r_Remover.html
hope that helps!

 

Sounds like it might be worth a try. Thanks.
I've spilt dishwashing detergent on a pair of black pants once. I threw them in the wash right away. When the pants came out there was a bleach mark where the detergent had been.

Needless to say I'm a bit hesitant to try that.
The floormat has a thick, black rubber bottom. There was a small bit of odor in the car afterward, but it's since disappeared. There was no visible stain in the car off the floormat.

I'll have to see about sourcing some of this stuff.

 

this reminds me of the episode of Seinfeld when a car valet smells up Jerry's car and he tries everything to get it out. HAH good stuff


steam cleaning vacuum ftw

 

Definitely look for some cleaners aimed at pet stains. If they can take on cat ****, there isn't much else they can't do.

http://www.petco.com/product/110938/...gSFC_StainOdor

 

That's probably from the ammonia in most dish detergents, you can look around for an ammonia-free one, which shouldn't discolor dye's.

 

Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner. Mix it up with a 1:5 ratio. Spray it, scrub it, rinse it. Vacuum it dry and see if that works.

 

i cant believe someone would return a car in that bad of shape. they must have been high or somethin to leave a burger on the dash. hope you get it solved tho.

 

Looks like we're going to try a product called PetZyme. People swear by it for milk.

 

I don't think they were high.

The friend who was borrowing it has pointed out it wasn't his drink and he planned he was going to be able to borrow it that night too so he'd just clean it that night.

It's just very disappointing. I tend to trust friends as much as I'd trust myself. A very bad habit of mine.

 

why did you not make your friend deal with it who you kindly let borrow the car

 

He said he would take care of it too. I don't want to wait that long though.

His idea was to wait until he has a car and then bring a carpet cleaner from about 45 minutes away.

First, I don't think it will work very well. Second, why bring the carpet cleaner to the mat? Third, if the mat goes then I don't know if I'll ever get it back.

It's just a much better idea to take care of it myself. This way I know it's being taken care of and I know it's taken care of right.

 

The mat was cleaned with PetZyme ($16/gallon jug, $8/quart spray bottle from Pet Smart) last night. It's supposed to dry naturally.

So far it smells a LOT better. It's not perfect. I mean, this was a pretty nasty spill. But it's loads better than before.