Carpet Smell (1 Viewer)

[Irish Reiver]

Last night I pulled the carpet out of my truck. Trying to kill 2 birds with one stone as I am just about to install the new amps and speakers that I have picked up but I also wanted to wash the carpet as it has smelled bad since i got it.
This morning I soaked the carpet and scrubbed it with household detergent - lots foam and lots of water later I am thinking the carpet will be perfect but I am wrong. it still stinks - especially on the passenger side. for sure the carpet looks a lot cleaner - it just doesn't smell that good. Anyone got any good ideas on what will shift the smell?

By the way if anyone needs photos etc of the inside of a 1994 FZJ80 with no carpet installed then let me know.

 

[AndrewFromID]

What about trying a carpet cleaner? Check out "Hoover Platinum Collection Pet Plus Carpet and Upholstery Detergent" - $19 for what should be plenty for your carpets, and 4.4/5 stars on Amazon with nearly 900 reviews.

I've had good luck with it in our carpets, and I imagine that if anything will take care of the smell, that will.

 

[BVCOTaco]

Also look into shampooing the carpet with a detergent of some sort that would eliminate the smell. I just bought a 97 that was parked for a year and had a rodent issue. I have spent hours and hours removing the dash, all trim, seats, etc in order to clean everything. I think I am almost there!

 

[AndrewFromID]

I had a non-cruiser with a rodent problem, and after a thorough detail, Meguiar's Whole Car Air Refresher Odor Eliminator (the fogger thing that goes for like 15 minutes in your car) was the only thing that did the trick.

I let one off in my cruiser when I picked it up the other week too. The first couple days it's a pretty strong chemical smell, but after that it really does a great job. Probably worth doing for @Stretched once he gets his carpets cleaned and back in.

 

[BVCOTaco]

^ My dad actually just told me about that Meguirar thing just yesterday afternoon. Might have to give it a try.

 

[kowalski]

scented air fresheners are, for the most part, terrible for your health.

If you have the carpet out you could try pressure washing it,

you could spray it down with isopropyl alcohol, which will kill the bacteria emitting the stench.

Drying the carpet before it starts to smell again will be important.

 

[Irish Reiver]

scented air fresheners are, for the most part, terrible for your health.

If you have the carpet out you could try pressure washing it,

you could spray it down with isopropyl alcohol, which will kill the bacteria emitting the stench.

Drying the carpet before it starts to smell again will be important.

Thanks guys, I did use the power cleaner on it this morning. As I mentioned, the carpet sure is cleaner just that it still smells. The isopropyl alcohol sounds like a plan. I might give that a try.
Drying the carpet down here won't be a problem....

 

[inkpot]

Thanks guys, I did use the power cleaner on it this morning. As I mentioned, the carpet sure is cleaner just that it still smells. The isopropyl alcohol sounds like a plan. I might give that a try.
Drying the carpet down here won't be a problem....

Freebreeze. $5 at your grocery store. Worked great for me on pet and cigarette odor.

 

[Irish Reiver]

Freebreeze. $5 at your grocery store. Worked great for me on pet and cigarette odor.

Tried the freebreeze and baking soda stuf that you sprinkle on and vac off when I bought it. Needless to say that didn't work.

I've been trying to find a shop that sells isopropyl alcohol but haven't found one yet. I have found denatured alcohol but I'm not sure if that is the same thing.

 

[Mountainpassing]

natures miracle enzyme spray..im working on mine right now and it seems to do the trick...the problem with scented crap is that it doesn't do anything but mingle with whatever smell is there already.this stuff has no smell but smells disgusting for 2 weeks while the enzymes attack the bacteria in the carpet then the war is over and no scent. i bought a cruiser last fall and it had dog smell in back so i treated it and about barfed at the enzyme smell but sure enuff in two weeks{per instructions} the vehicle smelled 90 percent better. right now i am treating it one more time and leaving it in the sun to roast like a dirty wet sock.buy the one with no scent (original formula) as they do have a scented version as well but its just original formula with perfume to help mask the disgusting enzyme war and smells worse imo.

 

[Notch]

I bought a 3500 mgh ozone generator and did a couple 15min shock treatments on my '97. Worked great and I have de odorized a couple other vehicles with it also.

 

[Kentex Rick]

Tried the freebreeze and baking soda stuf that you sprinkle on and vac off when I bought it. Needless to say that didn't work.

I've been trying to find a shop that sells isopropyl alcohol but haven't found one yet. I have found denatured alcohol but I'm not sure if that is the same thing.[/QUOTE
Try your neighborhood Walgreens, CVS or Wallyworld. This is the stuff you clean wounds with. Put it in a spray bottle and spray it on, let it dry!

 

[Rivman1243]

I bought a 3500 mgh ozone generator and did a couple 15min shock treatments on my '97. Worked great and I have de odorized a couple other vehicles with it also.

You can rent a ozone machine and it will get out any smells

 

[Slowguy432]

+1 on the ozone machine - I used one on a Saab that had a cat to mark its terratory in once.I took the carpet out ,pressure washed it , allowed it to completely dry , re-installed and then ran the ozone machine run for a day and the smell was gone 100%.

 

[Irish Reiver]

In the end I went with the isopropyl alcohol. I found it in Walgreen's thanks to @Kentex Rick . sprayed some on the passenger side last night. Looks like it may have done the trick.will know for sure when the carpet goes back in later today.

 

[thatcabledude]

Soak in a product called "Odoban" then pressure wash.

IMO, if you have the carpet completely out of the truck and put it back in without pressure washing, you wasted your time.

 

[jblaze]

I have tried a number of time to get the old odors out of mine. it is not that it is bad, I think it is just a combination of 20 years of dirt, cleaning, materials, etc. Taken it out before and pressure washed everything, cleaners etc. I think I will end up just spending a couple hundred bucks on new carpet and matting at some point.

 

[FranceJohnson]

Oxyclean does a really great job of getting out organic crap. Ozone works great, we used it on our hockey gear in college which can be some of the worse smelling stuff on the planet.